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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

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Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

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You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Late Night Open Thread: A Truly *Professional* Grifter Takes No Holidays

Late Night Open Thread: A Truly *Professional* Grifter Takes No Holidays

by Anne Laurie|  December 27, 201911:08 pm| 86 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Post-racial America, Republican Venality

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Domenich plagiarized at the Post, was forced to apologize after calling Kagan the "first openly gay justice" (she isn't gay), and he was paid to write articles praising Malaysia and did so w/o disclosing those payments to his outlets. But sure, his standards are really high!! pic.twitter.com/T3SspCnrZK

— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) December 27, 2019

Give Ben Domenech due credit — he started grifting for the GOP while in high school, networked his way from the NRO online and RedState through the Heartland Institute into ‘publishing’ The Federalist (funder officially unidentified). And he’s married to John McCain’s daughter — since Meghan’s mommy is a billionaire beer heiress, neither she nor Ben would ever have to work for a living, if they didn’t take pride in their work ethic. (Or at least need a public outlet for their grievances & insecurities.)

Whining about the NYTimes’ 1619 Project has become the latest masturbatory group-grievance for the ‘intellectual’ branch of the Wingnut Wurlitzer, and by Prosperity Jesus, where there’s a grievance to be milked, Mr. Domenech is on it!

Chapter 2: Why The Native Americans Deserved To Be Murdered For Their Corn https://t.co/3p7iBdLSlz

— Social Democratic Party of Galar (@weedlewobble) December 27, 2019

Ben Shapiro's website literally did put out a video on Columbus day 2017 arguing that the Native Americans where backward savages who deserved it. He initially defended it as 'satire' before taking it down claiming it'd been put up without his knowledge.https://t.co/DZNLuid8Rr

— Social Democratic Party of Galar (@weedlewobble) December 27, 2019

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Reader Interactions

86Comments

  1. 1.

    danielx

    December 27, 2019 at 11:12 pm

    I’d say Ben Domenech is the doucherocket’s doucherocket, but there are so many contenders for the title.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    December 27, 2019 at 11:14 pm

    There’s an “Indian giver” quip in there somewhere.

    But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna go there.

  3. 3.

    The Moar You Know

    December 27, 2019 at 11:20 pm

    since Meghan’s mommy is a billionaire beer heiress, neither she nor Ben would ever have to work for a living, if they didn’t take pride in their work ethic. (Or at least need a public outlet for their grievances & insecurities.)

    What those motherfuckers do isn’t  work and it’s an insult to anyone who does to refer to it as such.

  4. 4.

    Scott Alloway

    December 27, 2019 at 11:24 pm

    I was not aware The Federalist has standards. Learn something new every day here.

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 27, 2019 at 11:25 pm

    Birdie in the hand for life’s rich demand
    The insurgency began and you missed it
    I looked for it and I found it
    Myles Standish proud, congratulate me
    A philanderer’s tie, a murderer’s shoe

  6. 6.

    Misterpuff

    December 27, 2019 at 11:26 pm

    Chapter 3  The Bustling Young Nation Disregarded their Ideals of Property Rights and Evicted the Native Americans Because …

  7. 7.

    Kraux Pas

    December 27, 2019 at 11:27 pm

    @Scott Alloway:

    I was not aware The Federalist has standards

    No one said they’re good standards.

  8. 8.

    burnspbesq

    December 27, 2019 at 11:29 pm

    Outsourcing this comment to the late, great efg.

  9. 9.

    Yarrow

    December 27, 2019 at 11:29 pm

    AL, you saw this, right?

    Me: People should stop caricaturing Boston.

    Boston: A man from Southie stole a truck loaded with $10,000 in lobsters, prompting another lobster truck to give chase, resulting in a crash between the two lobster trucks. https://t.co/8tHAXgqv9R

    — Jason Schwartz (@JasonSchwartz) December 18, 2019

    Article is linked.

  10. 10.

    ThresherK

    December 27, 2019 at 11:29 pm

    @NotMax: You don’t have to go there, as I trust at least one of the Lil’ Bens will. And then complain “Why can’t I say ‘Indian giver’?”

  11. 11.

    khead

    December 27, 2019 at 11:34 pm

    Fuck these people.  Dude is married to Meghan McCain.  Not sure who is worse.

