WikiLeaks issued 14 pages of guidance yesterday to media outlets, enumerating 140 “false and defamatory” things journalists are to refrain from saying about its leader. A sample:
It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange bleaches his hair.
It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange stinks.
It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange has ever tortured a cat or dog.
It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange does not use cutlery or does not wash his hands.
It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange lives, or has ever lived, in a basement, cupboard or under the stairs.
The kicker? The “radical transparency” organization sent the email marked “Confidential legal communication. Not for publication.” Of course, it was published anyway. WikiLeaks responded by publishing and republishing its own “confidential legal document” that was “not for publication,” allegedly editing it several times to remove embarrassing bits that attracted widespread mockery on social media.
It’s a thoroughly ridiculous document, not just because of the 140 verboten statements but because of the supercilious, aggrieved and self-aggrandizing tone. It reads as if Donald Trump, Les Moonves and Glenn Greenwald farted in the same elevator and the foul vapors swirled together, achieved a rudimentary sentience and gained access to a keypad.
Anyhoo, it doesn’t matter in the slightest what that rapey, basement-dwelling, unhygienic, bleached out skid-mark decrees. But the missive stands as an example of how unmoored from reality and reason so many folks have become in this new Golden Age of Megalomania.
Open thread.
Roger Moore
I strongly encourage Mr. Assange to sue anyone who spreads those scurrilous lies. Discovery would be a hoot.
Yarrow
I just commented on this story in the thread below. As I said there, it feels like a dumb listicle. “140 Things You Should NEVER Say About Julian Assange! Number 73 will shock you!”
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
You certainly have a way with words, Betty.
Ruh roh! Better watch out Betty, Wikileaks might send you a sternly worded “confidential” legal document that they edited several times with whiteout and wrote over with purple ink.
sukabi
@Roger Moore: Somebody is trolling Assmunch …putting out those ridiculous demands guarantees they will be published and used in descriptions of him and Wikileaks. ?????
Some one is really sick of his shit. lolololol
Are we sure it didn’t come from the Ecuadorian Embassy?
Fair Economist
@Yarrow:
How about “10 things the press is afraid to tell you about Julian Assange” Number 5 will shock you!”, repeated 14 times?
laura
When did butt hurt, or even extreme butt hurt become an actionable tort?
Yarrow
@Fair Economist: So many ways to play it. “You’ll never believe These Eight Things Julian Assange Doesn’t Do! Number six will shock you!”
Luthe
I laughed ’til I cried.
satby
Is it false and defamatory to call him an asshole? I believe the truth is an absolute defense to a claim of defamation.
Chris Fisher
I get the feeling that Wikilinks now consists solely of Assange banging out “LOOK AT ME!” posts on his Ecuadoran-loaned PC.
MattF
Only 140! Someone was trying very hard not to overdo it.
ETA: Also, someone has a lot of time on his hands.
Barbara
Why is it considered defamatory to have lived in a basement? I know lots of esteemed people who have lived in a basement. Is it similarly defamatory, or just false, to state that he lived in a palace? Because “false” is one thing and “defamatory” is a very, very tiny subset of what is false. If someone accuses me of having the highest IQ ever recorded, it would be false but I’d be some kind of idiot to sue for defamation.
MagdaInBlack
I am reminded of the time a friends much aggrieved 8 y/o came up with a list of 10 things Mom was not supposed to do.
(It went down about as well as this)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Just got an NYT alert: The Buffoon wants to give a primetime address on the shutdown tomorrow.
dmsilev
He didn’t, so far as I know, deny his alleged failures to clean his cat’s litter box. I guess that means we can take that one as given.
Also, one grievance per allowed character in (original-length) Tweets. That’s almost poetic.
dmsilev
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Leaked script:
Wall. Want Wall. Wall Concrete. Wall Steel. WALLLLLLL.
Aleta
This wouldn’t be about ‘the Guardian has no evidence Assange met with Manafort’ (an Inter cept claim) would it? (Seems familiar … Fake News! Don’t believe the liberal media!)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Chris Van Hollen has been calling on Dems to shut down the Senate until McConnell brings up Pelosi’s bill to re-open government. This seems significant.
