Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

It’s a doggy dog world.

đŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ đŸŽ”

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

White supremacy is terrorism.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

He really is that stupid.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

In my day, never was longer.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

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

No Justins, No Peace

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

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Post-Racial Open Thread: “Well, He Never Called ME That Name… “

Post-Racial Open Thread: “Well, He Never Called ME That Name… “

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The scramble to (once again) cover up the sorry truth that the Oval Office Occupant is a lifelong racist (BUT IF HE DIDN’T USE THE N-WORD IT DOESN’T COUNT!, goes the ritual incantation) is stirring up even the most sluggis bottom feeders…

Because they can’t be sure there isn’t a tape… and that is a depth to which even the professional Repub Defenders would prefer not to sink. Per the Washington Post:

… Asked whether there is a tape anywhere of Donald Trump using the n-word, as former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman has claimed, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pointedly and repeatedly declined to rule it out. At one point she even said, “I can’t guarantee anything.”

White House spokespeople have occasionally emphasized that denials were coming from the president and not from them personally — apparently not wanting another false denial to damage their own credibility — but on Tuesday it was crystal-clear exactly what was happening. Sanders, like others in President Trump’s orbit, including Kellyanne Conway, wanted no part of ruling out the president having used such a racial slur, just in case there is actually a tape…


Meanwhile…

Reader Interactions

265Comments

  2. 2.

    Mnemosyne

    Noted asshole Penn Jillette is on the record saying that Trump made him very uncomfortable on the set of “The Apprentice” by saying bigoted things. People who’ve interacted with Trump know that this is completely plausible.

  6. 6.

    lollipopguild

    @Mnemosyne: There were all kinds of stories floating around about trumps racist and sexist behaviour on his TV show and also in his personal life. To the racist/sexist assholes it was his “street-cred”.

  8. 8.

    Mnemosyne

    @lollipopguild:

    Sure, but as long as it’s not on tape, he still has plausible deniability. And his suburban supporters have plausible deniability.

    But once he says that N-word on tape or video, that tiny, ragged fig leaf that he and his supporters are clinging to gets ripped away. That’s why they’re so frantic to postpone that moment. It will force the comfortable fundamentalist suburbanites to see that they’re no better than the toothless white supremacist trailer park dwellers they look down on, and that cannot be allowed.

  9. 9.

    The Midnight Lurker

    I’m still waiting on that ‘Whitey Tape’, which I’m completely sure will absolutely make me do a 180 on my love, respect and admiration of the Obamas.
    And Mr. Jillette (I’m a big fan BTW), why would a fucking Libertarian give a shit about anyone, much less the President, using the N-word?

  12. 12.

    jc

    When Mueller drops the big shoe, Trump will shoot a man on 5th Ave. to distract from it. When it comes out that the “blocked” phone number Don Jr. called after the Trump Tower meeting indeed belonged to Don Sr., and it turns out that Mueller has known all along just how dirty the Trump gang are — there will suddenly be an urgent reason and necessity to engage in a major bombing campaign in say, Yemen or Iran or some other convenient trouble spot. It’s not possible to be too cynical about this administration.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    Inept? You betcha.

    Sanders announced the security clearance revocation without any mention that it seemingly wasn’t breaking news, nor any explanation for why it had apparently been kept a secret.

    “Today, in fulfilling that responsibility [to protect the nation’s classified information], I have decided to revoke the security clearance of John Brennan,” Sanders read, quoting a statement from Trump.

    But the statement was dated July 26, according to a document distributed to members of the media. Source

  18. 18.

    different-church-lady

    Release the full, raw unedited audio recordings, @OMAROSA !

    Irony is rising from the dead and she’s about to go on a killing rampage.

  21. 21.

    Karen S.

    I’m reminded of the instances many years ago when I’ve recounted to white acquaintances or friends those times when a mutual white acquaintance (could have been a co-worker, classmate, whatever) used a racial slur within my hearing or directed at me. The white friend, more often than not, would say some variation of, “I can’t believe that! He (or she) has always been so nice to me!” I only got that reaction a few times because after a few times, I just stopped telling white people about those times when I was the target of bigotry. (Also, those sorts of friends didn’t remain my friends for long.) I guess the difference with Trump here is that Trump’s white associates know he’s capable of using the N word and that he probably uses it a lot. Thing is, he is not even particularly nice to the white people around him.

  22. 22.

    different-church-lady

    @jeffreyw:

    I think anything short of an actual indictment of Trump will not be enough.

    Anything short of erasing his presidency from time-space itself will not be enough.

  25. 25.

    Duane

    The NDA’s are apparently a free pass to lie in this shitscrum of an administration. Leaving Pierson with any voice for them is hilarious. I thought she got dumped back to Fox. I can’t keep up with this clown act. Though Sander’s saying “I can’t guarantee anything” sums it up nicely.

  26. 26.

    MoxieM

    @Mnemosyne: A Conspiracy of Lemurs!! and they’re matriarchal. And baby goats always put a smile on my face. Thanks–sometimes we just need some emotional relief.

  28. 28.

    Gravenstone

    Wait, what? James fucking O’Keefe was complaining about someone editing recordings to possibly show an individual in a bad light? And he wasn’t struck dead by lightning on the spot?

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    Sure, but as long as it’s not on tape, he still has plausible deniability. And his suburban supporters have plausible deniability.

    But once he says that N-word on tape or video, that tiny, ragged fig leaf that he and his supporters are clinging to gets ripped away.

    This is nuts. I have no idea why people persist in the fantasy that hearing Trump uttering the N-word would have some dramatic effect on the American psyche.

    Fuck, Trump has had his goons put Hispanic children in cages, and do you really think that people are saying, “Oh, well, at least he didn’t say the N-word.”

    That’s why they’re so frantic to postpone that moment. It will force the comfortable fundamentalist suburbanites to see that they’re no better than the toothless white supremacist trailer park dwellers they look down on, and that cannot be allowed.

    America has often been, and still is in many ways, a racist country. And racists included every strata of white America. The American elite were always the worst white supremacists. It’s not like trailer park dwellers could own hundreds of slaves. But the middle and lower classes were happy to play enforcer, and to derive a perverted satisfaction from knowing that the elites hated nonwhites even more than they hated poor white people.

