Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Let me file that under fuck it.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

So many bastards, so little time.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

You are here: Home / Politics / Glibertarianism / Repub Stupidity Open Thread: Rand Paul, Objectively Pro-Lynching

Repub Stupidity Open Thread: Rand Paul, Objectively Pro-Lynching

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… (It’s worth noting that Aqua Buddha’s standard for what constitutes “lynching” is taken almost word-for-word from the Bush Administration’s standard for what constitutes “torture,” and we all know how well that standard worked out.)

This, of course, is precisely the right moment in time to block an anti-lynching bill, given what happened in Minneapolis and subsequent events. And, of course, the Congress has been trying and failing to get its act together on an anti-lynching bill for only over a century. How freaking hard can this be in 2020? Don’t answer that.

Reader Interactions

201Comments

  1. 1.

    Nicole

    I think Rand Paul sits comfortably inside that 10-15% Joe Biden was talking about.

  3. 3.

    CaseyL

    Rand Paul is proof that maggoty shitpiles passing for human aren’t all oldsters with one foot in the grave.

    The average Golden Retriever would make a better Senator.  I mean to say, a MUCH better Senator.

  5. 5.

    Gravenstone

    Paul won’t be content until he re-enacts the Brooks-Sumner Affair, in the role of Sumner.

  6. 6.

    danielx

    @Baud:

    This is true. “Better than Rand Paul” does not require a lot of heavy lifting.

    What is it with Kentucky electing colossal dicks as senators?

  7. 7.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    “Rand Paul, Objectively Pro-Lynching”

    Okay, then I guess he won’t object to being lynched, then.

    At least not for more than a minute or two.

  8. 8.

    MisterForkbeard

    I have two things to say to all this: Rand Paul is a gigantic asshole and I wish his neighbor had caused permanent damage.

    And also that Kamala would be an excellent Vice President. She created this speech on the spot and it is powerful

    EDIT: One other thing. Kamala’s voice actually trembles with rage and sadness about 3:30 into that speech. I want this same passion to be given a national media presence through the rest of the campaign. A speech like this about Trump, or a performance like this in a debate with Pence would be so energizing.

  10. 10.

    Jay C

    I really can’t believe that in the year 2020 we are still seeing [Southern] politicians bitching about proposals for anti-lynching legislation (!) – and on the same-old, same-old grounds that “it’s already illegal”…?

    WTF? This sounds precisely like the arguments the old Jim Crow bloc used to make back in the ’30s-’40s’-50s: basically “white mobs extrajudicially murdering black people is already illegal in every state, so why are you insulting us by insisting the Feds have to get involved”??

  11. 11.

    senyordave

    Maybe next time Rand Paul’s neighbor can elevate his game and not stop at a couple of broken ribs.

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    Speaking of asshole senators: Tom Cotton is up for re-election this November.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud:   Just saw your earlier comment.  OMG.  Cannot imagine how bad the Arkansas Democrats are to let that happen.  WTF?

  15. 15.

    lamh36

    Open thread…cool, meant to post this last night, but went to bed and was too busy to post at work today.

    So this was just percolating late last night, and I’ve seen some actual blue check folks on twitter reference it too.

     

    My thoughts on the whole “you shouldn’t out people” like LG or whomever.

    When you have Black folks passing for white or just non-Black folks who blatantly pushed anti-Black rhetoric, policies, legistlation, whatever..I believe you def have to call out their hypocrisy on it. I damn sure appreciate when folks call them out for hiding. For example, strom thurmond had a whole azz half Black child w/Black woman & was racist AF pushing segregationist legislation.

    The hypocrisy is the thing. So I have no problem w/the outing of the hypocrisy. It’s not about him being gay, it’s about the possiblity that he IS gay and yet spends his time taking away the rights of openly gay people!

    Fuq em

  17. 17.

    lamh36

    love this.

    A friend of mine said I should think about moving to DC cause they have a lot of healthcare and policy places, and they have a bustling airport.

    It’s too cold for me, but now that I’m having trouble with the California license, I’m expanding my search and am lookingfor places that I can find supervisory work or managerial work to get the experience for about 3 years or so and THEN move to Cali

    DC is back on the list!

     

    Kamala Harris went out to see the “Black Lives Matter” plaza in DC!

     

    Muriel Bowser #StayHomeDC

    @MurielBowser

    ·
    58m

    Thanks for FaceTiming me from #BlackLivesMatter


    Plaza, Senator
    @KamalaHarris
    https://twitter.com/MurielBowser/status/1269012150649081857?s=20

    @DaryonnGeronimo

    A QUEEN showing off her leadership. No press. No interviews. Just Kamala.
    https://twitter.com/DaryonnGeronimo/status/1269017262125703168?s=20

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    @Nicole: 
    Inside perhaps, more likely leading them carrying a flag that proclaims “Gummint is for suckers”

  20. 20.