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, that is what interests me too. Not Assange.
From the FTF NYTimes:
I think of how important it would have been for Obama to give some speeches on the economic recovery, etc.
It seemed he was timid to request the time because the networks made it clear they would rather air their commercial programming. Public airwaves, our ass.
OTOH, this could go really badly for Trump. He has an indefensible position.
Major Major Major Major
I perused the edits they made, hilarious.
Open thread? I learned yesterday that my short story from some months back will be included in the magazine’s Best of 2018 anthology, yay!
catclub
@Barbara: Unlike Harry Potter, who did, Julian Assange has never slept under a staircase.
Not the Ecuadorian Embassy
@sukabi: It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange habla Español como un retrasado de dos dientes después de vivir en nuestro sótano por mil fokin años carajo.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle: he’s also very bad at reading from a teleprompter, he squints and sounds like a third grader called on to read aloud in class.
I think Dems need to just keep repeating: trump has created a million unemployed people because he was scared by a tweet from Ann Coulter
Immanentize
Jeebus!!! I didn’t know Assange tortured cats!
?
Elizabelle
Excellent news from the NY Times. Happy to see this:
Spanky
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I hope the networks opt instead to run old “Emergency!” reruns. Or claim the network has to wash its hair in that time slot.
catclub
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: when unemployment changes of 100,000 are a big deal in the unemployment
and job statistics, putting that many people out of work will leave a mark.
Wild Cat
I still recall fondly when Amyista Goodman was taken to task on her own sad show for underplaying the rape charges against Assange.
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: Yea you. That’s wonderful.
lamh36
ICYMI: LOVE Nancy Smash!!!
Emerald
IIRC Obama indeed did request airtime. The networks refused him.
trollhattan
@dmsilev:
“Or slats. Did I mention slats?”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I believe Pfeiffer works for CNN. He should direct that tweet at his friends there.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Major Major Major Major:
Was that the one you wanted beta’d? Sorry I haven’t gotten to that yet. Also, congrats!
sukabi
@dmsilev: probably more like “Give me my money” (
holds uppoints at kid in cage) “or the kid gets it!”Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: oh ffs
Immanentize
@Elizabelle: I mentioned this at the end of last thread, I have friends who have been working on this case and the clemency is a Big Biden Deal. For all juvies with life sentences….
Major Major Major Major
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: no, this came out in August or so. Btw you can just delete that draft, but I’d love some feedback on an upcoming new one.
ETA how’s your writing? ?
Immanentize
@Major Major Major Major: Well done!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle:
same google search turns up that networks refused to air a 2014 prime time address on immigration
Alet
@Aleta: I should have read the link first:
I hate when especially lawyers (oh let’s say, for example … Greenwald) use bad faith arguments and straw men while pretending to be all about representing the truth.
Elizabelle
@Immanentize: Excellent. Good to see it, because this young lady did not get justice.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Elizabelle:
@Major Major Major Major:
I saw in a Forbes article that 69% of Americans don’t see a border wall as a priority and 50% of that don’t see the need for the type of border wall Trump wants. He’s a fucking idiot who’s to destroy this country. This is Putin’s revenge for the US winning the Cold War.
Gravenstone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, Schumer acting to inconvenience Israel (per the quoted example) is a rather notable development. Hopefully he can hold his caucus together enough to force Turtle’s hand on the spending bills so this farce can move onto the next act.
Barbara
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Yeah, the overwhelming respondents were either “not now” (18%) or “not ever” (50%). Even if you agree that we need enhanced border security, the notion that the solution is a wall — concrete or steel — is irredeemably stupid.
CaseyL
@Elizabelle: Yes! I just saw that and was going to comment on it myself.
@Immanentize: Kudos to your friends and everyone else who worked on this for Ms. Brown.
Elizabelle
@CaseyL: I hope Ms. Brown has happiness and, if she wants, a lovely little pet cat of her own in her future.
No doubt she will be a more responsible pet person.
Ryan
Wouldn’t he have to leave the embassy to enforce any claim of defamation in a court?
EricNNY
@Elizabelle: I think it’s inde-fence-able…… So sorry about that.
