Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Everybody saw this coming.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

This really is a full service blog.

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

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

This fight is for everything.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

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

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

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

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

I really should read my own blog.

You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / Shiny-Faced Authoritarians Open Thread: Judge Kavanaugh, Amid A Hail of Brooks Brothers Wingtips

Shiny-Faced Authoritarians Open Thread: Judge Kavanaugh, Amid A Hail of Brooks Brothers Wingtips

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The ever-sensitive weathervanes at Politico:

Partisan tensions over records on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh boiled over on Tuesday, as Democrats insisted on access to all communications from his five years in the George W. Bush White House while Republicans tried to narrow the scope of the massive document release.

Amid the back-and-forth over records, a final confirmation vote on Kavanaugh could end up slipping past the GOP goal of getting President Donald Trump’s pick seated in time for the early-October start of the Supreme Court term. The Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to schedule a hearing for Kavanaugh, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed only that the chamber would “finish this nomination” before the midterm elections…

Democrats counter that they are seeking to impose the same standard for document releases that Justice Elena Kagan received during her Supreme Court confirmation process, including emails she received but did not author as solicitor general in the Obama administration. Applying the same logic to Kavanaugh, Republicans said, is unwarranted because of his 12 years on the federal bench — in contrast to Kagan’s lack of previous judicial service.

“We could have up to five times as many pages from his time in the White House than we got from Justice Kagan,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said on the floor. “And we will have those documents despite the fact that they’re less necessary now than they were for Justice Kagan.”

[Man’s a good Republican; what more do we need to know?]

Kavanaugh, for his part, described his time as staff secretary as “in many ways among the most instructive” for his future career as a judge, in 2010 remarks that he submitted to the Judiciary panel ahead of his pending hearing.

“When it comes to documents, people say: If we can’t apply the Kagan rule to this, then all bets are off,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday….

Ed Kilgore, at NYMag, last Friday:

… This is both a stalling tactic and fishing expedition: Before allowing Republicans to confirm a fifth anti-choice justice, Chuck Schumer’s caucus want to check each and every one of the great carpool dad’s closets for a skeleton.

But now, Mitch McConnell is warning his Democratic colleagues that, should they persist in their demands for transparency, they will hurt no one but themselves…

And yet, if McConnell truly believed his own threat — if the majority leader was entirely confident that a delayed Kavanaugh confirmation would redound to his party’s electoral benefit — then he would ostensibly be planning to do so, no matter what records the Democrats did or did not request.

The longer the Kavanaugh fight wears on, the more time progressive activists in Maine and Alaska have to mobilize pressure on the (putatively) pro-choice senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. What’s more, if some late-breaking revelation were to sink Kavanaugh in October, it is at least conceivable that the confirmation of his replacement could drag out into the next Congress. And there is a small — but not entirely negligible — chance that Democrats could control the upper chamber next January…

Kilgore’s NYMag colleague Benjamin Hart (in an essay that would deserve its own post in a less-newsy era) points out that “Red State Democrats Have No Good Reason to Vote for Brett Kavanaugh” — he’s not popular, his policies are distinctly unpopular, and there’s no reason to believe doing so would help even in deep-red states. (Also: Merrick Garland, plus it’s the right thing to do.)

Buzzfeed has posted Kavanaugh’s extremely comprehensive Senate Questionnaire, which has no doubt raised new questions about his past rulings and future bent…

I’m actually a little bit hopeful that professional political staffer Dana Houle may be right:


Reader Interactions

157Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    It’s not going to be pulled. It will not be withdrawn. He won’t recuse.
    This is your 5-4 SCOTUS judge.

  4. 4.

    The Midnight Lurker

    $200 G in unsecured credit card debt vanishes overnight — nothing to see folks, move along now!

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    I’m feeling a bit more optimistic than I was. And Ed Killgore just keeps getting better and better.

    Tablet is being crotchety about linking, but a reporter for Channel 4 in Britain went undercover as a Facebook moderator trainer and spilled about being told not to kill racist and child abusing content.

    Sean Trende at RCP said today that Dems have better than a 50/50 chance of flipping the Senate, and since he’s a dyed-in-the-wool R who never met a poll he couldn’t skew, that’s got me hopeful.

  6. 6.

