Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

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

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread: If Not for Hypocrisy, They’d Have No Standards At All

Late Night Open Thread: If Not for Hypocrisy, They’d Have No Standards At All

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The Little Princeling:

 
Also, may one introduce Breitbart’s newest contributors?

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    Also, may one introduce Breitbart’s newest contributors?

    This was inevitable. It was their destiny.

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    Spleenwald writing for Breitbart. Are they just going to admit soon that Eddie and Julian work for the Kremlin?

  5. 5.

    Cacti

    Matt Taibbi is like a 21st century Hunter Thompson.

    But without the writing talent or originality.

    I had Greenwald figured for a Putinist tool from the start.

  7. 7.

    Jeffro

    All of these people have an even bigger thing in common than nepotism/connections/hypocrisy, and that is: who. is. cutting. checks. to them.

    I don’t even want to go down the road…much…of pointing out how hypocritical they are on the nepotism issue. They’ll take one Hunter Biden and equate that to all of them (if not worse – after all, Hunter is DemoRAT spawn!).

    The point is, who’s paying them to spout this crap? For most, it is not even ‘just’ getting paid on the basis of who they are related too. For most, they are getting paid to advance the interests of a hostile foreign power, and the rest are getting paid by the party that is…getting paid to advance the interests of a hostile foreign power.

    Where’s the expose on Greenwald’s income? Where’s the reporting on Rand Paul and his Russia visits (along with the other GOP Senators who were in Moscow last July 4th)? Why aren’t more reporters asking about Ronna Romney McDaniel and whether or not she supports her trumpov-questioning relative or trumpov? DECIDE, Ronna! Let us know what’s more important to you.

  8. 8.

    RandomMonster

    Honest question: Who has what goods on Taibbi and Greenwald, or are they just receiving their mercenary amount from a paymaster?

  10. 10.

    laura

    It sure seems like there is a coordinated response to circle the wagons because they know they’re all compromised and it’ll all start being revealed.
    Every accusation a confession.

  11. 11.

    Cacti

    @Jeffro:

    Ronna Romney McDaniel and whether or not she supports her trumpov-questioning relative or trumpov?

    She dropped the Romney at her fuhrer’s request.

  13. 13.

    cain

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Spleenwald writing for Breitbart. Are they just going to admit soon that Eddie and Julian work for the Kremlin?

    Can we ask Cole why Greenwald is still going to be on the blog roll? This is kind of fucked up. Greenwald has turned into some asshole who doesn’t give a shit about civil rights or any of that. I have no idea what happened to him. But he can go fuck himself.

  14. 14.

    cain

    Today has been just a shit show in terms of news. But I would say Democrats have won the day. But can we please capitalize on this and actually start running ads and what not? I mean seriously, why aren’t we doing this? Why are we not promoting our voice here especially when we do, the Republicans look weak and cannot fight back because it’s really hard to talk around betrayal and ISIS coming back or our troops being isolated while Turkey fucks with us.

    We have turned into a 3rd world nation in 3 years. It’s pretty bad.

  17. 17.

    Roger Moore

    @RandomMonster:
    Apparently Taibbi had a history of misdeeds when he was working in Russia earlier in his career, and you can bet somebody in there has receipts. The only obvious thing they have on Greenwald is his behavior in the Snowden affair. I am among those who are deeply suspicious that Snowden was actively recruited by Russian intelligence before he stole any documents, and Greenwald seems to have been their witting or unwitting helper in getting Snowden and his documents there safely. That, or the genuine gratitude he must have to them for the boost to his career, might be where they get a hold on him.

    FWIW, everything I’ve read about HUMINT says that the best spies don’t do it for the money. Yes, there are people who can be bribed, blackmailed, or simply paid off, but the people who are really dedicated and effective are ones who have some kind of ideological affinity for the country they’re spying for.

  20. 20.

    JCJ

    Newton’s NotMax’s 1st Law:

    Objects in motion…

    …tend to pass me by.

    I like it! Years ago I bought a T-shirt with “Maui Rules” on it. This would have fit right in.

    One of my favorites from the list was “always tell the truth, there is less to remember”

  22. 22.

