Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Let’s finish the job.

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

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

No one could have predicted…

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

In my day, never was longer.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

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

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

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Second rate reporter says what?

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

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

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Post-racial America / Scumbags Gonna Scumbag

Scumbags Gonna Scumbag

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So yesterday, while half of Team Trump was being sent to jail for decades, over at Trump TV aka Fox News, it was wall to wall Mollie Tibbitts as they attempted to distract and deflect with their ongoing attempts to start a race war over illegal immigration. Not only is the family of Miss Tibbitts not having any of it, but we seem to have run into a little bit of a hitch with the narrative:

Cristhian Rivera, the man accused in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, worked for a Brooklyn-area farm owned by the brother of a prominent Iowa Republican.

In a statement Tuesday night, Dane Lang, of Yarrabee Farms, said Rivera was an “employee in good standing” and was “shocked to hear” Rivera was implicated.

In the statement, Dane Lang said Rivera worked for Yarrabee Farms for four years and “was vetted through the government’s E-Verify system.”

Oh.

Reader Interactions

72Comments

  2. 2.

    waspuppet

    “Oh. Well, better just reinstate the paper bag test and not let anyone darker in. You know, to be safe.”

  3. 3.

    Quaker in a Basement

    In the statement, Dane Lang said Rivera worked for Yarrabee Farms for four years and “was vetted through the government’s E-Verify system.”

    Aha! Obama let him in!

    [/rwnj]

  4. 4.

    Viva BrisVegas

    “was vetted through the government’s E-Verify system.”

    “Yarrabee Farms is not registered in the government system, though, which is a requirement to run a check on even one employee.”

    Oops.

  5. 5.

    BretH

    So interesting that when someone like this commits a crime all we hear from one side is “build the wall” and “we need new laws to stop this”. Yet when a mass murder with a gun happens all we had from the same side is “we don’t need new laws, we just need to enforce the laws we have’.

  7. 7.

    RepubAnon

    It was all a Deep State false flag operation to hide Hillary’s involvement. See, Mollie was about to expose the real location of PizzaGate…
    (/snark – I hope. )

  8. 8.

    TenguPhule

    “was vetted through the government’s E-Verify system.”

    Trumpsters: “This merely proves that the only good immigrant is a dead one! Kill em all!!”

    I wish I was kidding.

  9. 9.

    seaboogie

    Kudos to Mollie’s family speaking out – in their grief and pain – to call out the opportunistic, racist bullshit.

  12. 12.

    A Ghost To Most

    Props to her family for standing up to this fuckery. I hope they are ready for the threats.

  14. 14.

    Cookie monster

    I saw a headline claiming the employer stuff was with a stolen ID.

    Doesn’t really matter; the demonization of immigrants is abhorrent but will no doubt gather pace with the usual suspects, and her grieving family will get no peace from those looking to make hay from tragedy, all while condemning them for not “caring enough” – I’ve already seen “what matters is the rest of us are protected”.

    In other words, post title is succinct yet accurate.

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    Owens did her usually schtick. She dug her heels in and started screaming at everyone.

  17. 17.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    She dug her heels in and started screaming at everyone.

    You know under my proposed “Exterminate the Republicans” plan, she’d be one of the first to go.

    /Just saying

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    And it looks like the usual suspects have decided to weaponize this tragedy.

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    @TenguPhule: I think you may want to dial things back a bit. All someone has to do is offer Candace money to rep a different line of BS and she’ll do it. That’s how she went from being anti-Trump to being pro-Trump. Kirk and his TPUSA backers started paying her more money than a mid 20 something with almost no professional could ever hope to make.

  24. 24.

    Mike in NC

    FOX News will be going with 24/7 Mollie coverage from now until November.

    Remember back when FOX interviewers clumsily tried to put words in Joe Biden’s mouth to paint him as a Socialist/Marxist back in 2007? They’re planning to dust that off for the mid-terms.

  25. 25.

    eemom

    Note the conspicuous absence of the words “politicizing tragedy” in the emmessemm commentary on this — in contrast to every single episode of mass murder by gun. Where’s all those thoughts and prayers, motherfuckers?

    Also kind of funny how nobody anywhere expresses the slightest bit of surprise that trump would sink this low. “Business” as usual.

  27. 27.

    mad citizen

    Haven’t said it in a while, and copied it from other jackals, but fuck these people. And the Russian operations.

  30. 30.