    CaseyL

    @Baud:  I agree!  That’s why I said, a MUCH better Senator.

    I was tempted to add, “…and that applies to every other GOP Senator, come to think of it.”  I should have, because:  yeah.  I would follow a Golden just about anywhere.

  21. 21.

    Jay C

    @Baud:

    Doesn’t matter if Arkansas is as red as a ruby set in an apple dunked in a bloodbath, it’s really political malpractice to let a Senator (even one with the odds as much in his favor as Tom Cotton) go unchallenged: even if only by a sacrificial lamb, or vanity candidate). Apparently Grapeshot Tom’s only opposition is a write-in “independent”

  22. 22.

    lamh36

    @lamh36: I also understand that coming out as gay is still a hard thing for folks to do even now with all the advancements made. But folks like Lindsey not only is a hypocrite, but advocates for the exact policies that hurts those folks who can’t safely speak their truth.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    Wow, he’s a bigger asshole than I thought.

    Paul presented a scenario in which, under the bill being considered, someone could be shoved to the floor in a bar and suffer minor injuries and be accused of lynching. He said that could lead to unfair incarcerations.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    @Jay C:

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — There will be no Democratic candidate to challenge U.S. Senator Tom Cotton in the 2020 election.

     

    The Democratic Party of Arkansas held a press conference Monday to discuss Josh Mahony’s withdrawal from the U.S. Senate race where he would challenge Senator Tom Cotton.

     

    Michael John Gray, chairman of the DPA, said after Mahony announced his withdrawal on Twitter on November 12, the two spoke about the decision. Mahony withdrew from the race, roughly two hours after the filing deadline in Arkansas closed.

     

    Mahony explained that a “member of his family was unwell,” according to Gray. The DPA stated that “few additional details” were provided during that conversation.

     

    The party began exploring options to replace Mahony in the Senate race. Under Arkansas Code 7-7-106, a party can replace a candidate when they withdraw due to “death or a serious illness.”

     

    ….

    “After exhaustive and careful examination with our legal counsel and our party leaders and without additional information from Mr. Mahony, the Democratic Party of Arkansas will not be able to field a candidate for the United States Senate,” Gray said.

     

    The Republican Party of Arkansas said it would seek legal action if the Democratic Party of Arkansas chose to replace Mahony.

     

    https://www.thv11.com/mobile/article/news/politics/arkansas-democrats-wont-challenge-sen-cotton-in-2020-election/91-0bfac1e5-53f4-4df5-8d3e-b7216740a935

  27. 27.

    Kent

    @Snarki, child of Loki:

    Kamala Harris:

    “to suggest the nothing short of pulverizing someone so much that the casket would otherwise be closed except for the heroism and courage of Emmett Till’s mother … to suggest that a lynching would only be a lynching if someone’s heart was pulled out and displayed to someone else, Is ridiculous.”

    So we can beat Rand Paul’s ass and as long as we don’t pull out his heart or pulverize him so he isn’t recognizable, it won’t be lynching so he will be fine with it.  OKAY…..!!

  29. 29.

    Ruckus

    To me the part that stands out the most in this story is that one person (dick actually) can stop a bill. There has to be a better way. We are getting fucked by moscow mitch and now by dipshit paul. 300+ million people and we can’t get decent laws because of one fucking dipshit? This is a legislative body? This is governance? One moron can call out and have unknown bullies beat the fuck out of people exercising their right to assembly, kill people, beat them with clubs?

    This is a fucking democracy?

    I don’t think it currently qualifies. At least not without the fucking part in there.

  30. 30.

    Jinchi

    57 Buffalo officers resign from special squad after two others are suspended
    The resignations came in protest over the suspension of two officers shown on video shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground.

    So this is a net win, right? Buffalo got rid of 57 officers who think it’s outrageous that two others were suspended for shoving a 75 year old man to the ground, sending him to the hospital in critical condition. And lying about it.

    Clearly these men don’t think there should be any consequence for bad behavior. Best that they aren’t still in a position of power.

  32. 32.

    Benw

    Rand Paul: “if a man sells apples and lynches another man, some people won’t buy his apples. We just have to let market forces prevent lynching.”

  33. 33.

    scav

    Write in Anyone But Cotton.

    Bother.  There’d probably be a runoff against the write-in for Polyester, and he’s just fake cotton that is less prone to shrinkage, wrinkles and saying the essential values of Arkansas aloud.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    @Ruckus:

    Generally, one person can stop “unanimous consent” to waive the rules. It’s up to Mitch to decide whether to go through the process and give this bill floor time.

  35. 35.

    Jinchi

    @Baud: Really?  I assume this basically includes all the men who stepped over the man as he lay on the ground unconcious. Sounds like that squad should have been disbanded.

  36. 36.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jinchi: They left the one particular squad that got in trouble. They’re still out terrorizing people.

    I’m happy they did this, though. It should make them easily identifiable targets for future examinations and firings.

  37. 37.