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    I’m still waiting on that ‘Whitey Tape’, which I’m completely sure will absolutely make me do a 180 on my love, respect and admiration of the Obamas.

    Exactly. Foolish, frightened white people sucked up the lies pour out by the GOP leadership and Fox News. They couldn’t believe that the Obamas didn’t secretly hate white people, and were desperate for some tangible proof that their misguided fantasies might be confirmed.

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    @Gravenstone:

    The normal reply on BJ would be, “There is no God.” I’m gonna go with, “There is a God but he doesn’t work that way.”

  32. 32.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Mnemosyne: If you read the interview from Vulture Penn Jillette is very careful not to say precisely what he remembers Trump saying. The did he say N* or not is kind of a trap. It is clear in Penn’s observation he made people uncomfortable with his vulgarity. This is a pedantic trap. Can’t find the N-word and you lose, find it and it is old news or out of context of just lack of political correctness. It’s not just the word and lack of it doesn’t mean he is not racist. I think he was more subtle and circumspect in is his racist language, learned in the course of his business when it wasn’t safe.

  33. 33.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    The Democratic opponent that was hacked isn’t the general challenger. He was at the time he was hacked, the leading Democrat in the Democratic primary. Dr. Hans Keirstead according to CNN Politics.

  34. 34.

    kindness

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: From what I read it was the loser of the Democratic members running. The more liberal of the opponents. Ronda (or someone like that) won and is running as a DNC type Democrat.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    @jc:
    Of course Mueller knows who the “blocked” number Jr. called was. Blocking caller ID may prevent a phone from knowing who was called, but the phone company knows and records it. Mueller only needed to subpoena those records to find out the truth.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    As it’s Open Thread, and we could all probably do with a breather –

    How long before they form a union?

    A team of trained birds will really clean up at a French theme park, where they will collect and discard cigarette butts and other bits of trash.

    Six rooks — a type of bird in the crow family, native to Europe and parts of Scandinavia and Asia — are expected to get to work this week picking up litter at Puy du Fou, a park that features period villages and gardens, as well as historic re-enactments, performances and events…. Source

  39. 39.

    randy khan

    I don’t know how many people an n-word tape would peel off from Trump, although it certainly would be some of them. Part of it might depend on how he responded – if he somehow managed to stumble through reading a prepared statement about how he regrets having used that word, it might not be a lot. I just don’t know how many people are clinging to plausible deniability and how many are looking for final confirmation that he’s one of them. I do know that the environment is different from 1974, when Nixon’s vulgarity on the tapes actually was the breaking point for a surprising number of people.

  41. 41.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @zhena gogolia: The only people who were pearl clutching about the “whitey” tape were folks who were projecting so much it was blinding.

  43. 43.

    Just One More Canuck

    Schooley
    ✔
    @Rschooley

    Sarah Sanders says she “can’t guarantee” Trump hasn’t shot a man in the middle of 5th Avenue.
    12:05 AM – Aug 15, 2018

    Sarah Sanders says she can’t guarantee that Trump didn’t shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die

  45. 45.

    B.B.A.

    Today Cuomo grew a pair and admitted that America was never great. And then walked it back within hours.

    I wish white America wasn’t so goddamn fragile and could take its head out of the fucking sand for once.

  47. 47.

    JWL

    Someone should ask Michael Richards to weigh in on this N controversy. Larry David could even film another homage to that regrettable moment in the great comic actor’s career. He did before, so why not milk it for a few more laughs? I’ve read L.D. is considering firing-up his show again, and I hope he does. If so, why not? Who among us doubts, for even a split second, that Amorosa would be happy to appear as herself. Just think how many of her books it would sell.

  48. 48.

    zhena gogolia

    Today in passing I mentioned “Omarosa,” and my husband said, “Who’s Omarosa?” Wouldn’t be lovely to live like that?

  50. 50.

    efgoldman

    Cheerful topic, totally random change:
    Today we are five.
    It has been a swirly confusing year, and according to Mommy, Grammy and Grandpa came much too soon.
    Grammy and Grandpa sent me some cool presents, including a world Globe that lights up at night to show the stars.
    My three favorite words and things to say are “Why”, “how” and “show me/tell me.” Mommy is just like Grandpa was with her. – tries to explain the most complex things. Maybe they both should have been teachers.
    Can’t wait for September. I start real school (kindergarten) AND my new baby brother will be borned. Mommy and Grammy say I have no idea what’s going what I’m in for.
    Next year I’ll report on the first year of school.

  55. 55.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    And Mr. Jillette (I’m a big fan BTW), why would a fucking Libertarian give a shit about anyone, much less the President, using the N-word?

    If you read the interview I linked to here@YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S): he indicates that he has evolved a bit in both his views on Libertarianism and dealing with people in general as he has aged.

  56. 56.

    Jay

    @NotMax:

    They already have a Union, a 4 day workweek, 3 month vacation, pensions, health and wellness coverage, and representation on the Board,

    They are French after all.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    I have no idea why people persist in the fantasy that hearing Trump uttering the N-word would have some dramatic effect on the American psyche.

    There’s a reason the Trumpistas are frantic to prevent any tape or video with Trump saying That Word from becoming public, and it ain’t because they expect Americans to just shrug it off as inconsequential.

    Sick as it is, the Trumpistas have plausible deniability about the kidnapped children because there is no video. That’s why they’re freaking out at the possibility of a video surfacing.

    And don’t think that people have forgotten just because the MSM has shoved the story down the memory hole. I still see local coverage almost every day, plus people referring to it. The last episode of “The Good Place” podcast had Mike Schur urging people to donate to KIND and other refugee rights groups working on the problem.

  62. 62.

    Duane

    @jc: Sen. Warren was on Seth Meyer’s show last nite. She’s asking State for answers about the Saudi’s bombing a school bus in Yemen that killed dozens of children. So am I. I hadn’t even heard of it until then. Too many outrages to keep up, but that horror needs investigated.

  67. 67.