    Gvg

    Actually the system is working this time. The cops caught the person who did it and he will go to jail after a fair trial.
    No system will prevent all murders because some people of all kinds, every single “kind” are bad.
    There are more murders by natives than immigrants. Maybe we should all stop having children and increase immigration. That would make more sense than trying to twist this into an excuse for isolationism. The poor family is still getting a better result by seeing the hopefully correct killer brought to justice and knowing what happened instead of wondering forever. And over sensationalized murders bring out a kind of rabid pack frenzy in reporters and news watchers so that this is going to result in a lot of extra hounding of the families. I have an ex in law whose sisters murder made national news. His family and the other victims families had to hide from reporters for months including help from the police in anonymous hotel stays. Also the prosecutor used it for political ambition and a couple of books got written….the president using a relatives murder will make for a very bad time for the family.

  32. 32.

    Mary G

    Didn’t I see somewhere that the good Republican’s farm did not actually check him on E-Verify because they don’t use it, and tried to blame a clerical error, plus his lawyer says he’s not illegal? But good for the cousin for reminding Candace that he is a monster because he’s a murderer, not because he’s an immigrant.

  33. 33.

    eric

    @Adam L Silverman: KCJJ has a statement from the tibbetts family from last night on its Facebook page. I assume it is legit. i cannot embed it. It is also a powerful statement.

  34. 34.

    Adam L Silverman

    Speaking of people who will do or say anything for money…
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trump-calls-this-white-house-defender-wonderful-he-was-fired-from-his-previous-job-for-sexual-harassment/2018/08/22/1d15ba48-a59a-11e8-a656-943eefab5daf_story.html?utm_term=.dfae416f62cb

    A conservative commentator who was lauded by President Trump this week as “wonderful” and who has argued that past sexual indiscretions should have no bearing on Trump’s presidency was fired from Arizona State University four years ago for making sexually explicit comments and gestures toward women, according to documents and a university official.

    An internal investigation by the university concluded that Paris Dennard, a surrogate during the campaign and now a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, told a recent college graduate who worked for him that he wanted to have sex with her. He “pretended to unzip his pants in her presence, tried to get her to sit on his lap, and made masturbatory gestures,” according to a university report obtained by The Washington Post.

    According to the 2014 report, Dennard did not dispute those claims but said he committed the acts jokingly. The investigation began after the woman and a second female employee told superiors Dennard’s actions went too far and had made them uncomfortable.

    Dennard, a CNN political commentator, opinion contributor to the Hill, and regular guest on NPR’s “Here & Now,” was working at the time as events director for ASU’s McCain Institute for International Leadership.

    Dennard’s firing from ASU has not been previously reported. An ASU official on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of the report, which includes a summary of an interview that investigators conducted with Dennard.

    ASU’s 13-page investigative report describes a series of inappropriate incidents often initiated by Dennard with the two women in 2013 and 2014. The second woman said Dennard would sometimes throw things at her and that she caught Dennard looking at her breasts. When she tried to adjust her blouse, he said “Don’t worry, I’ve already seen it.” Dennard acknowledged making the comment, or something similar to it, according to the report.

    Dennard also admitted to touching the first woman’s “neck with his tongue,” according to the report. In that instance, Dennard “came up behind EMPLOYEE 1 during another [McCain Institute] event and whispered in her ear that he wanted to ‘f—’ her.”

    The report says Dennard and one of the women socialized outside the office and engaged in “banter of a sexual nature.”

    Even so, it says, Dennard “engaged in much of this behavior in the workplace and/or during work events. Such conduct, of course, is inappropriate . . . unprofessional and unbecoming of a university employee, and in violation of ASU policy.”

    The report concludes that Dennard was found to have engaged in “serious misconduct.” He was placed on administrative leave at the outset of the investigation in fall 2014 and was “involuntarily separated” from his post in early 2015, according to a university official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.

    The women are quoted in the report saying they did not want him to lose his job but feared him returning. “We all know what it’s like to be on [Dennard’s] bad side — he will make your life miserable,” one said. “What if he comes back to the office? What if he comes to an event? Does he know where I live?”

    Dennard’s departure was announced internally at a McCain Institute meeting in 2015, according to two people who were there, but the reason for his departure was not made public and he went on to become an increasingly sought-after commentator.

    Much more at the link.

  35. 35.

    Ken

    @Cookie monster: But Yarrabee Farms didn’t check the documentation, did they? At least not with E-Verify, assuming the reports that they weren’t registered to use the system are correct. Whatever documents the suspect presented might as well have been a cocktail napkin with “OK TO WORK” scribbled on it in green crayon, for all the care that Yarrabee Farms exercised.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cookie monster:

    Individuals don’t use e-Verify, companies do. So why does the farm that claimed they checked his ID not have an e-Verify account?