    Have some soothing kittehs instead.

  12. 12.

    Achrachno

    December 27, 2019 at 11:35 pm

    @Kraux Pas: “No one said they’re good standards.”  They might good enough for who they’re for, but I’m sure they’re very low.

  13. 13.

    Anne Laurie

    December 27, 2019 at 11:35 pm

    @Yarrow: Too easy — especially since it crossed my attention at the same time as the tweet about the MA therapy dog stealing toys from the donations bin!

  14. 14.

    Suzanne

    December 27, 2019 at 11:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Lets begin again, begin the begin….

    I went with Spawn the Younger and SuzMom to see Cats this afternoon. It was not good, but it was fun…and even more importantly, it was not samey-same. The CGI fur was a bad choice. Would have been better to have them in leotards and furry leg warmers.

  15. 15.

    Yarrow

    December 27, 2019 at 11:36 pm

    @Anne Laurie:  It just made me laugh.

  16. 16.

    Splitting Image

    December 27, 2019 at 11:37 pm

    Domenich plagiarized at the Post, was forced to apologize after calling Kagan the “first openly gay justice” (she isn’t gay),

     

    That was Domenech? I remember Andrew Sullivan read it somewhere on the internet and spent the next month writing daily screeds about how Kagan had to either confess or withdraw her nomination. That was when I quit reading him. Didn’t know he picked it up from that guy.

    Not sure Sullivan ever apologized. (Ah, who am I kidding?)

  17. 17.

    Anne Laurie

    December 27, 2019 at 11:37 pm

    @Kraux Pas: No one said they’re good standards.

    IMO, *that* should be nominated as a rotating tagline!

  18. 18.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    December 27, 2019 at 11:38 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: One of my favs!

  19. 19.

    cmorenc

    December 27, 2019 at 11:42 pm

    It was groucho marx who quipped: “i have principles! And if you don’t like them – well, i have others”

  20. 20.

    scav

    December 27, 2019 at 11:43 pm

    Chapter Later: Pilgrim cousins, Puritans arrived, instantly declared War on Christmas.

  21. 21.

    Anne Laurie

    December 27, 2019 at 11:43 pm

    @Splitting Image: Not gonna bother looking it up, but IIRC, Domenech’s most cogent argument was that Judge-to-be Kagan was known to have played softball, in a decade when only lesbian women played softball!!!

    Andrew Sullivan wouldn’t have accepted that kind of reasoning from some short-haired leftwing woman person, but Ben is a personable young fella with excellent grooming habits, ergo an Interesting Question Raiser.

    TBH, being a personal young fella with excellent grooming seems to be the root of Ben’s greatest successes, assuming the rumors about the funder of the Federalist are true…

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    December 27, 2019 at 11:53 pm

    @Suzanne

    Am waiting for the musical depicting the century-plus trials, travails and triumphs of a thriving delicatessen, Katz.

    :)

  23. 23.

    Suzanne

    December 28, 2019 at 12:02 am

    @NotMax: I would go see that. Absolutely.

  24. 24.

    Suzanne

    December 28, 2019 at 12:03 am

    @Splitting Image: Andrew Sullivan should be ashamed of himself.

  25. 25.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2019 at 12:05 am

    @Suzanne:  Seems to be speculation that Cats may have a future as a cult classic, midnight movie sing along kind of thing.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 12:07 am

    @Suzanne

    “Two hours packed with rye humor.”

    ;)

  27. 27.

    debbie

    December 28, 2019 at 12:07 am

    Conservatives no longer need to belong to Yale’s Skull and Bones Society to prove themselves; they instead need to prove they can plagarize.

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 12:09 am

    @Yarrow

    Picturing a line of people entering the theater, each toting a litter box.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    December 28, 2019 at 12:10 am

    @Yarrow: Totally. Like…. Cats is bonkers, which one would know if they saw the stage musical. The songs are meh and the plot is minimal, but the dancing and the set pieces are impressive. If one goes into it with that attitude, I think one will have an enjoyable time.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    December 28, 2019 at 12:14 am

    @Suzanne: Do we know anymore about what’s up with the job and the counter offer?  Last I heard there were multiple things that would have to fall into place for the counter offer thing to work out?

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    December 28, 2019 at 12:16 am

    @Suzanne:

    Andrew Sullivan should be ashamed of himself.