    Thoughtful David

    I think the Trumpanzees are shitting bricks about the n-tape for good reason. There are three things they have to worry about, if it comes out:

    1. It will make some of the less all-in Republicans either jump ship or not vote. Especially Republican women, who have been expending enormous calories of brain-glucose trying to forget the puzzy tape. True, it won’t be but 1% of them, but 1% matters.
    2. It will make African-American and Democratic voters even more enthusiastic to get out there and vote. If this is only 1%, it still matters. It adds on to the 1% in #1.
    3. The news won’t be able to ignore it. It will even have to be dealt with on Faux News. There are a bunch of low-information voters out there who aren’t paying attention to who has just had his security clearance revoked or not. Suddenly, the n-tape story would be everywhere in the news, so the LIVs would even see it. Some of them would be horrified as well, and either not vote (some Republicans) or go out and vote anyway (as in #2 above).

    Right now, Republicans can’t afford to lose 1% of the vote. Danny O’Connor would now be Congressman O’Connor with 1% more. Right now there are a lot of elections that are a very close. It doesn’t matter if the n-tape doesn’t drop his approval to zero. That 1% is important.

  68. 68.

    Tony J

    I’m not a betting man, but I’d put real cash money on three things being true.

    1) Everyone who has spent any time with The Pustule when he’s on an angry rant has heard him drop N-bombs.

    2) He’s used it in reference to the Obamas.

    3) Everyone thinks there’s recordings of it, because they all record each other like mad for their own book deals.

    There’s so much panic around this issue because they know how bad any secret recordings have the potential to be. However bad we think The Pustule can be, he always proves himself much, much worse.

  70. 70.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Duane:

    The NDA’s are apparently a free pass to lie in this shitscrum of an administration

    I don’t get how these NDAs are suppposed to work. Aren’t White House staff employed by the US Federal government?

    How can they have a NDA with Trump as a party?

  71. 71.

    Mnemosyne

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S):

    I am not the first person to observe that libertarianism and having kids is pretty much totally incompatible if you’re not delusional or a total asshole. Being in charge of a completely helpless tiny person tends to change one’s views about things like “every man for himself.”

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    O-o-o-kay.

    Someone in movie on as background said “duck a l’orange.”

    Closed caption said “boca grange.”

    :)

  73. 73.

    Kay

    Omarosa isn’t the only one who made recordings. Kelly fired another Trumpster for recording the low quality appointees going about their duties.

    There’s probably a lot out there. And they’ll all be selling it or trading it or using it to blackmail.

  75. 75.

    randy khan

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    I’m pretty confident that you’re wrong on the specific number. It may not be many, but there will be at least a few. The question is whether it’s enough to make any difference (and particularly noting that neither the GOP in general nor Mr. Trump has much in the way of margin for error right now).

  78. 78.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    Here is a story about three tapes: one that does exist, one that might exist, and one that doesn’t.

    The first one, the Access Hollywood tape, cemented the foundational myth of Donald Trump’s presidency—that he is invulnerable to political scandals of his own making.

    Trump explained on that tape that he exploits his star power to “grab [women] by the pussy” with impunity, and one month after it surfaced, he became president (hat tip: Julian Assange*, James Comey*).

    It became commonplace after that experience for jaded liberals and savvy politicos alike to either ascribe Trump mystical political powers or imagine that the 63 million people who voted for him were all hopelessly brainwashed or vile. If that tape didn’t matter, then nothing could possibly matter.

    There are many asterisks to this story, including the two above, because a simpler telling clashes with the awful reality that he is still the president. On the day the Access Hollywood footage came to light, Trump’s support in the polls was falling, and it fell further once voters processed what they saw. No, it didn’t cost him the presidency, but it has in many ways defined it: Trump lost the popular vote by a significant margin. He entered office not just historically unpopular, but widely and rightly loathed. That antipathy inspired a vast, worldwide protest the day after his inauguration and has fueled the largest social justice movements the country has seen in decades. He has never escaped the taint of that tape. Anger over it persists both for the obvious reason, and because the majority of the country is concerned about the knock-on effect for our culture that a man could confess to serial sexual assault, maintain a frothing political base, and be rewarded with high office.

    Go visit LGM

  80. 80.

    Gelfling 545

    @Viva BrisVegas: TPM quotes Cory Lewandowski (god have mercy) as saying they’re likely worthless and Trump just doesn’t know. He dresses it up a bit but that’s the gist.

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    @Viva BrisVegas

    Simple answer: They can’t.

    Which is why Dolt 45 will whine and pout and moan and threaten but never, never bring a legal action against anyone with such an NDA, even his ramshackle stable of lawyers knowing full well he’d lose in a heartbeat.

  83. 83.

    The Midnight Lurker

    There’s another zoo I lurk at where I tease and torture the Trumpanzees, and if there is one thing I am absolutely certain of, they do not give a shit about Trump using the ‘N’ word. Period.
    Putin probably still has a hickey on his ass where Trump smooched it in Helsinki. If they aren’t going to get upset about that global humiliation, why on Earth would you think that a recording of him being a racist bigot (just like the rest of them) would make any difference?
    On a semi-related note… Q Anon is now a ‘liberal conspiracy’ to discredit Trump? WTF?

  85. 85.

    Gretchen

    @Tony J: i hadn’t thought of him using that word about the Obama’s. I do think that would make a difference.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: It would be a public service. I just refer to you as SD because I can never remember how to spell your nym. I asked about 4 times – early on – how that was actually pronounced but never got a reply. So I would buy you an ice cream cone if you changed it. :-)

    However, I think it’s quite possible that new people on BJ might make assumptions about you with the new nym, and I’m not sure you want to risk your brand.

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    @Viva BrisVegas: .
    My understanding, which is worth effectively nuttin’: WH employees are restricted from releasing confidential information in perpetuity, but cannot be restricted from sharing other information because they’re protected from repercussions as federal employees. Campaign staffers–and Trump’s all were under NDAs–are bound by those agreements and the legal consequences of breaking them. So Omarosa and the many others who transitioned from the campaign to the WH need to be careful about what they reveal from prior to transitioning.

    Or something.

  90. 90.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @NotMax:

    Simple answer: They can’t.

    So shouldn’t the MSM push back in the Pierson interview have been, “What kind of contracts with Trump are you signing that inhibit your duties as an employee of of the US government?”

  91. 91.

    PIGL

    The ambiguity – or merest shadow of doubt – inserting the assistance of an N-clang tape is pure electoral gold for the orange fat nazi. He gets all the credit of having actually said it in public, and none of the blame.

  93. 93.

    Martin

    @randy khan:

    I don’t know how many people an n-word tape would peel off from Trump, although it certainly would be some of them.