    Jay C

    @Baud:

    SO the Dem candidate for AR-Sen withdraws TWO HOURS after the filing deadline is up? And the State Party just, apparently, shrugs and gives up?

     

    Like I said, political malpractice…

  38. 38.

    Kent

    @lamh36:@lamh36: I also understand that coming out as gay is still a hard thing for folks to do even now with all the advancements made. But folks like Lindsey not only is a hypocrite, but advocates for the exact policies that hurts those folks who can’t safely speak their truth.

    It’s not about “coming out” or gay/straight.  The sex lives of straight politicians has been fair play for decades.  Ask Bill Clinton, Gary Hart, John Edwards, and even Donald Trump about that.  Didn’t we have a whole thing about Donald Trump and the Playboy model?  I don’t remember anyone talking about respecting his privacy.

    I’m not sure why gay politicians are entitled to any more privacy or deference than we give straight politicians.  Living your life in public comes with the job.

    Sorry, but them’s the rules.  And the GOP more than anyone else has created them.   It’s the world the GOP created when they spent over $60 million chasing after Clinton’s affairs during Whitewater.  And Lindsey Graham was one of the howling wolves back then.

    If Lindsey Graham was just a private citizen then of course, no one would care who he sleeps with.  But he’s not.  Sorry, I don’t make the rules, the GOP did.

  41. 41.

    Nicole

    @Baud:

    I’m concerned that that sort of rhetoric will deter Rand Paul from voting for Biden.

    Goddamnit; I’m supposed to be listening to a reading and now they’re all trying to figure out why I was just laughing.

  42. 42.

    Kent

    @Jay C:

    @Baud:

    SO the Dem candidate for AR-Sen withdraws TWO HOURS after the filing deadline is up? And the State Party just, apparently, shrugs and gives up?

    Like I said, political malpractice…

    Was it a Trojan horse (stealth GOP) candidate who did that on purpose as some sort of dirty tricks manouver?  Or was it a legit Dem cadidate?

  43. 43.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    No idea how reddit works, but everyone should do something similar and link them to Trump’s Twitter feed.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    @Jay C:   I know.  The Republicans did not even stick in a ringer candidate.  (Didn’t that happen in one of the Carolinas or something …)

    Also:  WRT Tom Cotton:  he did have an earlier op ed posted in the FTF NY Times.  Last August.  I wish I was kidding.

    Tom Cotton: We Should Buy Greenland

    Trump isn’t the only one to recognize the country’s strategic importance. Beijing does, too.

  46. 46.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @danielx:

    What is it with Kentucky electing colossal dicks as senators?

    Speaking as someone who has lived twenty years of his life in Kentucky, more than half the state’s voters get a thrill out of seeing someone be a colossal dick, especially to the people they hate.  This is Cleek’s Law central.

  47. 47.

    Benw

    @Baud: @Jinchi: disbanding it would be a step in the right direction. The Buffalo cops would still have two all-beef patties, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame-seed bun.

  48. 48.

    Kent

    @Jinchi:

    So this is a net win, right? Buffalo got rid of 57 officers who think it’s outrageous that two others were suspended for shoving a 75 year old man to the ground, sending him to the hospital in critical condition. And lying about it.

    Clearly these men don’t think there should be any consequence for bad behavior. Best that they aren’t still in a position of power.

    The mayor should process all those resignations at light speed before they have a chance to change their minds.  That’s how it’s done.

    On the other hand, it isn’t clear whether they are resigning as cops, or just from some special squad but retaining their jobs.

  52. 52.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Benw: Boy, you just have to stop and give credit to the copywriter who came up with a slogan you remember word for word 45 years later. He/she is retired, maybe even dead, and the words remain.

  53. 53.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: Now I’m curious if there were polls that had Hillary close to Trump in Texas as well.

  54. 54.

    Martin

    For those of us who find dark comedy to be therapeutic, this might the high point of US culture that Twitter and Donald Trump and covid all arrive at the same point in history. And if there wasn’t enough material to draw on, #ladyg comes in to give comedians even more ammunition to work with.

  56. 56.

    db11

    @lamh36:

    I mean I doubt it holds, but still WOW!!

    I suspect it will hold, and may in fact, grow. Something to factor in this cycle — which has no previous equivalent — is how activated young people have been by the BLM protests.

    Given that at each stage, video reporting of police brutality one night has only served to increase the numbers the next, I think there’s an opportunity to harvest a huge wave of young votes — from a cohort who have always been the most unlikely voters.

    I can’t imagine them (virtually or otherwise) sitting at home in November, or not bothering to vote this time. Not all, of course but enough to fuck up all of the current polling models, at least.

  57. 57.

    Jay C

    @Kent:

    Google “Josh Mahony Arkansas” for some answers: the guy was a legit Dem candidate, though with a remarkably thin (and reportedly padded) resumé. But questions about his abrupt withdrawal seem not to have been answered.