    You could say that any day of the week, and it would be true.  Did he do something in particular or was that just for good measure?

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 12:20 am

    “Orange is the new blech.”

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 12:21 am

    @NotMax

    Whoops, wrong thread.

  34. 34.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2019 at 12:21 am

    @WaterGirl:  You could add that to the rotating tags. It’s evergreen.

  35. 35.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2019 at 12:24 am

    @NotMax:  Hilarious. I haven’t seen the film so don’t know what might apply, but also a ball of yarn, laser pointers, a can opener, catnip…

  36. 36.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 12:28 am

    @Yarrow:

    The “cats” in the film look extremely creepy. Very deep in the uncanny valley

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    December 28, 2019 at 12:33 am

    @Yarrow: No kidding!  Good thought, added.

  38. 38.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2019 at 12:37 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  I watched the trailer when it first came out but I think the strangeness is probably more obvious on the big screen.

  39. 39.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 12:39 am

    @danielx:

    Also, the title of the the Federalist’s “project” alone is petty as hell. I mean, “1620”? Talk about one-upping!

    Saw this article about the 1619 Project:

    The Fight Over the 1619 Project Is Not About the Facts

    From the Atlantic by Adam Serwer:

    The reaction to the project was not universally enthusiastic. Several weeks ago, the Princeton historian Sean Wilentz, who had criticized the 1619 Project’s “cynicism” in a lecture in November, began quietly circulating a letter objecting to the project, and some of Hannah-Jones’s work in particular. The letter acquired four signatories—James McPherson, Gordon Wood, Victoria Bynum, and James Oakes, all leading scholars in their field. They sent their letter to three top Times editors and the publisher, A. G. Sulzberger, on December 4. A version of that letter was published on Friday, along with a detailed rebuttal from Jake Silverstein, the editor of the Times Magazine.

    The letter sent to the Times says, “We applaud all efforts to address the foundational centrality of slavery and racism to our history,” but then veers into harsh criticism of the 1619 Project. The letter refers to “matters of verifiable fact” that “cannot be described as interpretation or ‘framing’” and says the project reflected “a displacement of historical understanding by ideology.” Wilentz and his fellow signatories didn’t just dispute the Times Magazine’s interpretation of past events, but demanded corrections.

    In the age of social-media invective, a strongly worded letter might not seem particularly significant. But given the stature of the historians involved, the letter is a serious challenge to the credibility of the 1619 Project, which has drawn its share not just of admirers but also critics.

    Nevertheless, some historians who declined to sign the letter wondered whether the letter was intended less to resolve factual disputes than to discredit laymen who had challenged an interpretation of American national identity that is cherished by liberals and conservatives alike.

    “I think had any of the scholars who signed the letter contacted me or contacted the Times with concerns [before sending the letter], we would’ve taken those concerns very seriously,” Hannah-Jones said. “And instead there was kind of a campaign to kind of get people to sign on to a letter that was attempting really to discredit the entire project without having had a conversation.”

    Underlying each of the disagreements in the letter is not just a matter of historical fact but a conflict about whether Americans, from the Founders to the present day, are committed to the ideals they claim to revere. And while some of the critiques can be answered with historical fact, others are questions of interpretation grounded in perspective and experience.

    In fact, the harshness of the Wilentz letter may obscure the extent to which its authors and the creators of the 1619 Project share a broad historical vision. Both sides agree, as many of the project’s right-wing critics do not, that slavery’s legacy still shapes American life—an argument that is less radical than it may appear at first glance. If you think anti-black racism still shapes American society, then you are in agreement with the thrust of the 1619 Project, though not necessarily with all of its individual arguments.

    The clash between the Times authors and their historian critics represents a fundamental disagreement over the trajectory of American society. Was America founded as a slavocracy, and are current racial inequities the natural outgrowth of that? Or was America conceived in liberty, a nation haltingly redeeming itself through its founding principles? These are not simple questions to answer, because the nation’s pro-slavery and anti-slavery tendencies are so closely intertwined.

    The letter is rooted in a vision of American history as a slow, uncertain march toward a more perfect union. The 1619 Project, and Hannah-Jones’s introductory essay in particular, offer a darker vision of the nation, in which Americans have made less progress than they think, and in which black people continue to struggle indefinitely for rights they may never fully realize. Inherent in that vision is a kind of pessimism, not about black struggle but about the sincerity and viability of white anti-racism. It is a harsh verdict, and one of the reasons the 1619 Project has provoked pointed criticism alongside praise.