    Ohio Mom

    As an autism mom, I long ago adopted the motto, “It is not necessary to hope in order to persevere.” I will be cheering on anyone and everyone who drags this process out, even if derailing it is a long shot. What other choice is there?

  7. 7.

    Kay

    @Ohio Mom:

    I’m with you. Drag it out. Make sure everyone knows every single Republican Senator now owns every decision by the far Right court.

    Transparency! Accountability! Dragging it out is good government. Don’t let them weasel out of this, especially Collins.

  11. 11.

    efgoldman

    @Corner Stone:

    Dana Houle is absolutely nuts.

    You, of course, are much smarter and well-informed.
    If McTurtle really wants it to go thru, it will; but Houle COULD be right

  13. 13.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Corner Stone:
    Jesus Christ, get a grip. This is about dragging this thing out as long as possible. There’s literally no down side to doing this and fighting them.

  14. 14.

    Patricia Kayden

    After what he did to Merrill Garland, McConnell really has a nerve to be badgering Democrats about a SCOTUS nominee. Democrats should throw his words in his face every day.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Via Matt Yglesias: She was trolling him

    WASHINGTON — On the first couple’s recent trip overseas, Melania Trump’s television aboard Air Force One was tuned to CNN. President Trump was not pleased.
    He raged at his staff for violating a rule that the White House entourage should begin each trip tuned to Fox — his preferred network over what he considers the “fake news” CNN — and caused “a bit of a stir” aboard Air Force One, according to an email obtained by The New York Times. The email, an internal exchange between officials in the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency last Thursday, also called for the ordering of two additional televisions to support Beam, a TiVo-like streaming device, to make sure the president and first lady could both watch TV in their separate hotel rooms when they travel.

    as surprising as sunrise, and doesn’t mean much in the end, but I am noticing that no one’s trying to hide this stuff anymore. No one’s bothering to put out spin that the Beast is worried about his wife’s reaction to the Karen MacDougal story

  17. 17.

    Chip Daniels

    We win by inflicting pain on them at every conceivable opportunity, at using every tool we have, every fucking time, without fail.

  20. 20.

    mike in dc

    Mitch will confirm a nominee in the lame duck session if necessary(if the Senate flips, i.e.). If he blows it and the Dems retake the Senate, the Court will be 4-4 for the following two years, and Mitch would be forced out of leadership.

  21. 21.

    Kay

    @NotMax:

    Right, It isn’t about counting on her. It’s about making her accountable for her decisions. Kavanaugh is far Right. That makes a far Right majority. They’ll be lurching to the hard Right and drastically re-shaping existing law.

    That needs a full airing, a full debate, all the ramifications considered so senators can he held accountable for this decision.

    I’m perfectly serious. It’s basic good government. People need to 1. know and 2. have an opportunity to vote for or against these senators knowing that these senators backed a radical Right court.

    They are the only people who CAN be held accountable by the public for this, other than Trump.

    If Collins backs the far Right it shouldn’t be a problem for her and if she doesn’t, well, she should vote against him.

  24. 24.

    japa21

    Since this is an OT. Every other year 4 of we six siblings and spouses get together for a long weekend. It usually takes place at my older brother’s house (and boy is he old), south of San Francisco. Usually Mr.s Japa and I fly out but this year we’ve decided to drive out and see parts of the country we have never seen. We’ll see her brother on a mountain top in Wyoming. Check out a couple National Parks in Utah. Visit Hoover Dam, etc.
    As a result, I am going to attempt to go into neutral on politics for a couple weeks. I know I won’t be able to abstain completely, but some time away will undoubtedly be beneficial for both of ours mental health status. I’ll probably do a nightly check in here to catch up. Probably won’t comment much.

    Leaving tomorrow morning, first stop Omaha.

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Corner Stone: @Corner Stone: @Mary G: It’s going to come down to the internal polling. My take is that if Senator McConnell is telling you he’s doing you a favor by forcing you to cram this through on a 51-49 or a 50-50 with the VP breaking the tie vote now so it doesn’t mess up your midterm, tells me the internal polling he’s seen is at least mixed as to whether the GOP retains the slim majority in the Senate. And remember, the campaigns’ internal polling is always the best polling. That’s what’s going to make or break things here. It will either stiffen spines or it will confirm the worst fears. And it will all be out of sight to the rest of us.