    Roger Moore

    FWIW, people like Taibbi are strong evidence that assholes are never on your side. You may sometimes share enemies, but that doesn’t mean they’re on your side. So when you’re tempted to say “yeah, he’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole”, stuff it. He’s not our asshole; he’s an asshole who happens to hate the enemy of the moment, but he’ll happily turn on us as some point in the future. Count on it.

  26. 26.

    Percysowner

    Actual quote from Don Jr about Hunter Biden: “When you’re the father and your sons entire career is dependent on that, they own you.

    Well he should know.

  27. 27.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Roger Moore:

    I am among those who are deeply suspicious that Snowden was actively recruited by Russian intelligence before he stole any documents, and Greenwald seems to have been their witting or unwitting helper in getting Snowden and his documents there safely.

    IMHO Greenwald was a standard-issue 1990s paranoid libertarian who got suckered by Assange and Snowden. He’s been defending Snowden by proxy ever since. His whole worldview *required* that techbros are hacking the military-industrial complex, which both sides adore, and that only The Man would say it had to be Russian dirty tricks. Hence all American intelligence is government thuggery, and all Russian thuggery is imaginary.

    Plus he has always been a dickish, tedious narcissist completely impervious to complicating information, which adds to his affinity for Donald Trump.

  28. 28.

    Duane

    @cain: Advertisements aren’t going to be enough. I’m thinking mini-series, or documentary. Maybe Ken Burns could produce a week long PBS show. Are the Coen brothers busy?

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    @mrmoshpotato

    Love the little touches, like the quick flashes of individuals in the audience of the arena, especially the guy watching the boxing match live while listening to a baseball game on a portable radio.

  30. 30.

    Aleta

    I guess they are attacking Hunter in spite the hypocrisy because by their logic it makes them look less uniquely corrupt. Everyone does it, so get used to it now leave us alone.

  32. 32.

    Aleta

    @FlipYrWhig: Huh, ‘1990s paranoid libertarian’ rings so true for my bro i law and sister. But what do libertarians have to be paranoid about though, if their’s is (according to them) the natural way of the world?

  33. 33.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax: I’ll have to get it from the library.

    I picked up John Frankenheimer’s Seconds and Scooby Doo And The Return To Zombie Island tonight.

  36. 36.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @FlipYrWhig:

    The Man would say it had to be Russian dirty tricks. Hence all American intelligence is government thuggery, and all Russian thuggery is imaginary.

    Thank you. This has always bugged me. I mean I get it, imperialism is a bad thing that has hurt millions throughout history and the US has majorly fucked up around the world.

    But so did the Soviet Union. So did the British Empire, Japan, France, Germany, you name it. It’s only American/western imperialism that guys like Glennwald seem to get upset about. Do they seriously think the PRC’s Belt and Road initiative is being done completely benevolently and out of the goodness of the Chinese government’s heart?

    Though, I suspect these critics being mostly Amercians have a lot to do with their ironic Americocentric focus on the US’ foreign policy

  37. 37.

    tokyokie

    @NotMax: Damn. I just picked up The Set-Up last week when it came out on Blu-ray. Really a terrific little movie. (Although Body and Soul remains my favorite boxing movie of that era.) Robert Ryan’s experience as a boxer — 4 time heavyweight champ at Dartmouth — really helps. And I’m glad Warner ported over the commentary soundtrack with Robert Wise and Martin Scorsese that was on the DVD when it was released in one of Warner’s film noir boxed sets.

  38. 38.

    Mary G

    Somebody’s taking an action:

    “You can’t have 12 million people respond to a hashtag in this country and they not be constituents, taxpayers, and voters. We need these candidates to see us as a power base.” @TaranaBurke #MeToo #MeTooVoter https://t.co/GOxCJMohZy— Ai-jen Poo (@aijenpoo) October 16, 2019

    A new hashtag doesn’t seem like much, but if we can get every woman who’s been groped by the old white bossman to connect to politics, you know which side they’ll be on.

  43. 43.

    cain

    @Duane:

    @cain: Advertisements aren’t going to be enough. I’m thinking mini-series, or documentary. Maybe Ken Burns could produce a week long PBS show. Are the Coen brothers busy?