    No, none. I mean, if it were Mitt Romney, yeah. But with Trump we’ve already passed through the crucible of ‘shithole countries’, ‘grab em by the pĂŒssy’, ‘low IQ’ and so on. There’s nothing left to boil off. Anyone who might be offended by an n-bomb dumped Trump before the election. Everyone who remained is cool with it.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @Gelfling 545: One of the nightly shows from last night – I think was Trevor Noah – quoted a white house attorney who said they were unenforceable, but they made people sign them to humor Trump.

  99. 99.

    Jay

    @trollhattan:

    Nope. There’s so much illegal bs in the NDA’s they are unenforceable.

    Shitgibbon hired the Gawker Bankruptor to harass Omarosa in Arbitration. Ain’t gonna work.

    All the NDA’s do is add legal costs that the Defendants will never recover.

  102. 102.

    dexwood

    @Subaru Diane:
    Stick with Mxyztptlk, it stands out. Actually, I’ve always liked your nym, though, I have no idea what it means or how you pronounce it. It signifies quality comments when I see it.

  103. 103.

    Martin

    @trollhattan: I’m not even convinced they have that much. I’m pretty sure in CA that NDAs are only enforceable after employment ends in the case of trade secrets. I don’t think you can shield, for example, embarrassing information past the point of employment. I’m sure this varies considerably by state. CA is one of the only states where non-competes are explicitly illegal (in case anyone wondered why so many tech companies are here).

  104. 104.

    Martin

    @Jay: Yeah, that was always my sense as well. The economic terrorism aspect of Trump’s legal strategy probably worked great until the moment he decided to run for office. Pretty sure Omarosa could cover a 7 figure legal bill on gofundme in a matter of days, even given her general unpopularity.

  105. 105.

    JPL

    @Martin: True. When I first saw Luckovich’s cartoon, I wondered if it was overboard. Those feelings lasted for a few minutes. It did make me cringe a little, because that is where we are at.
    I linked to it at comment 54.

  107. 107.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Gretchen: Are you kidding? 99% of the time he uses ‘that word’ he’s talking about the Obamas! The rest of the time, it’s just whenever a random black person crosses his line of sight!

  112. 112.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Jay: Well, the NDA they have for Omarosa is one from the campaign, and I am not sure if drafts of that form are out. I seem to remember talk of the same gobbledygook language in those as well so they wouldn’t stand up in court, OTOH they are arbitration agreements, so to you have to go to court to get to court or trust a knowledgeable and fair arbitrator reviews the agreement.

  114. 114.

    Jay

    “And we’ve been through this before, but it is also true and irrelevant that this won’t affect Trump with “his base.” Indeed it won’t. It also won’t lead to Trump resigning, or cause the Republican conference to start investigating him or vote against his judicial nominees. But elections are decided at the margin. Republicans are already staring at a wave in 2018, and losing even a point on the generic ballot would be a big deal. And Trump has almost no votes so spare; anything that accelerates the exodus of educated suburbanites from the GOP or motivates people of color or young people to come to he polls is a serious problem even if the effects are relatively small. The lesson of an election decided by less than 100,000 votes in three states in which a lot of things broke right for Trump at the end is not, in fact, “LOL nothing can ever matter.”

    Trump clearly thinks the release of a tape with him saying the n-word wouldn’t be in his interests. He’s right.”

    From LGM

  116. 116.

    gene108

    @kindness:

    If only Hillary had warned us in her e-mails the press might have said something about it.

    The press rarely reported actual emails. They never informed the public they were available on the State Dept website, so the public could read the emails and decide on their own.

    All the media wanted to do was sling mud at Hillary.

  117. 117.

    SRW1

    Release the full, raw unedited audio recordings, @OMAROSA !

    Any more prove needed that there is no god beyond O’Keefe not immediately being felled by a thunderbolt?

  120. 120.

    Steve in the ATL

    @JPL: well, she doesn’t feel comfortable at the Clermont Lounge since she retired from dancing there last month

  125. 125.

    Jay

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S):

    The Campaign NDA’s are full of the same crap and are just Paper Terrorism.

    You don’t actually have to bother to go to Arbitration, ( which is “rigged”). You just ignore it until they go to Court to get an Enforcement Order.

    Then, you show up with your Publishers highly experienced legal eagles, and the NDA’s tossed for violating 9,846 New York State laws.

  126. 126.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Jay: I didn’t understand the point the author was trying to make because he used “less than” when he should have used “fewer than.”

    Why, yes, I am a pedantic asshole. Why do you ask?

  127. 127.

    tobie

    @Duane: Chris Murphy (CT) tweeted about the Saudi bombing of the bus in Yemen soon after it happened. If it wasn’t for his tweet, I would not have heard about this at all. I’m glad Elizabeth Warren’s following up on this.

  129. 129.

    NotMax

    @The Midnight Lurker

    So old can remember when DC used to employ an asterisk and and provide a footnote at the bottom of the first panel of any comic wherein his name appeared.

    *Mix-yez-pit-lek

    Then much later came the SuperFriends show, which confused the matter, with a different pronunciation altogether, for the rest of eternity.

    Trivia: In his first appearance, the name was spelled Mxyztplk.

    Perhaps the imps on the 5th dimension’s equivalent of Ellis Island changed it.

    :)

  131. 131.

    Hungry Joe

    I’m going to go out on a long, thin limb and say that there may not be any Trump “n-word” tapes. It’s a version of the Fermi Paradox: Where are they? Wouldn’t we have heard one by now?

  132. 132.

    Jay

    @tobie:

    There’s footage online of the kids on the bus just before the bombing.

    Outside of the US where Trumprage hasn’t consumed the Media completely, it’s a big deal.

  133. 133.

    JPL

    @Jay: That is so horrifying. Why is Saudi still our friend, and why isn’t this the news?
    btw what about the children who haven’t been united with their family yet?

  141. 141.

    Josie

    @Tony J:

    You have summed it up nicely. This quote says it all.

    However bad we think The Pustule can be, he always proves himself much, much worse.

  142. 142.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Major Major Major Major:
    In case you missed my response:

    Whether we live or die is not the issue, all smart ass comments to the contrary.

    Whether American democracy lives or dies is the issue.

    When you understand that, you will understand what it means to be an American.

    So take care of yourself. America needs selfless, not selfish.