  59. 59.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Gin & Tonic: So while I’m waiting for a job to run I looked it up. Keith Reinhard, “Chairman Emeritus” at DDB worldwide. Still alive, still keeping a hand in the ad business.

  63. 63.

    Elizabelle

    @scav:  I happened to see an LA Times article on the Cleveland police officer who killed Tamir Rice in 2014 (Tamir being the 12 year old with a toy gun at a playground, but likely none of you needed the reminder).

    According to the Associated Press, [Timothy Loehmann, 26,]  has been a Cleveland police officer since March. Before that, he spent five months in 2012 with the police department in the Ohio suburb of Independence, about 13 miles south of Cleveland.  Four of those five months were spent in the police academy …

    According to Loehmann’s personnel records, released by the city of Independence, police officials were in the process of firing him when he resigned in December 2012. Supervisors described an emotionally unstable recruit with a “lack of maturity” and “inability to perform basic functions as instructed” during a weapons training exercise.

    In a statement issued Wednesday evening, the Cleveland Police Department said that it had not reviewed Loehmann’s Independence personnel file during his background check. According to Cleveland police spokesman Ali Pillow, detectives interviewed the human resources director for the city of Independence, who told them there were no disciplinary actions or incidents in Loehmann’s file. The manager told detectives Loehmann left because he resigned for personal reasons, Pillow said.

    Current policy does not require the department to review previous employers’ personnel files, the department said, but police officials say they are now amending those policies to request such files.  [Requesting them.  No mention of requiring review.]

    According to a memo sent by Deputy Chief Jim Polak of the Independence Police Department to the city’s human resources manager, Loehmann was visibly “distracted and weepy” during a gun range training course, and could not follow simple directions or communicate clearly.

    “His handgun performance was dismal,” read the memo, which called the incident a “dangerous loss of composure.” The training officer took Loehmann’s weapons away and drove with him to pick up some of his other gear, but the officer continued to have an “emotional meltdown,” crying at times as he described relationship problems with his girlfriend to his training sergeant.

    …  “Individually, these events would not be considered major situations, but when taken together they show a pattern of a lack of maturity, indiscretion and not following instructions,” the memo reads. “I do not believe time, nor training, will be able to change or correct these deficiencies.”

    The department recommended that Loehmann be fired. He decided to resign instead, the memo says.

    And so he came to be hired by Cleveland in 2014, lasting from March until he shot Tamir at close range in November, moments after driving up.

    Police departments need to do a way better job of recruiting and training, and tracking individual officers. Police officers, doctors, commercial drivers, and pilots are public safety concerns. We need to know who the subpar ones are.

  64. 64.

    Martin

    @MisterForkbeard: Not tied, but in the ‘I wonder if we should throw money in there’ range – there were polls in the single digits, sure. None with her inside the MOE IIRC.

    Not suggesting Texas can be won, but we can make the GOP defend it, and forcing them to dump money in Texas takes money out of other places. It’s not a cheap state to defend, which is why having CA be so solidly blue really helps – CA is wildly expensive to campaign in.

  65. 65.

    Leto

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: where are the good cops diavowing the bad cops? Every other group, save Christians/whites/males, have to do that. Wait… think I answered my own question….

  66. 66.

    lamh36

    @lamh36:

    another thing on LG… if this is “the thing” that is being held over his head so that he would unabashedly support Chump when he really doesn’t want to, then this is the time for Graham to be free of an alleged blackmail.

    He’s still be a Republican stooge I’m sure, but at the very least, he can be free to be a stooge without his nose up Trump’s azz…i.e. Mitt Romney

  67. 67.

    John Revolta

    @lamh36: @Kent: I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I understand that for years, being outed as gay was very different from having a straight affair……….it was universally looked down on and would not only destroy your career but often your life. But, things have changed and now it’s not all that different (for the most part). I also think that ultimately, kinda like it is in racial matters, these things maybe should be left up to the gay community itself. If they decide somebody needs to get outed ( and surely the youngs will feel differently about things perhaps, as they should) then maybe the rest of us oughta butt out.

    I have another thought too- Graham is currently tied with his Dem challenger in SC. Do we think Repubs would hesitate to use whatever weapons they have in a similar situation, with control of the Senate at stake? Do we just have to keep on always with the high ground?

  69. 69.

    Martin

    @Kent: If anyone wonders how Graham went from vocal Trump critic to lapdog, surely Trump showed him what was in the National Enquirer archive about him one day on the golf course, and told him to get in line, and he did.

    You want the head of Senate Judiciary to possibly do his fucking job, you out him so the blackmail doesn’t work any longer.  I don’t support doxxing people, but people are dying here, and he personally covered up for Trumps impeachment.

  70. 70.

    senyordave

    @db11: I can’t imagine them (virtually or otherwise) sitting at home in November, or not bothering to vote this time. Not all, of course but enough to fuck up all of the current polling models, at least.