Barbara
@Ryan: Well, I am guessing that he won’t be able to force the Embassy of Ecuador to host a deposition so, most likely, yes, if he were serious about bringing such a suit, but he very obviously is not.
Elizabelle
@EricNNY: Prezactly.
trollhattan
AOC is A-OK.
What was once whispered is now being stated out loud, while cameras are rolling. Yet to be seen is whether the too-predictable Republican strategy of brushing everybody like her aside as a radical commie or what have you, still works.
Frankensteinbeck
I would 100% believe Assange wrote this. His memoir writer (who Assange cheated) didn’t use the term, but from the description Assange is seriously narcissistic himself. Whiny ‘why aren’t you worshipping me’ screeds are totally him.
@Elizabelle:
I put moderate odds that Trump believes that if he gives a speech at the border, the audience will see the Hellscape of criminals and terrorists sneaking across behind him. As a hardcore white supremacist, he really believes this shit.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I remember Obama giving a press conference on some minor military issue, and telling the press that if he’d given it about the economy, they wouldn’t have come. That did not go over well. You could tell it was a direct hit.
I also remember Democrat’s saying he should take a tour explaining the ACA, while he was doing just that. The national press just plain does not want to cover this stuff.
Face
@Elizabelle: He’s going to use this speech to declare the National Emergency Power to do whatever the hell he wants. You heard it here first (or maybe not….many others have concluded as such too)
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The notion that the Senate is considering a bill to assist a foreign country, ANY foreign country, while it refuses to consider legislation to reopen the USG is just an outrage. The latest of many, but still outrageous. Good for Schumer.
khead
@Elizabelle:
I fully approve of a prime time POTUS speech about the wall and the shutdown. Please proceed, sir.
Cheryl Rofer
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
And suddenly, Trump’s crazed rantings the other day about how steel is so much better than concrete — well, now it makes sense.
EVRAZ North America is one of the biggest and most diversified steel manufacturers in the US and Canada.
The owner and majority shareholder of EVRAZ NA is one Roman Abramovich, an Israeli-Russian criminal thug-cum-multibillionaire and — it almost goes without saying — close ally of Putin and friend of Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner.
Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
dmsilev
@sukabi:
Are we talking about Don Jr., Eric, or Ivanka here? Either way, I’m not seeing the problem.
Elizabelle
@Frankensteinbeck: I know. Those fuckers (broadcast media owners) sold us out for $9 million in advertising revenue. And then disgraced CBS head Les Moonves talking about how Trump was money to them.
Wankers. They are the public’s airwaves.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: I would love to see Ivanka and Jared in a perp walk too.
Complicit.
(I would really love to know that Jarvanka’s little tykes have convicted criminals for BOTH grandfathers. And for their parents too. And then maybe the tiny ones can all take up different lines of business. Still time for them.)
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Major Major Major Major:
Sure, I’d love to take a look at the new one. I don’t know how much help I’d be but I’ll definitely give it my best.
Uh… well… I haven’t started yet. I think about it a lot and have written down notes here and there. I have a pretty good idea of what I want, but it’s all in the execution. Plus, school is starting next week and I have to prepare for that. However, I will have some days off this week and I plan on finally trying to write something down. Thanks for asking.
Frankensteinbeck
@trollhattan:
The funny thing is, the press is shooting itself in the foot here. The Narrative is “Look at how crazy and extreme these new Democrats are!” To push it, they’re covering the kind of statements they obsessively hide when old-fashioned Democrats say it. Then the public reacts the opposite of what they expected, and goes “Hell yeah, AOC! More!” I’ve seen this before. They press is VERY good at defining what is known and talked about, but shit lousy at convincing the public how to feel about what is covered. But they’re convinced everyone views them as sages.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Still my favorite Luther moment, even including when he showed up with Obama at the correpsondents’ dinner
Y’all motherfuckers won’t LISSSSS-sten!
SiubhanDuinne
@dmsilev: I
I noticed that, too, and wondered whether it meant anything.
Betty Cracker
@Cheryl Rofer: I predict they’ll fail that test because Trump’s televised insanity is so damned profitable. Who wants to watch a boring old speech from a regular president talking about facts, data and values? Must-see TV is a nuclear-armed lunatic ranting in a way that frightens people around the world.