  144. 144.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Hungry Joe: As a low, low level Democratic Operative, may I just say, we’ve been hearing about N-word tapes since before the election. Mark Burnett has tapes. NBC has tapes. Tom Arnold has tapes. Michael Cohen has tapes. Michael Avenatti knows Cohen has tapes. Penn Jillette was ‘uncomfortable’ working with Trump on The Apprentice because he might have heard something, but can’t say because it would be ‘immoral’. But, Mr. Jillette, is there a tape? Cause you’re just a big nobody unless you have a tape nobody can hear.
    Omarosa has tapes of people talking about Omarosa, and she’s going to bleed out the Omarosa tapes one-by-one over the next few days/weeks/years until somebody gives her her own show, damnit!

  145. 145.

    Jerzy Russian

    @zhena gogolia: I recall you did mention that your husband has been dead since the 1850s, so it is understandable that he hasn’t heard of Omarosa.

  148. 148.

    Gin & Tonic

    So my old physical therapist (no, she’s not old, she’s young and quite attractive, but I haven’t seen her in months) says I should be in a book, for the degree of recovery compared to the severity of my injury. I told her I’m a stubborn SOB. Anyway, my grip strength is now a bit over 50kg, which is considered above “strong” for a man 10 years my junior, but when I do a flat-hand push-up I have this weird compensation, moving that hand “out” a bit and still unable to lock the elbow when I’m in the plank position. She says my surgeons would have put good money on my never being able to do a flat-hand plank; she thought 60% recovery would have been good. I feel like I’m at 97-98% at this point; she says I should consider that 150%. But I don’t. So we went over some additional exercises, because she thinks the problem now is in my shoulder and not my wrist. We shall see, I guess. “Be grateful for what you have” is not in my normal way of thinking.

  149. 149.

    low-tech cyclist

    The Trumpists who signed NDAs didn’t get to keep copies of the NDAs they signed.

    How could this be enforceable, even in a private setting? How can you be required to abide by the terms of an agreement that you are denied a copy of? How can you know what those terms are? That makes no sense.

  151. 151.

    Suburu Diane

    @zhena gogolia:

    I honestly had never heard of Omarosa until around the 2017 inauguration. IIRC, I had to come here and ask the BJackals to enlighten me.

  152. 152.

    Platonailedit

    @Thoughtful David: @Jay:

    Thank you. The constant ‘it won’t move the needle for the trumpturds’ self-fulfilling prophecy/meme around here is getting tiresome. Who gives a shit about these innate racists? Just outvote these scums.

  154. 154.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Made a new nym.

    First time, got out of moderation.

    Second time, back in moderation.

    Since I have to type it in afresh each time, I might as well revert to the tried and true, right?

    Subaru Diane, we hardly knew ye.

  156. 156.

    daryljfontaine

    @NotMax:

    Then much later came the SuperFriends show, which confused the matter, with a different pronunciation altogether, for the rest of eternity.

    That’s where I got it from. I’ve been saying “Mitzelplik/Mixelplik” forever.

    D

  157. 157.

    Jay

    @JPL:

    The Saudi’s should have been dropped by the West the day after 9/11, but they drop $20billion a year on K Street, a couple hundred billion on weapons and “Military Contractors” a year, and used to be able to control the price of gas at the pump with a turn of the tap.

    Both LGM and Wonkette are covering the daily news in the Ongoing Ethnic Cleansing of ‘Murika Horrors.

    Yes, it’s getting worse.

  158. 158.

    Elizabelle

    @Gin & Tonic: Captains of Crush Grippers. LOL. Sounds positively NRA. But go for it!

    @SiubhanDuinne: Well I love thinking of you as Subaru Diane. Especially since I cannot pronounce SDuinne. Remind me again, with phonics, how you do it.

    PS: Am reading Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time for the first time. Feel like I need to draw up a Plantagenet and Tudor family tree, cuz I is getting lost. Ah, the pre-Wikipedia days.

    But really a good lesson on the unreliable narrator.

  161. 161.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Platonailedit: An 11-year-old boy at DefCon hacked a duplicate of the Florida Board of Elections site in less than 10 minutes. 11-year-olds understand the world.

  163. 163.

    cmorenc

    @Mnemosyne:

    Noted asshole Penn Jillette is on the record saying that Trump made him very uncomfortable on the set of “The Apprentice” by saying bigoted things. People who’ve interacted with Trump know that this is completely plausible.

    Penn Jillette has the sort of libertarian outlook being a successful, wealthy, popular Las Vegas-based entertainer facilitates – he has the financial means, ability, and social environment in LV to do pretty much whatever the Hell he wants, and isn’t personally confronted with any of the social or economic downsides to glibertarianism. Libertarianism can be a pretty attractive philosophy to people like him who have the means and position to be well, pretty much at complete liberty already, except for the occasional bump into some government regulation that annoys them, and writing big income tax checks, which also annoys them.

    In short, he’s a “hothouse” libertarian. Kind of like when conservatives accused an academic liberal of being a “hothouse liberal” speaking from a perch insulated from the more challenging practical issues of concern to everyday folk.

  164. 164.

    Citizen Alan

    @zhena gogolia:

    Before 2016, I mainly knew about Omarasa from watching Amarosa, a fake Reality TV character designed to parody her who appeared in the Joe Schmoe Show. I have much fonder memories of the Joe Schmoe Show than the current GOP.

  166. 166.

    Charluckles

    I think it’s worth remembering that Trump isn’t on the ballot, but will be a huge part of campaigns. I am thinking about our governors race in Colorado. Loosely veiled racism and anti-immigrant hysteria will be major components. Having the Republican candidate (with the KKK ancestry) talk about whether he agrees with Trumps use of the N word would be devastating. He cuts Trump loose and his base doesn’t show up to vote or he agrees with Trump and really goes down in flames.

  168. 168.

    Jay

    @Platonailedit:

    Welcome. The Die Hard Trumpturds only number some 17% of the available electorate. The Insane Clown POSus only got 24.3% of the available vote.

    Every Republican, Democrat or Independent who’s motivated by the Daily Horrors, not to vote ReThug, is a win.

    Every Republican, Democrat and Independent who is motivated to get out and vote against the Daily Horror, is a win.

    Way too much “eeoring” going on here.