    Is PBS compromised? It seems NPR is. I have no idea what those assholes are doing now.
    It seems like that we need a complete financial melt down before people wake up. If most of your population are unemployed they have plenty of time to go and create trouble.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Club for Growth @ club4growth
    . MittRomney is working as a secret asset for SpeakerPelosi and the Democrats, plotting to take down realDonaldTrump through impeachment. Now his cover is blown. Tell Romney to stop colluding with Democrats now!

  47. 47.

    Kent

    @Roger Moore:

    FWIW, people like Taibbi are strong evidence that assholes are never on your side. You may sometimes share enemies, but that doesn’t mean they’re on your side. So when you’re tempted to say “yeah, he’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole”, stuff it. He’s not our asshole; he’s an asshole who happens to hate the enemy of the moment, but he’ll happily turn on us as some point in the future. Count on it.

    I’m willing to bet that Cole gets called one about every other day!

  48. 48.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @NotMax:

    Enough amassed brain power to slightly illuminate a ¼ watt bulb.

    More like one of those strings of LED novelty lights shaped like pineapples.

  50. 50.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    “Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a famed red-state punchline who already has 10,000 Pocahontas tweets aimed at her head should she make it to the general.”

    ~ Matt Taibbi

  52. 52.

    hells littlest angel

    Hopefully, this will reduce the number of “Yeah, but [some stupid shit Matt Taibi said 15 years ago] was pretty cool” defenses.

  53. 53.

    dogwood

    @cain:
    Greenwald has always been an asshole. It was sickening to see people on my side of the aisle elevate him during the Bush years. There were plenty of legitimate criticisms to level at the George W administration, but the shit Greenwald was writing was mostly conspiratorial nonsense. He used to be one of Maddow’s guests which proves that being exceptionally smart doesn’t compensate for being a lousy judge of character.

  54. 54.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @Mary G:

    if we can get every woman who’s been groped by the old white bossman to connect to politics, you know which side they’ll be on.

    I was groped, repeatedly, and I am connected to politics, and you know which side I’m on. But I also know a LOT of women my age (late 50s) who’ve had the hell groped out of them and who still think – or at least vote like – the old white bossman should be in charge. Most of them have a lot of internalized nice-girl “it must have been my fault” or religion-based guilt going on that gets between them and a goddamn clue.

  55. 55.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Heckler’s terrorist’s veto.

    Georgia Superintendent Reverses Trans Inclusive Policy Because of Death Threats

    Pickens County Schools Superintendent citing death threats, violence, and vandalism reversed a newly enacted policy that allowed transgender students the right to use the restroom that aligns with their gender expression. According to WSB-TV the announcement was made after angry parents made their views be known at a school board meeting.

    Bathrooms, it’s always about the damn bathrooms….

  57. 57.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: it gets worse, now he mocks efforts to reduce economic inequality.

    [Warren’s] “I have a plan for that” argument for smarter government makes her a modern analog to Mike Dukakis — another Massachusetts charisma machine whose ill-fated presidential run earned him a portrait alongside the Hindenburg in a Naked Gun movie.

    ~ Matt Taibbi

  58. 58.

    Fair Economist

    @FlipYrWhig: A real paranoid libertarian would be paranoid about Trump. Real libertarians get really upset about people who use government bribery of foreign countries to manufacture evidence of crime.

    Greenwald is not acting like a libertarian at all.

  60. 60.

    James E Powell

    They are attacking Hunter Biden because they know the press/media will create, inflate, and prevaricate in order to make the Hunter Biden stories “balance” the cornucopia of corruption that is coming to light involving pretty much every person in the Trump administration.

    Hunter Biden will be 2020’s EMAILS!!!!

  62. 62.

    Amir Khalid

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
    This Matt Taibbi chap has a vigorous turn of phrase, from what I’e seen of his writings, but oftentimes he comes across as an arsehole. Which, I have come to conclude, is his actual political inclination.

  63. 63.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Roger Moore:

    Apparently Taibbi had a history of misdeeds when he was working in Russia earlier in his career

    By misdeeds do you mean conduct amounting to sexual assault on young women? Particularly subordinates who couldn’t afford to lose one of the few good paying jobs in Moscow at that time?

  64. 64.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Mary G: well you don’t live in constant fear of being the victim in a deranged r*pe fantasy (because word filters?)

  65. 65.

    smike

    @BlueDWarrior:

    well you don’t live in distan constant fear of being the victim in a deranged r*pe fantasy (because word filters?)