    Though, to be fair, his employers are probably in shock right now. Finding out that a 7-year employee is a murderer is pretty sucky no matter what.

  37. 37.

    Adam L Silverman

    @eric: Here you go:
    http://www.dps.state.ia.us/commis/pib/Releases/2018/08-22-2018_DCI_StatementFromFamilyOfMollieTibbetts.shtml

    Iowa Department of Public Safety
    215 East 7th Street
    Des Moines, Iowa 50319
    http://www.dps.state.ia.us

    For immediate release:
    August 22, 2018

    Statement from Family of Mollie Tibbetts

    DES MOINES, Iowa — Mollie Tibbetts disappeared on July 18, 2018, while jogging in or near Brooklyn, Iowa. After more than a month of searching, investigators located her body in a farm field in rural Poweshiek County on August 21, 2018. An autopsy is being conducted, but results will not be available immediately. Charges were filed against Cristhian Bahena Rivera, who will appear in Poweshiek County District Court at 1:00 p.m. on August 22, 2018.

    The family of Mollie Tibbetts has asked that this information be conveyed to members of the media and the public:

    Our hearts are broken.

    On behalf of Mollie’s entire family, we thank all of those from around the world who have sent their thoughts and prayers for our girl. We know that many of you will join us as we continue to carry Mollie in our hearts forever.

    At this time, our family asks that we be allowed the time to process our devastating loss and share our grief in private.

    Again, thank you for the outpouring of love and support that has been shared in Mollie’s name. We remain forever grateful.

    No additional press conferences are scheduled at this time.

    Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

  38. 38.

    Mnemosyne

    @Gvg:

    Funny how these same right-wingers swear up and down that there’s no possible way to stop school shootings by disgruntled white men, but we could totally halt all crime by Black and brown men if we just took away all of their rights.

    Maybe the way to stop mass shootings is to put a monitoring ankle bracelet on every white guy over 18. Sorry, fellas, we just have to do everything we can to prevent you from committing a crime.

  40. 40.

    Cookie monster

    @Mnemosyne: I’ve no idea, I didn’t mention everify.

    Simply remarked that at least one headline claimed his ID WAS stolen, and it doesn’t matter because it’s all an attempt to demonize people regardless.

  41. 41.

    lamh36

    National Enquirer saying… sorry Chump ur on ur own?

    Another shoe drops

    WSJ: Chairman of company that owns Na­tional En­quirer “pro­vided pros­e­cu­tors with de­tails about pay­ments Mr Co­hen arranged with women who al­leged sex­ual en­coun­ters with Pres­i­dent Trump, INCLUDING MR TRUMP’S KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEALS.”
    https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1032442722131558403?s=21

    rats abandoning ship?

  42. 42.

    Ken

    @Mnemosyne: Seven years? And no one noticed, when Yarrabee Farms filed the required annual tax statements showing wages, withholding, and FICA for an employee that they believed they had legally hired, that he was not in fact legally employable?

    Goodness, I’d hate to think there might be any irregularities in yet another prominent Republican’s taxes.

  44. 44.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: Probably offered up everything to keep from getting charged. Despite what some folks are saying, this wasn’t covered by the 1st Amendment protection for publishers, this is a conspiracy to violate campaign finance regulations and given the money went from Cohen to him and back to Cohen and then on to MacDougal – and to whomever else Pecker and Cohen did this with to cover for the President – there’s money laundering charges in play. I doubt Pecker is willing to go to jail for the President.

  45. 45.

    Mandalay

    I wonder if any brown stuff will be hitting a fan over this….

    Yarrabee Farms co-owner and manager Dane Lang clarified Wednesday afternoon that the farm did not use a federal E-Verify check on suspect Cristhian Rivera, despite the company’s claim earlier in the day that it did.

    Being charitable, I can understand that the check should have been made, but somehow never happened due to a snafu. But it’s really hard to see how you accidentally assert that a check was made when murder is involved.

  50. 50.

    gwangung

    Am now in an incipient Twitter feud with a scumbag who insists Sam Lucass should have butted out and not inserted themselves into the matter at hand.