    This seems like a time when it would be nice if Bernie sanders spoke out about what is happening, and tried to motivate his voters.  I’m guessing that all we’ll get is silence.  This does not seem to be an issue of his.

  73. 73.

    Martin

    @John Revolta: It has not changed in the GOP, and it has not changed enough in South Carolina, and it definitely hasn’t changed in the venn diagram of the two.

    Next administration needs to open an investigation if the President blackmailed a sitting senator to obstruct his impeachment. And if he did, then McConnell went along, because Graham’s movement to head of Judiciary was very odd. Grassley is by far the more senior member and stayed on the committee but gave up the chairmanship for Graham? That’s very, very odd.

  75. 75.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Oh, I do hope #POTUSChallenge becomes a thing. Trying to choose my own book I would never read and building I would never enter. Perhaps Personal Wealth for Everyone in front of a bank.

  78. 78.

    Jeffro

    @Kent: They’re just leaving the SWAT squad, or whatever.

    Good!  Quickly process those resignations (and probably bonuses for serving as SWAT, I’m guessing) and put out a job ad stat.  F ’em

  80. 80.

    Elizabelle

    @SiubhanDuinne:   Wait.  What is Leto commending you on?

    I was, uh, doing some research on SC’s senior senator and missed the whole thing …

  83. 83.

    germy

    I don’t care about Lindsey Graham’s personal life.

    What I do care about is whether he was blackmailed by Trump or Putin.

  84. 84.

    Kent

    @John Revolta: The GOP made the rules and decided that the private sex lives of politicians was fair game.  Graham was one of Clinton’s impeachment managers FFS.

    I don’t remember there being a “cross your fingers behind your back it doesn’t count if you are gay” exception to that rule.

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    PS  the WaPo has a ‘who’s your choice for Biden’s VP selector-thingy’ up and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the person I think will be selected and the person I think should be selected came up as my selection.

    Which means nothing of course.  But still!

    It shows you your “choices” in ranked order and I was kinda surprised to see Tammy Baldwin tied at #2 with another one of my faves.  Who is she? (lol)

    Whitmer and Abrams were near the bottom of the list.  That’s ok, they’re also fantastic, but just like in HIGHLANDER…(yup I’m gonna do it)…”There can only be one!”

    Go check it out!

  88. 88.

    Baud

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I was reading that there have been a lot of false IDs about that guy.  I’d wait for confirmation, unless that has happened in the last couple of hours.

  90. 90.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Jay C:

    In 1911 a mother and son were lynched near Okemah OK by a large group of white men. It is suspected that Woody Guthrie’s father may have been part of the group

  91. 91.

    germy

    @WaterGirl:  Some sex workers are talking about coming forward about their experiences with Mr. Graham.

    He is a regular customer. He tells them to call him “Lady G”.

  94. 94.

    Immanentize

    @Martin: McConnell needs to be asked by every real journalist what he thinks of Paul’s pro-lynching position.  Every day.  Until he answers.  After all, he is the one up for re-election in the blue grass state.

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    @germy:  Thank you.  Politics ain’t beanbag.  If you hold elected office and you are using / paying for sex workers, I’d say you’re playing with fire and you are fair game.  Plus, he’s obviously either bought and paid for or being blackmailed.  Either way, I’m good with him being outed.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    @Baud:

    [. . .] Mahony withdrew from the race roughly two hours after the filing deadline in Arkansas closed.

    That stinks to high heaven. ?

  99. 99.

    Elizabelle

    Albatrossity has a personal essay and an especially delightful bird in the next post.

    We should leave Rand Paul, his hair and beard, and Lady G in this thread.

  100. 100.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jeffro: I also got Harris with Baldwin at #2.  I like Baldwin, she is my senator, but I do not want her as VP.

  103. 103.

    Immanentize

    @Leto: I am working on a memo that suggests the police should — by statute — be mandatory reporters of other police peoples’ violence and falsification of evidence.  Almost everyone else dealing with the public is.  I am.  All teachers are.  Doctors too, etc.

  104. 104.

    germy

    @WaterGirl:  It’s the blackmail that bothers me.

    If the truth … comes out … it would prove what we’ve all suspected about trump’s russian mob boss style.

  105. 105.

    Chris Johnson

    @WaterGirl: It’s Lindsay ‘Lady G’ Graham. Surprising nobody, I’m sure.

    The ONLY thing I’m interested in is whether that is the kompromat that had Graham totally align with Trump and Putin. I’m also interested in whether there’s any of that with Pence: my whole picture of this scenario, this state-of-the-nation, is that we’ve suffered a really massive Russian takeover driven by Russian tactics, which could ONLY have worked if there was extensive support by Republicans.

    You got Trump: I think he got owned in the 80s after having tried to screw over Russian bankers in real estate shenanigans. I think he got beat up and permanently turned to a Russian asset, there to wreck stuff. His shame is that he got beat up and brought to heel, and his big hot buttons are the idea that he has no money and is basically Putin’s pet, and all his stuff is overcompensating for that.