  29. 29.

    efgoldman

    @Kay:

    If Collins backs the far Right

    If the sun rises in the morning….
    Suzi Q will make the usual meeps of concern, and then vote however McTurtle needs.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    I’m pleased all the bullshit about the car pool dad didn’t work.

    That whole thing was incredibly patronizing and insulting, BTW. I mean, honestly. What nerve. Like we’re idiots who can be tricked into accepting this far Right nutjob because certain fancy people know him personally and insist he’s likeable, or whatever. They really think we’re morons.

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    there was speculation this man would be AG, that he wanted to be SoS

    Sam Stein @ samstein
    Rudy doing a LIVE TV interview, tells Laura Ingraham “don’t quote me on that.”

    Only the best people!

    Tim Miller @ Timodc
    Im honestly pretty surprised the anti-Rudy caucus in the West Wing hasn’t fired at him for all his drunk interviews I thought these guys were knife fighters

    Miller’s a GOP insider, and booze would explain a lot, but I’d be surprised if Rudi were able to keep it quiet

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    @The Dangerman: They get separate suites, which is part of the reason that the Secret Service costs are up. You need two details on at all times. One for his suite and one for hers.

  36. 36.

    Barbara

    @japa21: We drove from Virginia to New Mexico and Utah a few years ago, and visited a number of national parks, including Badlands and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in Wyoming, and Arches and Canyonland in Utah. The highlights for me were rafting on the Colorado River in Moab, UT, and a long hike in Grand Teton. We also hit Santa Fe, and a lot of other places, but those were the highlights. I hope you have a great trip and can send pictures en route.

  37. 37.

    Wag

    @JPL:

    absolutely right. he’ll play like a president was meant to play– every chance he gets, and with all the green fees going back into his own pockets.

  38. 38.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Adam L Silverman:
    That’s my take too. McConnell is running scared and this is a lame ass attempt to try to bully emboldened Democrats into rolling over like they have in the past. Not anymore, Turtleboy. Those days are over. No more wimpy liberals.

    As I’ve noted before, Mitch isn’t stupid. There’s no evidence that this stuff changes anyone’s minds this close to an election. He’s bluffing and there’s probably something horrible in the nominee’s past that could come out.

  39. 39.

    Ohio Mom

    @Bobby Thomson: Way back when we all thought Hillary was a shoo-in, I had a thought that in the relative quiet that would follow, maybe we could have an autism thread or two — there are a fair number of Balloon Juicers with family members on the spectrum.

    But now, for good reason, almost of our attention here is focused on the train wreck that is this presidency, this Congress and this Supreme Court. Oh well.

  42. 42.

    The Dangerman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    You need two details on at all times. One for his suite and one for hers.

    Poor Barron. He’s old enough to internalize that Mommy hates Daddy. I suppose he can afford the lifelong counseling he’ll need.

    ETA: If she divorces him, does she give up the Secret Service for life?

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    So I was a bit hasty in the earlier thread, calling the GA-07 Dem primary runoff for David Kim over my preferred candidate, Carolyn Bourdeaux. With 97% of the vote in, Bourdeaux now leads Kim 52-48. Fingers crossed, though again I’ll gladly support either of them in the general.

    Horrified at Kemp’s numbers, but I really hope he will be easier pickings for Stacey Abrams than Cagle would have been, come November. A long shot, for sure — this being Georgia and all — but I’m going to stay optimistic. And work my ass off for Dem candidates.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @The Dangerman: I’m sure Barron knows the Slovene word for “asshole”, or something very like it, and every once in a while, maybe on Xmas morning, trump will innocently ask, as much to the air as to the two people he’s only barely aware of as he reads tweets from MAGAts and the Fox Morning Zoo Croo, “What’s a (“Slovene word for asshole”) anyway?”, and Melania and Barron giggle and keep on waiting for him to die

    Just kidding. I’m sure trump’s golfing on Xmas morning, and that Tiffany’s security guard comes out of Melania’s room dressed as Santa, and they all like it that way.

  49. 49.

    NotMax

    OT.

    Packing finished in 18 minutes flat. Am an inveterate overpacker, something I seem unable to cease. Did convince myself to cut down a bit, though. Even remembered to throw in a hooded rain jacket this year.

    Adam, an e-mail e-ambling your way.

  53. 53.

    MobileForkbeard

    @SiubhanDuinne: I just looked up that race. Wow, Kemp is a gigantic nutjob. And also someone who refused to implement protections against Russian interference in 2016.