    Assholes, all.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cookie monster:

    There are a lot of conflicting stories swirling around right now. The suspect’s lawyer is claiming that he’s here legally, while other people are making the claims that you saw. His employer said he was hired legally, but had to retract their original claim that he had been checked through E-Verify. It may take a few days to clear it all up, and the right-wing conspiracy assholes are just making it harder to figure out WTF the facts are.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    @gwangung:

    Don’t you just love the self-righteous assholes who insist that they care more about a murder victim that they read a couple of online alerts about than the victim’s family possibly could?

  53. 53.

    Suzanne

    So the 18-year-old cousin of one of my colleagues was murdered about three weeks ago in Chicago, on that Saturday that had just a crazy amount of crime. Apparently the murderer (a citizen) was shooting at someone else and hit her.

    I bet you didn’t hear about it. I bet you can guess why.

  54. 54.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Mandalay: E-verify is a voluntary program. I believe employers are still required to have employees fill out an I-9 form indicating their employment eligibility status. The last time I looked it was required to be held on file with the employer and subject to inspection on demand. It requires photo copies of the identification documents provided.

  55. 55.

    lamh36

    Chump tweeeted:

    I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. “South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.” @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews

    He ain’t foolin’ nobody”

  56. 56.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: He looking to study it so the US can formally protest or because he wants to do something similar in the US?

  59. 59.

    Jay

    Learned something new about racism today,

    http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2018/08/more-on-diane-blain-trudeau-heckler-and.html?m=1

    The Nazi Heckler from Storm Alliance was part of a group of 15,

    “Replying to @HNHughson
    Souche = stump. When Anglo media translates it, they often go with “old stock Quebecois”, but the term is far more racially charged. “Québecois de souche” is about purity of bloodlines – anyone whose family doesn’t date to New France. Especially not non-white Quebecois. #cdnpoli”

    It’s not a “new” form of racism either,

  60. 60.

    Waynski

    @Mnemosyne: I’d wear an ankle bracelet. I’m a rather boring white man, as many here can attest – just don’t give me guff about an evening cocktail.

  61. 61.

    lamh36

    11 of 12 Manafort jurors voted for guilty on all counts, one juror, a self-described Trump supporter, tells @ShannonBream /// ‘The evidence was overwhelming.’

  62. 62.

    lamh36

    Juror, a staunch Trump supporter: “Finding Mr. Manafort guilty was hard for me, I wanted him to be innocent, I really wanted him to be innocent, but he wasn’t.”

  63. 63.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman: Definitely agree that Paris Dennard is creepy. The creepiness came through the TV. Not at all surprised to hear the news that he was fired for sexual harassment.

  64. 64.

    No One You Know

    @Mnemosyne:
    May be OT, but
    I have a situation.

    I have twice submitted valid I-9 credentials for my government job, which I got through a remote recruiter (several timezones away). The recruiter keeps saying my DL and my SS aren’t enough ( since the employer is remote, the notary attested on a photocopy that she had examined originals).

    I am working without any timesheets or (They claim) valid proof of status. So I’m not getting paid either and I don’t know what they want.

    Suggestions on my next move? I think I have to tell the boss. The recruiter will sue me I’d I lose the job, although I live ibn a right to work state.

    Ironically, I work with CJIS systems.

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    @lamh36

    I really wanted him to be innocent

    Which is enough to have her brought back into court for giving false statement under questioning during jury selection.

    The potential jurors were asked prior to the start of the trial if they had any biases that could prevent them from reaching an impartial verdict, including their familiarity with the Office of Special Counsel run by Robert Mueller, which brought the case and has been under attack by the President. Source

  68. 68.

    Chitown Kev

    @NotMax: To be fair, she stated that she voted guilty on all 18 counts, so while she had a bias, the evidence presented by the prosecution overwhelemd that bias.

  69. 69.

    boatboy_srq

    What will we do for Mollie? How about boycott the perp’s Republican employer, without whose help the GOTea wouldn’t have a story? You want to keep those bad hambres out of the US, then maybe you should stop hiring them.

    /s

  70. 70.

    The Pale Scot

    I’m having a hard believing that this guy was able to use a false ID for 4 years without the help of the employers to defraud E-verify. From what I read it’s known that he came into the US as a juvenile. If he’s not working under the table there is a paper trail. Or he showed a state picture ID and a SS card of another man, that never came back even after 4 years.

    Oh, the farm did not use E-verify, they just sent the SS# to the SSA. That’s not vetting. The family avoided making sure he’s legal to work ’cause profits.

    Karma’s a bitch

  71. 71.

    The Pale Scot

    @Mnemosyne:

    ankle bracelet on every white guy over 18.

    Ya’d need to bring that down to 10 or so. Really, the onset of puberty would be best

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