    I think McConnell is a straight up traitor. He’s paid, he has no morals or honor whatsoever, and he’s happy to work for Russia if they can give him power. He’s all in and has no problem with it.

    I think Graham is Lady G, and Russia found out. And he’s done a huge amount to enable the Russian takeover (one that McCain did not like or want) because he’s been blackmailed. And his anti-LGBT stuff is compensating, but his anti-American stuff is strictly blackmail. He is not the same kind of traitor as McConnell, but he’s a coward and it produces the same result.

    They’re not the only ones: I’m real suspicious of Hannity, and of the Senators that went to Moscow on July 4th, but especially with this coming out I think Graham becomes one of the most obvious traitors out there.

  107. 107.

    db11

    @senyordave:

    This seems like a time when it would be nice if Bernie sanders spoke out about what is happening, and tried to motivate his voters.

    Events on the ground have passed Bernie by, so any of the bros left trying to push their BS are likely to find very little audience for their attempted ratfucking of Dems.

    Still, I think that Bernie himself has been much better this cycle in recognizing the potential impact of his own choices and the import of this cycle.  So maybe he’ll surprise us and again do the right thing (as he did by conceding much earlier than most predicted).

  110. 110.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Immanentize: Good opportunity to throw in a gratuitous plug for HHhH, a novel by Laurent Binet about the assassination of Heydrich.

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    @Immanentize:   Hmmm.  Some rumors about NDAs, and Lady G.

    But good response to a Dan Savage tweet:  if this is what Trump and Russia have over Graham’s head, out with it.

    People deserve a private life, and I don’t like the idea of outing.  I can see where Graham might have been reticent earlier:  he spent 33 years altogether in the Air Force (as a JAG), SC Air National Guard, and the AF Reserve.

    But when it rises to a national security threat (and how ironic it could be because of the nondisclosure …)

    2020 has been whack, but how amazing if something like this could endanger Trump all anew.

  112. 112.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Immanentize: I have a Jewish defense lawyer friend who always answers the “Would you defend Hitler?” question with, “Yes, of course.  Then I would shoot him.”

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    @HumboldtBlue: That ad scares me.  The Lincoln Project might appear to be on the right side for the moment, but that ad reads like they are setting up to run Mattis as president.

    Ditch Trump, get 4 years of another R president.  Terrifying prospect.

  115. 115.

    lamh36

    @Martin: I’m just saying…Lindsey Graham went from hating Chump’s guts and being on the right hand of McCain to being Chump’s lackey who McCain his BESTEST friend hated before McCain’s body was even cold.

     

    SMH…something happened…blackmail or something.  As weaselly has Graham is/was to snuggle up to a man his friend hates with with the passion of a thousand suns and who goes out of his way to malign said friend is just…ugh

  116. 116.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: I think part of it is that he is a natural remora.  When McCain died, he needed to find a new shark.

  117. 117.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: sure steve schidmt has a nice rant about Graham.

    But even being the quickness of the about face is the key to it.

    As I said, McCain’s corpse wasn’t even laid to rest before ole Lindsey switched his loyalty to Chump.  It screams of suspicion to me

  118. 118.

    J R in WV

    @Jinchi:

    Buffalo got rid of 57 officers who think it’s outrageous that two others were suspended for shoving a 75 year old man to the ground, sending him to the hospital in critical condition. And lying about it.

    No, no, no. They didn’t leave the Police Department, they left the “special squad” of cops sent out to maim peaceful “civilians” as if that’s gonna hurt the Mayor.

    Every cop that walked past the injured old man should be fired for failing to do their duty of assisting an injured person. And lose their pension, which appears to be the only thing most cops work for and value.

    Someone else above said that suing so that the police pension fund had to pay out was the only thing that would get “good cops” to reject and work to get bad cops fired. I’m good with that!!!

  120. 120.

    cliosfanboy

    We’re in danger of losing our very democracy.  To hell with being nice, dox the f out of Graham and every other republican.

  122. 122.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36:  This is the first I have heard of any of this. But, one rumor is having partners sign NDAs. And, more to the point: the implied effeminacy of the Lady G business. Which should totally be one’s own business.

    Unless it opens one up to blackmail. So ironic that the very people a senator may not be defending are the naturals to come to his own defense. I have always wondered if he might be a hollow person and an eventual suicide risk.

  124. 124.

    Gin & Tonic

    @J R in WV:

    Someone else above said that suing so that the police pension fund had to pay out was the only thing that would get “good cops” to reject and work to get bad cops fired. I’m good with that!!!

    The problem with that idea is that unless you change the union contract, making such settlements pay out of the pension fund just puts the taxpayers on the hook. A pension is a pretty seriously protected legal obligation – draw down the pension fund and you’re still obligated to pay out the actual pensions.

  126. 126.