Our only hope is that the reality TV star self-destructs; the networks will not pull the plug. Fortunately, there’s a damn good chance of the reality TV star blowing up on-air since he is, after all, a ranting lunatic who isn’t very smart and not at all strategic.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Huh. Never really thought of it in quite those generational terms. Interesting. And poor kids.
BigJimSlade
It is false and defamatory to say the Donald Trump, Les Moonves and Glenn Greenwald farted in the same elevator. But if they did, hilarious huffing soon followed.
Amir Khalid
@SiubhanDuinne:
Abramovich took Israeli citizenship when Britain refused to renew his tier-1 investor’s visa, so he could enter visa-free and attend his Premier League club Chelsea FC’s home matches.
trollhattan
@Frankensteinbeck:
Yup, their dysfunction in framing the narrative fairly continues but perhaps sheer public will can bend them in another direction.
I dread the unveiling of “mainstream media’s” tactics for 2020 in which they feel compelled to present Trump as the typical incumbent. And not the monster and criminal he so obviously is. Heaven forfend.
Amir Khalid
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
People who say that are the ones who never actually get around to writing.
BruceFromOhio
@Not the Ecuadorian Embassy: This is hilarious. Which of you jackals is playing this?? Just stop it already, it’s distracting my colleagues.
...now I try to be amused
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Good. McConnell and Trump are insufficiently inconvenienced by the shutdown now.
If a Westminster System parliamentary government fails to pass a funding bill then it is considered a vote of no confidence and the government is automatically dissolved. Of course the government isn’t divided under the Westminster System either.
Marcopolo
In case anyone here is interested in casting a vote (or just at looking at the results in real time):
Daily Kos Democratic Straw Poll, inaugural edition!
I have participated in this every time it happens since 2003/2004 (I don’t actually remember when the first one happened exactly except that back in the day my DKos user # was under 1500 and I was an active participant in the early years). If I recall, the early polls are not necessarily all that predictive of end results–Howard Dean and Wesley Clark were early favorites in that first iteration.
Bobby Thomson
So does this mean he’s admitting the rape now?
Major Major Major Major
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Good plan.
BruceFromOhio
@Marcopolo: Ah, the good old daze of DKos in its pre-teen years. Pie fights, Bill from Portland, Maine, Mary Scott O’Connor before the fall, the occasional missive from Markos himself. *sigh*
Seanly
I look forward to Trump’s rambling and incoherent Airing of Grievances tomorrow night. I will eat a hat if he talks in complete sentences (noun, verb, subject) for the majority of the speech. I look forward to him adlibbing off Stephen Miller’s latest Mein Kampf-esque racist screed.
Pro-tip: I have no concern that I will not have to eat a hat.
jl
What does “stinks” mean in this context?
I think that the way Assange has run Wikileaks has stunk for a long time. Can I say that? Does that count as defamation?
VeniceRiley
It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange
Needs to be a meme.
It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange feeds his boogers to his cat.
Bobby Thomson
@BruceFromOhio: Maryscott. One word.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I still can’t quite believe how often I find myself agreeing with a guy who wrote a book called “The Right Man” about Dumbya in 2004, but From nails it here, I think
Marcopolo
@BruceFromOhio: Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I actually commented there (though I do drop by from time to time to see what people are chatting about & they actually have some good front pagers & election folks who post timely informative stuff) but the early days of the netroots were a heady thing. As I was living in Fairbanks, AK at the time being a part of DKos actually let me feel I was still participating, at some level, in national politics.
Sab
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: OT. Goku, call Rob Portman’s office and tell them that you want the government back open, and that you blame the Senate for not standing up to the President on this. Thanks in advance.
Betty Cracker
Are any of y’all familiar with a conspiracy theory around “neural monitoring”? One of the (many!) local crackpots erected a billboard-sized sign decrying it, so I suspect it’s all the rage on InfoWars or some country-cousin purveyor of locally sourced artisan lunacy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
man that’s a blast from the past. I can’t remember the details, but I remember once knowing exactly what this referred to.
the most pie fights I ever got into was at MyDD in 2008, fighting with PUMAs. Remember the strike, I think they called it, when they all threatened to stop posting on Obama-loving blogs and started their own? I went looking for some of those blogs in 2016 and they all seem to have folded.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Big congratulations!