  54. 54.

    sukabi

    @Mary G: local news report (Seattle) on Facebook said that they were giving (advertisers) folks the ability to select or exclude for race as part of their targeted advertising algorithm. Having been caught offering discriminatory services they are discontinuing that “option”.

  55. 55.

    Aleta

    Trump appeared familiar with a deal that a Playboy model made to sell the rights to her story of an alleged affair with him when Trump discussed the matter in September 2016 with his attorney Michael Cohen, according to a transcript of their conversation.

    The transcript, which was provided by President Trump’s legal team, shows that the then-GOP presidential nominee does not register confusion or surprise when Cohen references a plan to purchase the rights to model Karen McDougal’s story from American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer.

    AMI, whose chief executive is David Pecker, had signed a $150,000 deal with McDougal in August 2016 for her story, but never published it.

    “Um, I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” Cohen says, according to the transcript.

    “So what do you got to pay for this … one fifty …” Trump says.

    “Yes,” Cohen replies. “Um, and it’s all the stuff.”

    On Tuesday night, Trump attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani disputed the idea that the recording showing that Trump knew about the McDougal deal.

    “It doesn’t,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post. “That’s open to interpretation and we can have a fight about that.”

    “To me it sounds like Cohen is explaining something to [Trump] that he doesn’t understand,” Giuliani said, adding: “He doesn’t seem that familiar with anything. There is nothing to indicate he knew anything in advance.”

    The president’s legal team released the transcript after one of Cohen’s attorneys, Lanny Davis, provided CNN with the audio of the tape — marking dramatic escalation of rhetoric and turn against Trump by the Cohen camp.

    Davis told The Washington Post that Cohen, who is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud and election law violations, decided to release the tape “following extensive discussions” with his lawyers about the timing and consequence of doing so.”

    “It became necessary to rebut false statements,” he said. “We were not going to let Michael become a punching bag.”

    The Wall Street Journal first reported four days before the November 2016 election that McDougal had been paid by the National Enquirer. At the time, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks called McDougal’s claims “totally untrue.”

    “We have no knowledge of any of this,” she said.

    The revelation of the existence of the recording last week showed for the first time that Trump in fact knew of her claims and efforts to keep her quiet at least two months earlier.

    The transcript and audio released Tuesday indicated that Trump’s knowledge of McDougal’s claims to AMI predated that early September 2016 conversation with Cohen.

    [In secret recording seized by FBI, Trump and Cohen discuss buying rights to model’s account of alleged affair]

    The timing of the conversation between the GOP nominee and his longtime “fixer” also provides more evidence that Cohen was trying to squash embarrassing stories about Trump before the election — a major focus of the investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

    Wash Post tonight

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Aleta: From one of Giuliani’s former campaign strategists:

  64. 64.

    Amir Khalid

    Brett Kavanaugh has alarmingly shiny pink cheeks, like Barbara Bush on the Quaker Oats tin.

  65. 65.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Adam L Silverman: Yes, they’ve got a system down for this, and…
    I’m curious about who trump is talking to about Charleston, and let this thing blow over. Cole thinks he hears the woman (“honey” “I’m proud of you”) called Pam, as in Biondi.

    I hope this sparks some interest in why, exactly, it’s so important to keep the divorce papers with Ivana under wraps.

  66. 66.

    jl

    So, Guiliani bald face lied about what was on the tape, and blew away attorney client privilege? Why?
    I guess we should be very glad they do very self-destructive things.

    Edit: on the other hand, sometimes Trump says ‘please’. So, credit where credit is due.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    Lookee Lookee!

    And a photo montage… (Pic 1: with Lucian Wintrich – the Twink for Trump, Flynn Jr, and Laura “I’m on a sex tape with Cernovich” Loomer, Pic 2: Farage, Pic 3:Roger Stone, Pic 4: Bernie Sanders who she originally supported in 2016 before switching to the President’s campaign)

  71. 71.

    Mike in NC

    Repeating: Kavanaugh looks exactly like the dweeb store manager in the sitcom “Superstore”. WTF?

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I haven’t heard the tape yet. I was out earlier grabbing a bit and running a couple of errands.