  170. 170.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne:

    Sick as it is, the Trumpistas have plausible deniability about the kidnapped children because there is no video.

    Wait, what.

  172. 172.

    TenguPhule

    @Jay:

    Every Republican, Democrat and Independent who is motivated to get out and vote against the Daily Horror, is a win.

    Did you miss what Republicans are doing just today to make sure people can’t vote?

  176. 176.

    TriassicSands

    If an n-word tape exists and drops, I predict at least five percent of Republicans will say they disapprove of Trump for at least 2 weeks.

    This strikes me as naively optimistic. Substitute “are disappointed in” for “disapprove of” and “24 hours” for “2 weeks” and I think it’s closer to what we can expect — from the really marginal Trump supporters.

  177. 177.

    debbie

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I fractured my wrist last fall (far less seriously than your injury). Doctor said I could lose the brace in four to six weeks. It took five months. I couldn’t put any weight on it and so couldn’t do pushups or much of anything else. I started out small and I tested it every day and eventually was back to where I was (at least until I f’ed up my shoulder a few weeks ago).

    I believe I’m a bit older than you, but still. Patience. You will get there.

  184. 184.

    TenguPhule

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    They may as well use him in the next DC movie. Nothing else is working.

    They can feel the burn from that on Krypton.

    Also, very sadly accurate.

  187. 187.

    Elizabelle

    Good article in Washington Monthly by Martin Longman (think that’s Booman??): My Faith is in Nemesis

    … lately I’ve been thinking more and more about Nemesis, the “goddess of indignation” who exacted retribution for foul acts and brought down to size anyone enjoying an undeserved good fortune. Another culture might call this karma or “just deserts.” The Book of Proverbs says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” I think every culture knows the feeling that someone deserves a good comeuppance. Indignation is a universal emotion.

    Why yes. It is about Mr. Trump.

    Donald Trump has had a long stretch of impunity and it’s causing a huge spike in indignation. That’s why I don’t think of him as the tragic hero whose downfall evokes pity. King Oedipus had no way of knowing that he’d killed his father and married his mother so the Gods’ wrath seemed something less than just. Trump knows exactly what he’s done wrong and he’s tempted fate for so long that he might just sense that his luck will run out. I think of him more as Narcissus …

    This seems appropriate not just because Trump appears to suffer from some narcissistic personality disorder but because he seems fated to die a political death born of tragic sins of character: the seeds of his eventual downfall were instrumental in his initial successes. And, like Oedipus and like Narcissus, one of these flaws is a distorted and incomplete picture of reality.

    Think of how Trump continually incriminates himself in statements and tweets. What is that if not a false sense of impunity?

    Anyway, it’s a good article and very worth a read. I am rooting for Nemesis or anyone else to smite Mr. Trump’s ass.

    Past time, really. This tragedy has too many acts.

  189. 189.

    Platonailedit

    If you stand up to Russia like John Brennan then your security clearance gets revoked.

    If you plead guilty to lying to the FBI about Russia like Mike Flynn then you get to keep your security clearance.

    If you conspire with Russia like Donald Trump then you get to be president.

    — Ryan Knight ? (@ProudResister) August 15, 2018

  190. 190.

    TenguPhule

    @JPL:

    and why isn’t this the news?

    Its Yemen. That horrible shit has been going on for years thanks to the Saudis.

  195. 195.

    NotoriousJRT

    @JPL:
    Depressing and so true. Omarosa is a side show that will merely make the koolaid drinkers love Trump that much more. Lukavich loses his security clearance any day now.

  197. 197.

    TS (the original)

    So hearing that trump will fight to avoid speaking to Mueller – to the SCOTUS level. Guess this is why he needs his new Judge rather quickly.

  198. 198.

    TS (the original)

    So hearing that trump will fight to avoid speaking to Mueller – to the SCOTUS level. Guess this is why he needs his new Judge rather quickly.

    Used the wrong email – sorry if duplicate appears

  199. 199.

    TenguPhule

    Guess who’s back?

    Add another layer to the legal drama surrounding the Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple — and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court.

    Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., on Tuesday filed another federal lawsuit against the state alleging religious discrimination.

    This time, the cake at the center of the controversy was not for a wedding. In June 2017, Colorado lawyer Autumn Scardina called Masterpiece Cakeshop to request a custom cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside.

    The occasion, Scardina told the bakery’s employees, was to celebrate her birthday, as well as the seventh anniversary of the day she had come out as transgender.

    Masterpiece Cakeshop ultimately refused Scardina’s order on religious grounds.

    “Phillips declined to create the cake with the blue-and-pink design because it would have celebrated messages contrary to his religious belief that sex — the status of being male or female — is given by God, is biologically determined, is not determined by perceptions or feelings, and cannot be chosen or changed,” the complaint stated.

    Here we go again!

  200. 200.

    jimmiraybob

    It occurred to me a while back that there doesn’t appear to be anything in the Constitution to prevent an out-of-control, authoritarian, fuck-the-law president, based on purported national security concerns, from outlawing a political party, seizing their records and freezing their assets.

    Let’s see….I said this on 8/15/18 @ 8 PMish. Setting stop watch.

  201. 201.

    Onmes Omnibus

    @TenguPhule: WI has an open primary. One ballot with every party’s candidates on it. You can only vote candidates in one party. In addition to the Reps and Dems, it had Libertarians, Greens, etc.

  202. 202.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @TenguPhule: Sir, you are wasting your time. Do you know how many times I complain about the voting machines here? I saw you trying to alert them about DefCon. Deaf ears, right? Not only did an eleven-year-old hack a machine in ten minutes, another kid turned one onto a jukebox complete with a flashing display. And those were just the highlights of the show. They really should read what some of the ‘adult’ hackers had to say, not to mention election integrity professionals. Almost all of Texas’ 243 counties are on the box. Almost all the boxes are controlled by republicans. The companies that built the Goddamn boxes are aligned with the GOP.
    They are purging voter rolls, reducing polling places, shorting voting times, terrorizing entire minority communities by telling them that if they try to register, they can be arrested! Again, I saw where you posted about the State of Georgia trying to disenfranchise 75% of the black vote. Who’s listening to you? Nobody but those two idiots Ghost and the Lurker.
    I deal with this shit every single Goddamn day. I’m working my ass off to try and do something about it, and sound the alarm. People will not listen.
    But Omarosa has tapes!