Gelfling 545
The cupboard under the stairs is cute. No, we did NOT mistake him for a young wizard. The Boy Who Leaked. Jesus.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: I can’t stop laughing about this. Best anti-birther comment EVER.
trollhattan
Inauguration day in Sacramento–Jerry hands the gavel, or bong or whatever to Gavin. Truly an era has ended, boundless thanks to Jerry for your service and best hopes and wishes to our new gov!
We have not had a family chock full of kids and dogs in the governor’s mansion since I arrived in the golden state many moons ago–since Pat Brown I suppose (Jerry and Kathleen supposedly threw water balloons from the third floor windows). What a pleasant development.
Marcopolo
@Major Major Major Major: Grats. Keep on keeping on & may you have many more of these.
Gelfling 545
@lamh36: And every day he knows less and less about more and more.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Watching that again was good for the soul. thanks.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Me, three.
satby
@SiubhanDuinne: I just quoted you on the Book of Face. Good point.
randy khan
@trollhattan:
Well, that settles it. I mean, who knows more about ignorance than Trump?
chopper
do not taunt julian assange.
julian assange may stick to certain types of skin.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: When I arrived* in the Golden State, Pat Brown was Governor.
*Anniversary of that date is 2 weeks from today.
Gravenstone
@Betty Cracker: A quick Google search has a top hit of some flake on YouTube demonstrating how “they” remotely monitor your thoughts. So yeah, very deeply into crank territory. Right up InfoWars’ alley, in other words.
Crosspalms
He’s going to order up a stealth wall using that F-35 technology. It’s invisible, you can’t see it!
Gelfling 545
@Elizabelle: Funny how things come back to you. I haven’t been a practicing Catholic in over 40 years but hearing about Trump requesting air time brings back the words of the Litany: spare us, oh Lord; Good Lord, deliver us; and or course, Christ, have mercy.
randy khan
@SiubhanDuinne:
It’s a code – the first letter of each item spells out what Assange is really saying. (Try it – you’ll see.)
dmsilev
@Crosspalms: The President’s New Wall. Only fools can’t see the barriers.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Crosspalms: Two “invisible” F-35’s.
jl
Uh-oh…. Carter says wasn’t him. I can’t believe that Nice Mr. President Trump lied. What are we to tell the children?
@CarterCenter
Clarification from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter:
“I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue.” — Jimmy Carter
11:35 AM – 7 Jan 2019 from Atlanta, GA
https://twitter.com/CarterCenter/status/1082360095219073026
Marcopolo
@Elizabelle:
If I were one of the major networks I would just not air this in real time. I’d go there, I’d record it, I’d attempt to edit out all the extraneous asides and digressions Trump always throws in, then I’d fact check the hell out of it and air it in snippets with the fact checking dropped in as necessary–meaning after every sentence he utters. I’d probably mention how Trump made up the entire caravan controversy, including deploying troops to the border over the holidays, just to try to goose R turnout in the midterms.
They have no obligation to serve as a megaphone for his propaganda.
Jay
@Betty Cracker:
Reality is, many people get their Orange Bloat second hand or third hand, because:
– His voice, face, mannerisms are triggering for a lot of people,
– making sense of his word salad rambling in real time is a waste of time, transcripts are required and lot’s and lots of conjecture.
CBC News has cut Bloat clips down to 30 seconds or less because 10 seconds in, people start to change the channel, but if the News person talks about what the Bloat said instead, they stay tuned.
rikyrah
@Major Major Major Major:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Major Major Major Major
Thanks everyone
ruemara
So glad they completely have exposed themselves.
@Major Major Major Major: HEY! Congratulations! Hopefully, even more writing success will come your way.
Oh, if we’re doing achieves, I was cleaning up my emails and found out I’ve been cast for yet another audiodrama. I missed it when it came in a few days ago. And this one pays real money. Australian dollars, but I can buy a cup of coffee now!