    And I’m not saying I did, but I may have overdone it at the gym this afternoon…

  79. 79.

    oldgold

    Why in the hell would Trump’s lawyers waive the lawyer/ client privilege on this tape? There is no exculpatory aspect to it. In addition, this waiver might serve to waive or weaken the privilege as to the other tapes.

    From the get-go, the legal counsel Trump’s has received has been much less than above reproach.

  84. 84.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: The semi informed speculation is that Giuliani blew up the attorney client privilege because by doing so, this is one less thing that Cohen can offer for a deal. The important thing to remember is the Giuliani was never a very good lawyer, even when he was the US Attorney. He had a good team in the Southern District of New York and basically took credit for everything that went well and laid off the blame on his subordinates when something went wrong. And made sure if there was a microphone and/or TV camera, he’d always be in front of it. And he’s become a worse lawyer since he retired as mayor and became a security consultant and fixer.

  85. 85.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    They really think we’re morons.

    Well all the people that do hangout with them are morons so it is possible that they think everyone else is as well.

  91. 91.

    Mary G

    @Adam L Silverman: I see Federalists blocking people on Twitter right and left for saying they are funded by the Russians. Hope they’re right and that Mueller has the receipts.

  94. 94.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Yarrow: Useful idiot.

  95. 95.

    Adam L Silverman

    This is good news!

  98. 98.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: I did that post yesterday about Senator Paul and his idiotic idea and tonight he pops up with alt-rightette Fairbanks who has done work for Russian state media. So I figured I’d share.

  101. 101.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Adam L Silverman:

    They want the rest of us to feel powerless in light of these authoritarian tactics & the Kremlin’s long reach

    Unfortunately for them, all that does is piss off people like me and make them more determined to thwart the Russians. Have fun pretending to be God, Putin. Enjoy it while it lasts, you piece of shit.

  106. 106.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mary G: That’s the thing, no one knows who funds them and they won’t say. It could be the Mercers. Could be the Kochs. Could be Uihlien. Could be 1/2 a dozen others. And it could be a Russian oligarch.

  109. 109.

    burnspbesq

    @Aleta:

    The transcript, which was provided by President Trump’s legal team

    The fuck are these people doing? Am I engaging in wishful thinking, or is that a subject-matter waiver of the attorney-client privilege?

  112. 112.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Corner Stone:
    “Faker”? Ah, so you’re Shadow the Hedgehog. That would explain a lot about you //

    In all seriousness that’s not very nice to call me a piece of garbage. I don’t think I ever did that to you.

  113. 113.

    Barbara

    @burnspbesq: Apparently, they waived a few days ago by disclosing information about the recording and its subject, but Cohen viewed it as being inaccurate in a way that was intended to incriminate him, and decided to release the whole thing. So Trump’s team waived, and Cohen retaliated. But to the extent that the tape discusses subjects that go beyond this single transaction, arguably, he has waived privilege for a broader class of transactions. I can’t imagine what they hope to gain from this.

  116. 116.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MobileForkbeard:

    Wow, Kemp is a gigantic nutjob.

    Did you see the ad he ran where he basically threatened to shoot a young man who wanted to date his daughter (an actor, presumably, not an actual boyfriend, but it was creepy and stomach-churning. I think, but am not entirely sure, it was meant to be cute and funny; major fail on that front)?

  117. 117.

    Brickley Paiste

    @BruceFromOhio:
    I totally get it that people need to earn a living. And to do that some of them have to cultivate a twitter following and the easiest way to do that is to try and draw attention and get the most eyeballs is long twitter strings. It doesn’t matter that the readers are, demonstrably, idiots (because who else even uses Twitter?) because they still count as eyeballs.

    So, why not start a simple blog where you write in actual paragraphs and put a bitly link in the first string. Then people an read that and switch to your blog if they are marginally sentient. So you get eyeballs there, too.

    Win win win.

  118. 118.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: He also muzzled the kid in the ad.

    ETA: For folks who aren’t firearms savvy, muzzled is one of several terms for pointing the gun at someone, which is a violation of what are known as the Four Rules of Firearms Safety.

  121. 121.

    Aleta

    @burnspbesq: I thought they released the transcript to slightly desensationalize Cohen-attny’s imminent release of the tape? So Giu could pretend that his statements to the Post came from a position of control instead of defense? I could be wrong; away from a TV.