  205. 205.

    hueyplong

    I’m kind of enjoying the thought of Trump potentially stroking out due to the fact that he can’t tolerate the dreaded trifecta of being poked at publicly by someone with three strikes against her (female, black, “disloyal”), and that enjoyment will not be diminished by the fact that Lurker has resorted to italics.

  209. 209.

    TenguPhule

    @The Midnight Lurker: I live in a safe state where we have the opposite problem. Its easy to vote but too many people don’t want to even try. So its mindboggling to see the sheer depths taken by other states to see Democrats don’t get to vote.

  211. 211.

    Elizabelle

    A tale of our leading newspapers.

    WaPost: Critics accuse Trump of stripping ex-CIA chief’s clearance to create distraction

    The timing of the move to revoke John O. Brennan’s security clearance suggests an attempt to draw attention away from news of former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman’s accusations, skeptics said.

    We are a nation of skeptics, at least the non-LIVs (low information voters) among us. But props to the WaPost.

    The Grey Lady: FTF NY Times:

    Trump Revokes Former C.I.A. Chief’s Security Clearance

    In a remarkable attack on a political opponent, President Trump stripped the security clearance of John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director under President Barack Obama.

    Mr. Brennan has become a frequent critic of Mr. Trump, often questioning the president’s ability to serve in the Oval Office.

    Remarkable. Like Picasso or Nancy Kerrigan or those cats walking on two legs or something …. anyway, NYT does make it clear it’s mean-dealing with an opponent. Maggie Haberman’s byline is not on this one!

    LA Times headline:

    Trump revokes security clearance for former CIA Director Brennan, and has 9 more critics in his sights

    The NY Times gets the kneepads again. Le sigh.

  213. 213.

    TS (the original)

    @Elizabelle:

    suggests an attempt to draw attention away from news of former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman’s accusations, skeptics said.

    I did wonder if the timing related to Brennan being on MSNBC last night – being very critical of the president*. I am probably not cynical enough about the reality of trump.

  214. 214.

    Elizabelle

    @TS (the original): Letter dated July 26, right? So I’d guess this is “look here! Shiny object!”

    Did it turn out Brennan and the others just found out today? I haven’t followed anything more than commentary here.

  217. 217.

    raven

    Stacy Abrams
    TONIGHT: I’ll be on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) at 11/10c to discuss our people-powered campaign, bold vision for Georgia, and my new book, “Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change.”
    Tag a friend, and tune in tonight at 11!

  219. 219.

    jimmiraybob

    @Baud:

    And Obama Didn’t. Even. Try.

    Yeah, he believed in the system, and like his Party, believed in governing and solving problems and not 1) tearing the whole thing down and selling the pieces to the incredibly rich and/or 2) instituting one-party Apartheid rule. I miss the Obama clan.

  220. 220.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @TenguPhule: Ohhhh! So you want to talk about voter apathy? Well… fear not, we’ve got that going on down here too! Texas is indicative of the rest of the damn nation in that respect. Better than fifty percent don’t vote.

  225. 225.

    Procopius

    @Gelfling 545: I imagine that’s why Trump has started an arbitration action instead of suing. Professional arbitraters claim to be impartial, but there are customers who have hired them before and might hire them again if they like the results and then there are the victims, who will never be seen again. Which one is the arbitrator likely to favor? That’s why I find the decision by the Supremes so stomach churning. We’re in the Lochner Era again, whether Kavanaugh gets confirmed or not.

  226. 226.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    Keep in mind that Tey wrote her book about 20 years before contemporaneous accounts of the disappearance of the Princes were discovered in European archives. She had an intriguing theory that, alas, facts have now disproven.

    It’s still a well-written piece of fiction, though.

  229. 229.

    TS (the original)

    @Elizabelle:

    Did it turn out Brennan and the others just found out today?

    Other than whoever prepared the memo & no doubt other members of trump’s cortege the others – media and Brennan only found out today via WHPC briefing. Wapo and MSNBC (via Rachel) think it was released today to take the heat away from other issues. The memo was dated July 26. They are probably right – although someone other than trump probably thought that through. trump reacts to the media which is why I though he watched Brennan last night.

  237. 237.

    Ruckus

    @Martin:
    Not only cool with it but probably use it themselves and don’t consider it to be in any way wrong. Maybe they don’t use it in every day speech but it’s in their vocabulary and it for sure is a word that describes how they feel about people of color. IOW the are no different in their racism than shitgibbon.

  238. 238.

    Elizabelle

    @Mnemosyne: Ah, thanks. I am not up on the current doings of the missing princes. Do know R3 was found in a parking lot and reburied.

    Sounds like the missing princes were George Washington and the cherry tree lore-like, from primary grades.

  240. 240.

    Mnemosyne

    @Onmes Omnibus:

    Poor Buckingham was the fall guy. In fact, his rebellion against R3 was most likely because he found out that R3 had ordered the murder of the princes and was revolted.

    (Sorry, pun temptation was irresistible.)

  242. 242.

    Ruckus

    @Hungry Joe:
    Considering all the Clinton bashing and lack of shitgibbon bashing from basically all quarters, I’d say that if a tape had been available that no one would have played it. Now that the gloves appear to finally be coming off and people are willing to say what should have been widely said over 2 yrs ago (It was stated a lot but by people like us here, iow nobodies for the most part) tapes that might have existed may start coming out. Also a lot of the people with tapes are probably somewhat on his side and just haven’t been fucked enough yet to release any tapes. He’ll get to them sooner than later, he manages to piss off pretty much every one around him and the only ones that will remain loyal and might have tapes will stay that way, right up until that loyalty costs them more than playing the tape.

  243. 243.

    jonas

    @Mnemosyne: Yeah, kind of like hearing Bill Maher complaining that he was deeply uncomfortable with someone’s bigotry against people of faith. You’re like…damn! Must have been some ugly shit!

    And also: Hello, Alain? Still having to re-enter my info w/ every post!

  244. 244.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Gretchen: His supporters have used and do use the N word about the Obamas frequently. While dreaming of ‘the good ol’ days when they could have the Obamas as their slaves.

  248. 248.