@Elizabelle: Just a reminder, a POTUS can ask for coverage, the networks are not mandated to give it. Obama did request. There was no timidity. They refused.
jl
@Marcopolo: I don’t have faith in the corporate media to do anything right, including a competent fact check. They’ve been all over the map misinforming people on what legal authority President has to declare a national emergency, and what happens next.
Regardless of whether Trump can be bothered to cite a legal authority, I think House will say it falls under a 1976 law, and they have a right to block it with majority vote and send the issue to Senate, where they have to take the matter up within a week. I think. I have to go look it up. I’m not even sure if there are different laws Trump can cite for declaring a national emergency.
I think he’s going to do it, since it is high on the list of stupid, self-destructive, dangerous and irresponsible things he can do.
But it might force the media to report out the facts on undocumented immigration and how many are seeking asylum. It’s only about 50 percent of what it has been for decades and still on a declining trends. And more of it is desperate ragged families with kids, less hardy young mail vagabonds and suspicious potential evil-doers like the the GOP is lying.
Edit: the media reports I’ve heard have some BS political operatives or pundit rambling about political horse race consequences and big drama of power showdown. Their heads are so deep up their assholes on getting sensational clicks and watches, they can’t be bothered with anything but the simplest headline blurbs anymore as far as reporting out information.
sukabi
@dmsilev: if it was any one of those 3 there’d be a line of volunteers stretching around the ?.
Immanentize
@SiubhanDuinne:
It means they were written by Assange himself and tweeted to his lawyer? Or someone on his phone 3G because Ecuador has cut off his internet connection.
Plus AADD
Barbara
@Betty Cracker:
But is it really profitable in this particular context? Certainly, his outrageous insults during the 2016 nomination cycle were highly profitable, but Trump trying to president does not seem to be any more popular than any other president trying to be serious. In some ways, profitable or not, having to watch Trump spew his word salad unedited would be better than hearing the version edited by the likes of CNN trying to extract some kind of non-crazy sounding message.
WaterGirl
@ruemara:
That’s so great!!!
jl
@dmsilev: ” his alleged failures to clean his cat’s litter box. ”
That is a relief. Is it defamatory to say that the Ecuadorian embassy was pissed because he is a miserable slob, not caring for his cat properly, and broke their rules for hiding out in their place? Or is he going to sue the place that is providing him room and board for defamation?
Barbara
@jl: I am pretty sure the Embassy of Ecuador has sovereign immunity and can say whatever it likes. In most instances an embassy can’t even be sued. Only news outlets that repeat the embassy’s allegedly false statements could be sued.
bemused
I just learned that our former state Dem rep in MN district passed away today from cancer. Feisty fighter for Iron Rangers from 1987 to 2013.
Major Major Major Major
@ruemara: oh awesome, congrats!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I have no idea what the economics and ratings of the different broadcast networks are like these days, but do they really think old white people are gonna stop watching whatever the current versions of Matlock and Murder She Wrote are because they didn’t air this mess? Bubba’s gonna skip his favorite sports ball match on NBC or ABC because of this?
Also: “a fact-free screed without rebuttal.” that last part is completely up to the networks
bemused
@bemused:
Tom Rukavina.
Cheryl Rofer
btomdarga
So Assange also likes to grab the pussy?
Birds of a feather …..
jl
@Barbara: I forgot the snark tag for the end of my comment.
West of the Rockies
@VeniceRiley:
Well, those he doesn’t gobble up for himself…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl:
I knew I was right not to trust that postman.
Kay
Why doesn’t Assange just speak for himself? Is there some (real) reason why he speaks through this organization?
It’s bizarre.
John Revolta
@Major Major Major Major: Eexxxxxellllent!
@trollhattan: gavel or bong or whatever
LOLOL
Elizabelle
@ruemara: By timidity, I mean that they stopped asking after the initial refusals. And while we cool kids share our info over the internet, those who depend on broadcast never got to hear Obama’s message without a filter. Think how many times Andrea Greenspan would recap a speech we had just heard. And it had not much to do w the speech or its message. Just a dismissal. I think Obama was too conciliatory a lot of the time. My favorite President, but he misjudged how effective Fox etc were at filling people’s heads.