    Americans need to believe that, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, the arc of history bends toward justice. And they are rarely kind to those who question whether it does.

    I remember reading The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist a few years ago for an Early American history class. I highly recommend it. It showed how slavery was not a pre-modern institution, but helped build modern capitalism in America as we know it, as well as the US itself 

  40. 40.

    oatler.

    December 28, 2019 at 12:45 am

    Sue Lyons RIP

  41. 41.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 28, 2019 at 12:51 am

    How can Ben Shapiro and Jacob Wohl be so young and yet already be such trash?

  42. 42.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 12:53 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    It’s because of endless cycle. Moron right-wing shit gets passed down

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 12:54 am

    @mrmoshpotato
    To turn the old punchline on its head –

    Malpractice, malpractice, malpractice.

  44. 44.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 12:54 am

    Posted on the thread below and nominated for the rotating tagline:

    The DNC server is in West By God Virginia!

    What does everybody think of this?

  45. 45.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 28, 2019 at 12:57 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): It’s true.  Client 3 was yelling about it on his show the other night.  (Not really.)

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 1:03 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    The cake server is a lie!

    :)

  47. 47.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 28, 2019 at 1:12 am

    @NotMax: But is the cake server lying?  “This is not butter cream frosting, you rat bastard!”

  48. 48.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 1:16 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    LGM had a recent post up that noted that American Exceptionalism blinds many to the US’s actual history in the world and Doltus’s Regime is leaving much of that bare.

    http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/12/the-true-infinity-war

    I grew up in the Maritimes. In my day in school, we learned that the “First” Loyalists, brought their slaves with them. We learned about the Annapolis Valley, the Nashwaksis peoples, even the Riel Rebellion was taught with balance.

    Moved out West in my teens and all of a sudden, “history” was political, not accurate, a Settler Hailography.

  49. 49.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 1:18 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    See War and Piece. Or R. Crumb. I forget which.

    ;)

  50. 50.

    James E Powell

    December 28, 2019 at 1:19 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): 

    I second the motion.

  51. 51.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 1:20 am

    @Jay

    Manifest Blustery.

  52. 52.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 1:25 am

    82-Year-Old New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell Quietly Asks Ilhan Omar If He Can Be Part Of The Squad https://t.co/ivleoX1buC #OurAnnualYear2019 pic.twitter.com/LcKU45kgOE— The Onion (@TheOnion) December 27, 2019

  53. 53.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 1:28 am

    Last-Ditch Climate Change Report Provides Locations Of Weapons, Current Whereabouts Of Oil Executives https://t.co/1UU4VHHXVQ #OurAnnualYear2019 pic.twitter.com/t475wVnzhe— The Onion (@TheOnion) December 26, 2019

  54. 54.

    Cameron

    December 28, 2019 at 1:36 am

    He also plagiarized Jonah Goldberg columns.  How low does one have to go to hork up ersatz Pantload?

  55. 55.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 1:37 am

    @Jay:

    To be fair, the US isn’t that different that a lot of nations and civilizations throughout history. Everybody has skeletons in their closet. That of course doesn’t excuse America’s atrocities.

    However, a world without the US in it probably wouldn’t be a world worth living in. On balance, it’s probably been a force for good at times. Imagine if the Axis Powers had won WW2? Or if the USSR had managed to conquer all of mainland Europe instead of just the eastern half?

    The US will probably prove to better than the PRC will be, at any rate. Sure, it’s all “Belts and Roads” now, but every empire abuses it’s position eventually, often sooner rather than later. Xi has proven he doesn’t give a damn about the human rights of his own citizens, including those of foreign nations. To him, power is the only thing that matters. And that’s terrifying.

    On Quora, a lot of questions critical of China’s human rights record (including one asking if China is an evil empire) have a lot of answers by individuals with Chinese names from the Mainland. Mostly a lot of whataboutism about the US’ treatment of undocumented immigrants and whinging about evil Western imperialism, all with the implication that whatever the Chinese state does is justified.