    Elizabelle

    @Omnes Omnibus:   Yes.  A remora.  And one with daddy issues.  Appears his friendship with McCain was genuine, and then how tonedeaf and opportunistic to insert the Trump family into the McCains’  family funeral.

    From a NY Times magazine article from maybe 2009 to 2011 or so, it seemed LG thought the Tea Party might play itself out before he was up for election again.  He was beyond lucky that a whole passel of tea-partying Palmetto State whackjobs ganged up against him in the previous GOP primary.  Split the field.

    And now he’s tacked to being Mr. Defender of the Tea Party himself and — worse — of Trump.  It has been sickening.  No doubt to his Senate colleagues as well.  I think he may be genuinely liked for working across the aisle some times, and for his humor.  Or was …

  129. 129.

    Steeplejack

    @Elizabelle:

    The police apologists always seem to forget to mention that Ohio is an open-carry state and (I believe) was at the time that Tamir Rice was shot. There was absolutely no excuse for the cops to roll up and start blasting away within seconds.

  131. 131.

    J R in WV

    @Kent:

    Or was it a legit Dem cadidate? [sic]

    Obviously a move to support Herr Cotton, Nazi candidate. Former Democratic candidate should be shunned by everyone, everywhere. Treated like the traitor he is.

  133. 133.

    Jay Noble

    If someone were so inclined, I’m sure they could pinpoint the exact date and golf course Graham was flipped if it hasn’t already been pointed out.

  134. 134.

    lamh36

    @Elizabelle: first you heard of what?

    It’s long been thought that Chump co had something over on Lindsey that they used to orchestrate his about face and turn him into more of a Trump lackey.

    No one who is an ally of the LGBT community is condeming Lindsey cause of his possible sexuality. They are condeming him on his possible hypocrisy when advocating anti-LGBTQ policies and legistlations when he himself may be a member of the same damn group!

    As I said…if a white pol is pushing anti-Black segregationish racist policies in political life, but in private they got some secret relationship with a person of color…ya damn right I think he shoudl be outed as a hypocrite.

    Love who you love, the hypocrisy is the KEY

  135. 135.

    Immanentize

    I have a theory (weak basis) about Barr, Graham and Cotton (and others).  Trump is staging a VP reality show —  Pence will be out and Trump will be replacing him.

    All this shit is audition.

  137. 137.

    Fair Economist

    @John Revolta: I’m surprised that outing nasty homophobes like Graham is controversial. Outing was hashed out when it was first a big issue in the 90’s, and the consensus eventually became that it was fine to out homophobes working against GLBTQ rights, and that otherwise it wasn’t, even if it were someone otherwise problematic, or who would be a big PR coup if they came out. Seems a great rule to me.

    So I say Lindsey Graham, who is horrible on gay and trans rights, is an eminently appropriate outing target.

  138. 138.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36:   I just had not heard that particular detail of alleged behavior.

    Yes, it was flipping a light switch WRT Trump.  And understand re the hypocrisy of his legislative history and his rhetoric.  And probably the self-loathing underlying it all.

    Yup.  Good example. Strom Thurmond all over again, in a different version.  And he often used Thurmond’s late in life marriage as a cover, saying his own bride had not been born yet.

  139. 139.

    Ken

    @Immanentize: If Trump is replacing Pence, it’s with one of the Kushners, so there’s no reason to make Barr, Graham, Cotton, Esper, etc. dance.

    Wait, I forgot sadism.

  143. 143.

    Elizabelle

    @germy:   But is the underlying activity illegal?  Maybe not.  Maybe just embarrassing.  Although, I guess if you speak of prostitution, which I take it is not legal in most states  …

  145. 145.

    Wag

    @John Revolta:

    Do we just have to keep on always with the high ground?

     

    No. Go after him like the GOP would go after a Dem in a similar situation

  146. 146.

    Elizabelle

    @Immanentize:   What?  They get to audition for a berth on the Titanic, after it has already hit the iceberg?  I am not following.

    And think of how prominent in DC is Brave Paul Ryan, who was Mitt Romney’s VP running mate.  Remember him?  Although dog only knows what Ryan is doing behind the scenes.  Some widow or orphan is being gouged …

  147. 147.

    Baud

    Seems like the decision whether LG gets outed isn’t going to be made on this blog. It’s out of our control, no?

  148. 148.

    germy

    @Wag:  and then after disappearing for one day, he emerges and gives a press conference.  “Yes, I’m gay.  And how horrible the hypocrite liberals are, criticizing me for something in my personal life.” And then his supporters close ranks around him.

    That’s one scenario I envision, anyway.

    Republicans are better at bouncing back from scandals. The idea of surrendering power is abhorrent to them.

  149. 149.

    Fair Economist

    @Jeffro: I got Harris as #1, then Baldwin/Lujan tied, then Bottoms/Demings. Baldwin is a “Hell No” because of the Senate seat. Abrams and Warren, who I would normally consider my #2 and #3, came in at the bottom, which surprised me, and to some extent indicates these kinds of rating systems miss a lot.