    Onmes Omnibus

    @Elizabelle: Of course the Tudors were usurpers. I am a mild Ricardian. I won’t go to the mattresses for him, but I think the evidence on the Princes incriminates Buckingham. Also, Richard’s seizure of the throne is understandable in dynastic terms. He was an adult, competent administrator, and proven warrior. Ed VI was a child.

  249. 249.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    Henry VII made a lot of bluster about his right to the throne, and he was a close enough heir that he was held prisoner in France so he couldn’t try to overthrow Edward IV, but the Tudors’ real claim to the throne was through Elizabeth of York. As the eldest daughter of Edward IV, she was the rightful queen of England after her brothers died, which is why R3 was interested in perhaps marrying her himself once he was conveniently widowed.

  251. 251.

    Mnemosyne

    @Onmes Omnibus:

    Read Alison Weir’s The Princes in the Tower. I found her evidence to be pretty compelling.

    Also, Richard’s seizure of the throne is understandable in dynastic terms. He was an adult, competent administrator, and proven warrior. Ed VI was a child.

    This is a slightly different argument, and somewhat understandable. Throw in the scheming Woodvilles and you can see why R3 might have felt compelled to take drastic measures to try and stabilize the throne.

  253. 253.

    Onmes Omnibus

    @Mnemosyne: I have read it. She and I disagree. The Woodvilles were like Prince Harry’s white in-laws. At the time the kids disappeared, Buckingham controlled the Tower.

  254. 254.

    Gin & Tonic

    Balloon-juice: come for the pictures of dog shit, stay to rehash 500-year-old monarchical succession issues.

  255. 255.

    Onmes Omnibus

    @Gin & Tonic: If it helps, I am in the middle of the Sebag-Moniefiore history of the Romanovs. I am at Catherine. They are so awful that I have to take breaks.

  258. 258.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Mnemosyne: A question that always comes to mind –how do we determine which contemporary documents are accurate? There are many articles contemporary with today’s events I don’t trust. Material from era of Richard III is limited. Does the statement ‘the victors write the history’ restate as ‘the victors determine which documents are preserved’?

  259. 259.

    Mnemosyne

    Okay, I sneaked back in while I’m getting ready for bed.

    @Ladyraxterinok:

    Does the statement ‘the victors write the history’ restate as ‘the victors determine which documents are preserved’?

    Only if you think that Henry Tudor had simultaneous control of both the Papal archives in Rome and the archives of the Spanish king (blanking on which one — I think it was Aragon) and was able to put fake letters from diplomats into both archives to be found 400+ years later.

    Having the rumors of the Princes’ disappearance be contemporaneous to their disappearance also explains a sudden cooling-off in the letters from the French monarch of the time. It’s delving into the realm of conspiracy theory to say that Henry Tudor somehow caused that as well as faking the other letters.

    Short version: Tay’s theory depends on rumors of R3 having done away with the Princes only starting to circulate after he was deposed by Henry Tudor, but we now know from archival evidence outside of England that the rumors were circulating while R3 was still firmly on the throne and Henry Tudor was a penniless exile.

  260. 260.

    Origuy

    I’m somewhat sympathetic to RIII, even though I’m supposedly descended from Jasper Tudor, Henry VII’s uncle, through his illegitimate daughter Joan. His mother was Catherine of Valois, so I think I have a claim to the throne of France. Henry’s claim to the English throne came through her first marriage to Henry V, which always struck me as specious.

  261. 261.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Elizabelle: All PTs are attractive in my experience. They all look like they’re being cast for superhero movies. And for people who spend so much time talking in Latin (body part names) they’re interestingly diverted by whatever game is on the big teevee in the therapy room.

  262. 262.

    artem1s

    @randy khan:

    I do know that the environment is different from 1974, when Nixon’s vulgarity on the tapes actually was the breaking point for a surprising number of people.

    My brother will seemingly accept any sort of horrid behavior from his tribe, EXCEPT dropping the F bomb – and worse – taking the Lord’s name in vain. I have no idea why swearing is such a watershed for so many middle class suburban evangelicals. I honestly think that being stripped of polite euphemisms was the worse part of the counter culture for them. Pence could go on TV and eat live babies as long as he used the proper fork, called it fine dining, and didn’t use any crude language to describe the taste or texture and the majority of evangelicals would be fine with it.

  263. 263.

    artem1s

    @Ruckus:

    Also a lot of the people with tapes are probably somewhat on his side and just haven’t been fucked enough yet to release any tapes.

    more like they haven’t figured out the best way to grift off them yet. Omarosa just opened the door on that one. If Tom Arnold had any real evidence, he would have been the first to grift off his tapes. That guy threw his wife under the bus for $10K and some blow. O’s got about one or two more news cycles before the gnats lose interest, so if she has anything it’s gonna have to come out soon. I’m betting if we don’t hear it by Sunday, it doesn’t exist.

  264. 264.

    sherparick

    @lollipopguild: Every week is infrastructure week. By the way, if Manafort is found guilty, the fireworks will really go off.

    The Repubican Congressional leadership to Trump’s abuse of his power in terminating Director Brennan’s security clearance (another impeachable offense if you are keeping count), and threat to terminate others including LTG Michael Hayden’s, Admiral James Clapper’s, Sally Yates, and Bruce Ohr (Comey’s, Strozek’s, and McCabe’s security clearances were terminated when they were fired so despite the threat, there is nothing to revoke), shows their own complete contempt for the Constitution. “Libertarians” Rand Paul and Glenn Greenwald also show that they have no abuse of Executive Authority as long as it is directed at people they dont’ like. .

  265. 265.

    sherparick

    @Elizabelle: Its a great book, but case against Richard III is more compelling as diplomatic reports of the their deaths circulated in Europe in 1483 and, as Alison Weir points out, Henry Tudor’s pledge to marry Margaret at Rennes Cathedral in December 1483, and thereby ally with the Woodville/Rivers party against Richard III, makes not sense from the Woodville’s point of view if “princes” were still alive. Richard and Henry were both pretty ruthless sorts, but Henry kept Richard’s nephew, son of the Duke Clarence, the Earl of Warwick, alive, if in in custody, for 14 years, and then he was only executed after a trial and under pressure from Ferdinand and Isabella to make sure that crown their daughter was marrying int was secure. Even then, Yorkists and derivative Catholic Plantagenet claimants would crop up over the next 60 years. It is one of the reason Henry the VIII was so determined to have a male heir.

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