My two cents. I stand by my comment.
jl
@Cheryl Rofer: Thanks for the information, but exactly what I expected. I am very cynical, and think these decisions are very corrupt. GOPers will be more pliable in rewarding obedience with crony capitalist bennies than Dems, and GOP will be more ruthless and vindictive in corrupt punishment of anyone who does not do as GOP wishes. So they are legitimate governing party and deserve great deference as a permanent government, while the Dems do not. The corruption is mind boggling.
Remember that Wall issue is completely bogus. It started as a campaign stunt to get more cheers out of Trump rallies. And it should be clear by now that Trump and his flunkies have never really given Wall any serious thought after two years in office. The whole issue is s a fraud. The country has to sit there swallowing crap of the news media pretending that it is not a complete fraud.
I don’t think they’ll give Dems platform for a response to what Trump says. If Trump declares a bogus national emergency, I don’t think the media will be willing or able to give the public accurate information about under what authority he claims for doing it, or what will happen next.
Cheryl Rofer
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I put those typos in to keep you on your toes.
John Revolta
@jl:
This would require, like, superhuman chutzpah, so I’m gonnna say- yes. Yes he is.
Mary G
@ruemara: Congrats!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: OK, I’m still giving the postman a side-eye.
Kay
@Cheryl Rofer:
That’s one to miss. I’ll pass on a solid hour of lying from the Trump Administration. It’s propaganda.
I might look at still photos to see which one of the low quality hires drew the short straw to stand there like potted plant behind Dear Leader while he lies.
Kay
Which lie will the President kick off the propaganda event with? I’m betting on the “terrorists across the border” lie.
Who needs Facebook when he has such willing partners in news organizations?
schrodingers_cat
@Cheryl Rofer: In your last post you speak of the moderating influence of Mattis. Is there any evidence for this or are we just supposed to take this on faith?
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: Exactly. He has been lying about this issue since he began his campaign.
Brachiator
Fuck that stupid motherfucker Julian Assange.
Is that being uncivil?
trollhattan
@Kay:
Recalling when Obama went on “Between Two Ferns” to market ACA signups, I think Trump should be forced to deliver his bit to Galifianakis, with plenty of question time of course.
Amir Khalid
Who are these hapless impostors in Liverpool shirts? They trail 1-0 at Wolves in the FA Cup.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Major Major Major Major: Congrats!
jl
I suppose the bright side, if there is one, is that if he is going to make Wall his hill to fight or die on, at least he is not starting a hot war. Unless his emergency declaration includes sending troops into Mexico. We haven’t done that in about 100 years.
Maybe Trump has ID’d the great great great grandson of Pancho Villa in a caravan, and he’s headed for New Mexico!!!???
Cheryl Rofer, watch out!
Edit: whatever happened to the Trumpster flunkies’ tactic of getting Trump out to do campaign rally tours to keep him occupied? Trump not in the mood anymore, or he’s gotten too lazy for that?
trollhattan
@Kay:
He’s trying to bend the imminent “MS13 threat” into an emergency powers declaration. IIUC that only enables him to steal his wallbucks from some other DoD pot, so I don’t know how that helps him. On the topic the Brennen Center has announced this for Wednesday.
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
The walrus is Paul.
jl
@trollhattan: A Galifianakis interview with Trump would be historic. Someone needs to make that happen.
Comedy Central is our best major news network, so might be feasible.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@trollhattan: I saw the clip where AOC says Trump is obviously racist. She was very clear and calm. Anderson Cooper at least pretended to be surprised she’d say such a thing.
mad citizen
If he does the speech at the border, I hope Mexico can have some background on their side. Amplified Mariachi band? Floating Baby Trump? Both?
Brachiator
@Elizabelle:
Obama got elected, and was re-elected despite Fox News.
And of course, it is not just Fox News, but a web of conservative media pushing propaganda. It includes Sinclair Broadcasting, and Murdoch’s international holdings. Also, conservatives have also increased their use of FaceBook and Twitter, so the Internet is not a reliable space anymore.
None of this suggests that right wing nut jobs are invincible. The wheels have come off the Enquirer, Trump’s favorite rag. Folks just have to be vigilant.
jl
I whatever BS Trump comes up with involves troops carrying guns, will some nitwit on a major news outlet talk about it making him ‘presidential’?