    I’m sure disagreeing with your country’s leaders’ policies but still being patriotic is a foreign concept to some of these people. These are probably Chinese government agents, but who knows. I imagine that if the 2019 internet existed during the Cold War, you’d have similar responses from Soviet citizens.

    The PRC and similar states (Russia) disgust me. They’re totalitarian nightmares and they’re exporting authoritarianism to us, combined with homegrown efforts. I just feel like humanity is building a cage for itself from which it will never escape

  56. 56.

    Chetan Murthy

    December 28, 2019 at 1:43 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    These are probably Chinese government agents, but who knows.

    Given what we know about the operation of the Chinese Internet, it’s a fair guess that that’s what they are.  I know that the Chinese immigrants I’ve met in the US, have much more ….. realistic ideas of the PRC.

  57. 57.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 1:43 am

    @NotMax:

    Oh man, that meme is over 10 years old! Still a goodie though.

    I remember “Dad, I am disappoint.”

  58. 58.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 1:53 am

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Yup. On a related note, Xi and Saudi Prince Bonesaw are best buddies. Earlier this year, Bonesaw spoke out in support of the PRC’s ethnic cleansing of Muslim minorities, saying that China “has the right to conduct anti-terrorism operations”. They’re both fucking pieces of worthless shit, including Putin. Who or what holds these people accountable?

    The issues facing the world are becoming too dire for people like them to remain in charge. Bolsonaro is letting the Amazon burn; practically all life on Earth relies on the Amazon rain forest to live. At what point does human civilization’s survival (humanity’s survival as a species, in fact) override national sovereignty?

    Humanity is the only known intelligent species in the universe. Earth is the only known planet to support life. Don’t these evil assholes think there is any intrinsic value, beyond self-preservation, in saving humanity and Earth? That we have a moral imperative to preserve the universe’s only known intelligent species as well as the Earth’s ability to sustain life?

  59. 59.

    Anne Laurie

    December 28, 2019 at 2:01 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Just out of curiousity… you saw I linked Serwer’s article in my post at the top, right?

  60. 60.

    Chetan Murthy

    December 28, 2019 at 2:06 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    That we have a moral imperative to preserve the universe’s only known intelligent species as well as the Earth’s ability to sustain life?

    Not that it makes it any easier for -us-, but life will be fine.  Seriously.  We might end up wiping out all large animals on land and sea, but regardless, in a few hundred million years nature will have bounced back with a whole new set.  Probably no intelligent life, but then ….. we haven’t done such a great job after all.

  61. 61.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 2:08 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    I didn’t click on that link, so I didn’t know you did. Sorry about that

  62. 62.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 28, 2019 at 2:12 am

    A very good experiment is if DineshDSouzaFelon runs for office, I give you 100% odds he will commit a felony and go to prison. https://t.co/lkl8PzqhDG— Kimberley Johnson (@AuthorKimberley) December 27, 2019

    LOL Edited a bit because I won’t soil the blog with that felon’s handle. And to call him a felon.

  63. 63.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 2:16 am

    @Chetan Murthy:

    but regardless, in a few hundred million years nature will have bounced back with a whole new set.

    Wikipedia says around 10 million years, but I see your point. Multi-cellular life on Earth only has between 800 million to 1.2 billion years left. By 1.2 billion, a complex biosphere will become unsustainable. Another reason why humanity needs to escape this rock eventually.

    I just think it’s bullshit that mad men like Xi, Putin, and Trump are stealing humanity’s collective future. They don’t deserve power.

  64. 64.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 2:21 am

    @NotMax:

    in BC, Sask, Alberta, I understand it.

    Sask and Alberta are Treaty Provinces. The Indiginous Peoples got robbed of their title to the the land and much of the resources for an annual payment of $5 and 2 smallpox laden HBC blankets, then of course, the resources they didn’t give up, ( eg. buffalo) were wiped out via loopholes, then Indian Affairs sold off vast chunks of their reserves, like most of Calgary, for pennies.

    BC was too cheap to even do that, so, when the Courts decided to start upholding the Law, rather than White Supremacy in the late 1970’s, surprise, surprise, the Indiginous People still technically owned 99.9% of the land and the resources.

  65. 65.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 2:24 am

    @Jay:

    My comment up above didn’t rub you the wrong way, did it? I hope I didn’t come across as an apologist or anything

  66. 66.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 2:37 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    outside of America, as they say, “opinions differ”.