    Waaait a minute…

    Is that a line from a tRump rally?

    ETA: I can just hear him saying “… because word filters?” at the end.

  66. 66.

    Mary G

    oh, ffs:

    The Vatican has announced the launch of the "Click to Pray eRosary."Users activate it by making the sign of the cross, and then can choose between three options to pray. The $110 device keeps track of progress through prayers. https://t.co/sy2KhWz56c— CNN (@CNN) October 16, 2019

    I suppose Amazon will collect the data, so the Pope can identify slackers.

  67. 67.

    BlueDWarrior

    @smike: nah, but listening to the argument against sounds like people who read/watch too much hardcore porn, so the bathroom r*pe thing sounds real to them.

  68. 68.

    Anne Laurie

    @Roger Moore:

    Apparently Taibbi had a history of misdeeds when he was working in Russia earlier in his career, and you can bet somebody in there has receipts.

    Occam’s Razor: Follow the money. Taibbi has always been a professional contrarian / bombthrower, and for the best of his run (during the Bush Regency) he had worthy targets (like Goldman Sachs) for his skillz. Once that perfect alignment went awry, he had to find a new monetizable target — and President Obama really didn’t give him much to work with, if only because too many of the worst of Obama’s campaign-bros (Axelrod, Vietor, Lovett) were Taibbi’s philosophical brothers. He didn’t do very well at that, IMO…

    But #MeToo has made the Aging Fratster comedy style completely unsaleable, outside the nastier little enclaves of the Wingnut Wurlitzer — like Breitbart. Or maybe the Jacobin/DSA “Left”, but that pole of the horseshoe already has an excess of angry hipster Peter Pans more than willing to attack women and people of color for free, so Taibbi’s reduced to producing Pocahontas quips for the Federalist to spam social media with. Sad!

  69. 69.

    smike

    @BlueDWarrior:

    True.

    Kind of sounds like they think that everyone else behaves the way that they do. And I wonder if they make their women folk use separate facilities at home?

  70. 70.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @smike:
    As I heard 30 yrs ago In IA ‘Haven’t any of these people ever ridden on an airplane?’

    Also I’ve been in several diners in small towns in IA and OK. They had unisex bathrooms, and as far as I could tell no one ever freaked out about that.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:

    that gets between them and a goddamn clue.

    I like the way you say that.
    It does amaze that someone will take shit for a lifetime, because. Because it’s easier, because it’s safer, because they don’t want to upset normalcy. They can’t demand decency, because they know that a lot of people are indecent. And they normalize it, perpetuate it, accept it, even say things that are normal are indecent, like words, but that people who are indecent are OK. We can’t talk about it because that would be……… what? Indecent? How can you make something better if you won’t talk about it? Demand it. Maybe the world can be a better place if we talk about it rather than shout about everything else.

  72. 72.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:

    Which, I have come to conclude, is his actual political inclination.

    Not just his political inclination. His entire public life is defined by that word, arsehole.

  77. 77.

    Captain C

    @RandomMonster: In Taibbi’s case, given that he had some apparently rapey and harrassey years in Moscow, it’s quite possible there’s some kompromat on him, though I suspect he would do this for the right pay, regardless. As to Greenwald, while it’s possible someone has something on him, I suspect it’s more that he’s just getting paid for what he’d do freely, anyway. Both of them appear to be “radicals” of the type that think sticking it to the US and West in general are all one needs to do to maintain one’s radical credibility (and hopefully get paid for it), regardless of who they’re allying with. Often, such people forget that the enemy of their enemy is their enemy’s enemy, no more, no less (h/t schlock mercenary).

  78. 78.

    Lumpy

    @hells littlest angel:

    Matt Taibbi has always been terrible. During the 2004 Bush- Kerry election, he wis fixated on how “boring” Kerry was (possibly true, but a supremely shallow critique) and showed up in costumes at political events and interviews (to show what a “circus” elections are, get it???)

    Taibbi said that whether Bush or Kerry won, it wasn’t going to make a difference. Think that kind of talk depresses Democratic turnout? Of course Bush won a second term, and appointed two Supreme Court justices (Alito replaced Sandra Day O’Connor, and John Roberts replaced Rehnquist). A few years later, they passed the Citizens United ruling.

    No difference between the parties though!

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