Not sure if that should be a drinking game, or a call for a letter writing campaign and an advertiser boycott.
But it is a rule of big corporate media, potential booms near a foreign country render whatever nitwit is currently in the WH ‘presidential’.
@mad citizen: fireworks show would be good.
Brachiator
@ruemara:
Very cool! Congratulations.
Mnemosyne
@Elizabelle:
She has apparently been a model inmate while she was incarcerated for the past 15 years, so keeping her locked up for the rest of her life seems counterproductive, to say the least. Fifteen years seems like sufficient punishment for what sounds like an impulsive crime that could be seen as self-defense.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@ruemara: Congrats on the new gig! Go, Jackals!
Brachiator
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
No doubt frightened media pundits will decry her lack of civility in hurting Trump’s feelings by being honest about him.
lamh36
Shiiiit!
I’m flying to LA this week, and my sister is flying to the Carribean for her birthday next week…ugh.
Martin
What’s the over/under on Trump banging his shoe on the Resolute Desk?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: Maybe, maybe not. Lennon said he was in God.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lamh36: LA may also be a bit rainy.
Gravenstone
@lamh36: You know once upon a time we managed to fly without all the TSA security circus. Wouldn’t be just terrible if we showed we can successfully and safely fly like that again?
Mnemosyne
@Gravenstone:
Uh, even when I was a kid in the 1970s, there were metal detectors and baggage x-rays at the airport. After Lockerbie, I don’t think anyone thinks it’s a good idea to have zero security. We can probably ratchet it down quite a bit, though.
lamh36
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh…ok. thx for the weather update. We’re actually coming to go to a concert at the Shrine mainly.
Gravenstone
@Mnemosyne: There’s a far cry from the old security protocols and the ramped up security theater bullshit TSA has been terrorizing travelers with since 2002.
Elizabelle
@Mnemosyne: Yeah. I think 15 years was enough time for a murder by a 16 or 17 year old.
She shot the guy when he was sleeping, though. But, juvenile is juvenile. She’s earned her GED and almost her bachelor’s. I hope Cyntoia Brown has a bright future. Maybe she can work on behalf of others who are unjustly or too long incarcerated.
I wonder if a pardon means she can obtain professional licensure of some type. Nursing, whatever. Even law.
Brachiator
@Gravenstone:
What level of security should we have?
After all, there have been a few little incidents.
Kenneth Fair
@Roger Moore:Does the list say that Assange doesn’t blow goats? If not, then I think that must be an admission he does.
And yes, I am aware of all Internet traditions.
ruemara
@Elizabelle: Hmm, I didn’t see them stop asking, I could have missed it.
Mnemosyne
@Elizabelle:
IIRC, shooting someone while they’re sleeping is pretty common with juvenile offenders, especially ones who were sexually abused like she was. She probably feared that he would be able to overpower her if she tried to resist or confront him, so she waited for him to fall asleep once he was done assaulting her.
For me, the more troubling part was the trip to Wal-Mart with his cash and credit cards, but that also seems like an impulsive teenager thing to do, not proof that she’s a sociopath or whatever the prosecutor claimed.
And either way, she did serve 15 years in prison. It’s not like she was acquitted with no punishment at all.
Major Major Major Major
@Gravenstone: even a modern European level of security is more than we had pre-9/11.
J R in WV
@lamh36:
Yeah, my cousin and I have tix to travel to Tucson in 2 weeks, hoping shit settles down by then. Or goes totally crazy and the airlines have to refund ticket price. Probably will call it civil unrest, no refunds necessary, criminal thieves!
BruceFromOhio
@Bobby Thomson: Thanks for the correction. She used to identify with “MSOC” which led me to treat it as two words.
Uncle Cosmo
@Not the Ecuadorian Embassy: I own a slim International Dictionary of Obscenities – francais, deutsch, italiano, espanol, po-russkii. The most hair-raising expressions are in (wait for it) Spanish. My personal favorite, sort of an extended damnittohell:
Scatology, coprology, blasphemy & arithmetic, all in one tidy little package…