  125. 125.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I saw it only once, several weeks ago. Thought I remembered that Kemp pointed the gun right at the kid (thank you for the term “muzzled” in this context), but wasn’t positive enough to say so and had no desire to watch it again.

    ETA: a word

  126. 126.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Check and mate, sir. The defeated are going to bed now to have dreams of thousands and thousands of dollars of mysterious credit card debt be lifted away by Russian gangster fairies. Nite-nite.

  128. 128.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: Sometimes it’s also referred to as flagged. Basically one should never point one’s gun at anything you aren’t willing to and prepared to destroy/kill. Kemp’s explanation is that he didn’t actually do that, it just looks that way because the ad is in 2D.

  129. 129.

    oldgold

    @burnspbesq

    From WaPo:
    “On the audio released by Cohen, Trump says something muffled and then can be heard saying, “pay with cash.” In the transcript released by the President’s legal team, Trump is quoted as saying, “Don’t pay with cash.”

    Here we go again.

  132. 132.

    sdhays

    @SiubhanDuinne: He’s the one who also said he drives around in a big ol’ truck so if he “comes across some ‘illegals’, he can take them back to where they belong”, isn’t he? Or was that his opponent? They’re all such horrifically disgusting people.

  133. 133.

    gwangung

    @Sister Golden Bear: Yeah, well, they’ll respond by refusing to run ads of interest to minority groups (if white people can’t run white people only ads, then black folks can’t do ads of interest to black people),

  134. 134.

    Major Major Major Major

    @gwangung: This is probably exactly what will happen. Then advertisers will target high-correlation interest affinities, of course…

  135. 135.

    Millard Filmore

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Fairbanks has, I think, supported Anonymous, …

    Anonymous!!! I have not heard from them for a while. In today’s target rich environment shouldn’t they be a lot more prominent? Have they been outed as a Russian sponsored operation? Have the Men In Black paid some of them a visit and explained the hazards of annoying the wrong people? Why are they so quiet these days?

  140. 140.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Amir Khalid: I’m sure some ballparks have them, but I’ve never seen an apple or any other type of pie at a ballpark. Funnel cakes? Yes. Ice creams of various types? Yes. Cookies? Yes. Brownies? Yes. Churros? Si. But I’ve never seen pies being sold.

  142. 142.

    Major Major Major Major

    @gwangung: They already use affinity targeting for LGBT people, fairly effectively. These are just more categories of people for you to refine your audience by, to them.

  145. 145.

    Mnemosyne

    @sdhays:

    He’s the one who also said he drives around in a big ol’ truck so if he “comes across some ‘illegals’, he can take them back to where they belong”, isn’t he?

    Just to be clear, a guy in Georgia claims that he’s planning to drive 2,000 miles round-trip to take people back to Mexico. And his voters believe him and think that’s a rational thing to do.

  146. 146.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @sdhays:

    I think that was indeed Kemp, but honestly I haven’t followed the GOP candidates very closely. They all suck donkey snot and I would never, under any circumstances, vote for any of them.

  148. 148.

    Adam L Silverman

    @sdhays: @Mnemosyne: @SiubhanDuinne: Actually Kemp had a truck that he said he’d use for this and one of the other GOP candidates in the gubernatorial primary had a customized bus that he also claimed he’d use to round up undocumented entries and hand them over to ICE or CBP. The latter got kicked out of a Cracker Barrel and told not to bring his bus, himself, and/or his campaign back to any Cracker Barrel.
    https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/williams-deportation-bus-tour-hits-a-few-bumps-in-the-road/751146512

  149. 149.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: That’s what I’ll look like on Friday evening and Saturday. With the exception that my ears won’t be that big, I’m not brachiocephalic, and I’m about 5’11 and weigh about 275 lbs. Otherwise, that’s exactly what I’ll look like.

  152. 152.

    sdhays

    @Mnemosyne: It’s just hate signaling. All of these stunts are. I’m sure the number of people who take him literally is non-zero, but most people get what he’s saying: “I hate these people and will go to outrageous lengths to destroy their lives. Vote for me!!”

  156. 156.

    Lynn Dee

    @Ohio Mom:

    Michael Scott Moore, a journalist who was held captive by Somali pirates for 2-1/2 years, was interviewed on NPR the other day. (He has a book just out called The Desert and the Sea.) Among other things, he talked about how learning to live without hope (and thus also without despair) helped him to get through. It was kind of an electrifying thing to think about.

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