    Canada paid off the last of the US WWII loans in 1978. 2.8% adds up when prime was 1.3%.

    More so when 1.1 million served, out of 11 million.

    the US “made” $52 billion in profits, ( profits, not cost, not revinue) as the “Arsenal of Democracy” in WWII.

    Back then, the US had 18 billionaires, ( adjusted for inflation), it now has 607.

    then, yunno, 9/11.

  67. 67.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 2:40 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    sadly, lots of apoligist there.

    ”43% Less evil than Stalin”, not the best marketing campaign.

  68. 68.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 2:46 am

    @Jay:

    I totally understand. The US doesn’t always act out of pure motives all the time. Neither does any other country, now and throughout history. I fear that’s both the nature of power and humanity. We haven’t advanced as socially as we have technologically as a species.

    However, at the end of the day, it’s still preferable to a world ruled by Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan, the Italian Empire, or the USSR, warts and all.

    We had an opportunity after WW2 to truly build a utopia for everyone the world over. To reach beyond the confines of our planet to the stars. But human nature got in the way of that and we blew it.

    @Jay:

    ”43% Less evil than Stalin”, not the best marketing campaign.

    It’s not. I wish we could’ve done better. Evil elites along with enough of other evil or otherwise apathetic/selfish voters helped bring this world about.

    I really don’t mean to come off an as apologist, but you yourself admitted that Canada screwed over natives, too.

    Being racist, evil conquerors is unfortunately a very universal and human experience.

    I just think that the US and it’s allies have done some good. I don’t claim that it has a spotless record. Only an Archie Bunker slob waving a flag would think it does. I wished we could’ve been better. I wish we could be better. The only thing I can do is work to make sure we are better. I’m sincerely sorry that my country took advantage of yours. It was wrong

  69. 69.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    December 28, 2019 at 3:07 am

    Domenich … was paid to write articles praising Malaysia and did so w/o disclosing those payments to his outlets.

    For the record, it was Josh Trevino who whored him out. Whatever happened to Trevino? Has he gone away and left the Intertubes for good? If so, I will give him some credit for his belated decency.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Trevi%C3%B1o#Malaysian_government_payment_scandal

  70. 70.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 3:09 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    the US was really good at selling the “ideal”,

    less so when you know, when the Soviets failed.

    sadly the 1958 Canadian causualties in Afghanistan were just lives thrown in a trash can.

    thing is, going back a long long time, you have what is right, and what is wrong. It’s not rocket science. One of the many reason’s I can’t travel to the US anymore, or visit Alberta.

  71. 71.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 3:13 am

    @Sm*t Cl*de:

    non personed, by the American Rightist Pathet Laos.

  72. 72.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 28, 2019 at 3:13 am

    @Jay:

    thing is, going back a long long time, you have what is right, and what is wrong. It’s not rocket science. One of the many reason’s I can’t travel to the US anymore, or visit Alberta.

    Absolutely. Power corrupts unfortunately. I wish it wasn’t that way, you know?

    I do want you to know I respect your input here and appreciate the tweets and articles you share in your comments : )

  73. 73.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2019 at 3:15 am

    Najib paid this clown to say nice things about Malaysia? Why?

  74. 74.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2019 at 3:22 am

    @Splitting Image:

    Who is Andrew Sullivan to demand that people he thinks are gay must come out? Who crowned him King of Gayness?

  75. 75.

    Suzanne

    December 28, 2019 at 3:23 am

    @WaterGirl: No update right now. My company is closed between Xmas and New Year’s. The counteroffer is actually part of some bigger moves for the company, so there won’t be any action this week.

  76. 76.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 28, 2019 at 3:24 am

    @Amir Khalid: He crowned himself.  Duh. :)

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2019 at 3:26 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    I see. Najib paid for a smear canpaign against Anwar Ibrahim. I guess it didn’t work. Anwar is now PM in waiting, and Najib is looking like a guy who’s going to die in jail.

  78. 78.

    TriassicSands

    December 28, 2019 at 3:26 am

    1) Anyone who thinks Domenich will have high standards must themselves be high…very, very high.

    2) Or maybe just stupid…very, very stupid.

    3) Or maybe just a Republican (see 2).

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2019 at 3:26 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    Damn straight, that.

    ;)

  80. 80.

    Jay

    December 28, 2019 at 3:35 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    yeah, I know. What a world we could have built since 1917.

    I have had no fucks ( sorry ad agency du jour) since Medak Pocket.

  81. 81.

    TriassicSands

    December 28, 2019 at 3:42 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    The US will probably* prove to better than the PRC..

    That will depend on the defeat of Trump and the Republican Party. If Trump is reelected and is succeeded but Trumpist Republicans, the damage this country will do will be immeasureable. It’s already likely to take decades before we can repair the devastation caused by Trump’s judicial appointees — and even if he loses in November, there will be many more appointments before he leaves office. And there is still the very real possibility of Trump getting one or even two more SCOTUS seats.

    In what will be the greatest demonstration of congressional hypocrisy in our history, McConnell has made it clear that if a seat opens up on the high court in the election year, he will fill it and not with Merrick Garland.

     

    * And, yes, you said “probably.” Think how sad it is that there could be any question about the U.S. being “better” than China.

  82. 82.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    December 28, 2019 at 4:05 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Between May 2008 until April 2011, [Josh Trevino] was paid $389,000 by the “Government of Malaysia, its ruling party, or interests closely aligned with either”.[8][9]

    His work was to organize a covert opinion campaign against former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. None of those involved with the campaign disclosed that the funds paid were provided by the government of Malaysia. Treviño in turn made payments of up to $36,000 to several conservative American opinion writers who went on to write pro-government pieces on behalf of Malaysia, including his former employer Chuck DeVore, Claire Berlinski, Ben Domenech, Rachel Ehrenfeld and Brad Jackson.[8] Outlets in which their work appeared included the Huffington Post, the San Francisco Examiner, the Washington Times, National Review, and RedState.com.[8]

    Domenech needs to be reminded regularly that he was a prostitute and Trevino was his pimp.

  83. 83.

    m.j.

    December 28, 2019 at 7:16 am

    During the last presidential election cycle Ben Domenech along with Jonah Goldberg were regular contributors on NPR’s Morning Edition. I guess they had political insights that I was supposed to think were worth listening to.

    I will never, ever give a dime of my disposable income to public radio as long as shit-whistles like these are allowed on the air.

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    December 28, 2019 at 10:53 am

    @m.j.: NPR and public radio are different things.  You can support your local public station(s) while also letting them (and NPR) know that you think that NPR’s political coverage is badly broken.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  85. 85.

    Adam Geffen

    December 28, 2019 at 9:54 pm

    “Whining about the NYTimes’ 1619 Project has become the latest masturbatory group-grievance for the ‘intellectual’ branch of the Wingnut Wurlitzer”

    I want to comment on this point because, to borrow front page Adam’s phrase, on this I happen to be a subject matter expert. I have a JD and MA in history wherein my graduate studies focused on colonial North America, African American history, the history of slavery law, and US and British constitutional history.

    It is plain that right-wing nuts have latched into criticism of the NYT project. However, the historians referenced in the Atlantic piece are not among those wingnuts. They are the among the top colonial and early US constitutional historians. Their criticisms can’t (and shouldn’t) be dismissed because wingnuts ALSO happen to be criticizing the NYT project. Now, I haven’t had time to do more than skim the Atlantic essay and skim the historians’ letter so I cannot comment substantively.

    My quick take is that what seems to be at issue is what some scholars have dubbed Afro-Pessimism vs more optimistic interpretations of history and historical change. I’m borrowing the term Afro-pessimism especially from Karen Fields and Barbara Fields. African-American scholars of race and racism. One (they are sisters) is a sociologist and the other is an historian. They discuss the concept of Afro-pessimism in depth in an interview on the Jacobin Radio podcast for December 13, 2017. The topic of that interview is their seminal book on racism in America: Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life by Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields.

    So while it may be true that wingnuts are criticizing the NYT project that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) insulate it from legitimate scholarly critiques. Though it does make such critiques more difficult because the wingnuts are flinging poo all about.

     

    Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. :-)

  86. 86.

    Adam Geffen

    December 28, 2019 at 10:01 pm

    @Adam Geffen: PS sorry for being so late to the party on this point. I have a toddler and I just can’t keep up with the volume of this blog sometimes. ??

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