  150. 150.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Immanentize: Yeah, you use the law that exists.  Outside the courtroom, you can and should oppose such laws.  Inside the courtroom, your client deserves the best defense that you can provide.

  154. 154.

    Immanentize

    @Baud:

    Seems like the decision whether LG gets outed isn’t going to be made on this blog. It’s out of our control, no?

    So is 98% of everything we comment/bloviate about on this blog. So what is your point?

  157. 157.

    Fair Economist

    @Kent: Democratic pols still are expected to resign for hiring hookers. Remember Elliot Spitzer? Why does Graham deserve nicer treatment than Spitzer?

  158. 158.

    Jinchi

    @lamh36: It’s long been thought that Chump co had something over on Lindsey

    Trump could credibly threaten to cripple most Republican Senators, either by getting them stripped of committee assignments or primaried in re-election campaigns, and he has threatened to do it for the most tepid resistance. That’s the reason Flake and Corker resigned. Look at how he kneecapped Jeff Sessions. Even Mitt Romney is hesitant to take on Trump and he’s probably the safest of the lot.

    And Trump is quite willing to lie when attacking political enemies. (Remember, Ted Cruz’s father assassinated JFK and Obama was born in Kenya). Trump didn’t need to have anything on Graham. He just needed to say it out loud.

    Lindsay is an opportunist and couldn’t continue as a never-Trumper if he wanted to be a powerful Senator. He would have been sidelined from all Senate committees and been primaried in his re-election. Instead he’s chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

  159. 159.

    Ken

    @Immanentize: Perry Mason and Matlock seemed to do pretty well.

    I always preferred Mason, who acted as a detective and usually got the real criminal to confess. Matlock just accused someone else of the crime, and literally said more than once “I don’t have to prove you did it, I just have to make the jury doubt my client did.”

  160. 160.

    Martin

    @lamh36: I don’t even care about the hypocrisy. Of course he’s going to play that game inside the GOP.

    What I care about is that the guy who headed the trial of the President of the US was being blackmailed by the President of the US, and McConnell arranged for that situation to exist.

    I’m not sure if federal extortion laws extend to this, but they sure as shit should.

  161. 161.

    HumboldtBlue

    @germy:

    This was discussed last night and when a gay porn actor is openly soliciting sex workers to speak up on their clientele who are actively harming the LGBT community you have a problem.

    Not because you’re gay.

    Because you’re mendacious.

  164. 164.

    Baud

    @Baud:

    To add, even if you believe LG shouldn’t be outed in this way, what are you going to do with it if it happens?

  167. 167.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Baud:

    As do we all, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hold Graham to the same standard we hold Democrats. We call for the resignation of someone who strays too far outside the bounds of decent behavior and even when they don’t.

    Graham and the GOP have been nothing short of vicious to the LGBTQ community and if he pays a personal and professional penalty for that he earned it.

    Ask Monica Lewinsky.

  168. 168.

    Another Scott

    ObOpenThread. ICYMI, DeLong:

    How Are We Supposed to Teach?

    My day job as a professor is teaching people at the college level. Americas colleges and universities are highly, highly effective as teaching institutions: we boost people’s incomes by about 7% for each year attended, and it looks as though only 2%-points of those 7 are signaling and selection—the rest are true value. Moreover, those who major in my discipline, economics, appear to gain an extra 20% in income relative to those similarly situated who major in some other non-STEM discipline. Plus we genuinely believe that we open mental doors, and give our students the tools they need to live richer lives.

    But there has long been a problem with colleges and universities as an industry: we do not really understand how we do it. Much of what we do is give lectures, assign readings, and administer tests. But the research shows that most of our students learn very little from lectures, are rather poor at learning from readings (when they do them, rather than take a look at the pile we have overassigned and give up), and cram for tests in a way that turns test studying into the opposite of effective reinforcement learning.

    The smart money has been that our success as an industry is primarily the result of the social-intellectual rather than the formal-intellectual component of higher education. But we are not sure. This problem, however, has been on the back burner for years… generations… perhaps centuries… because our “customers” have long been highly satisfied.

    Scott Galloway: How Coronavirus Will Disrupt Future Colleges & Universities https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/scott-galloway-future-of-college.html: […]

    A good read.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  169. 169.

    Kay

    Mike Balsamo
    @MikeBalsamo1
    NEW: Attorney General Bill Barr tells
    @AP
    law enforcement officers were already moving ahead with a plan to push back protesters at Lafayette Park when he arrived Monday eve. & it was Park Police, not him, who gave a tactical order to disperse the crowd.

    FOURTH version of this story. I’m interested in why they’re so determined to lie about this. No one is threatening to prosecute him, yet he lies and lies and lies about it. Is he worried about his legacy? What legacy? He’s not known for anything other than kissing Trump’s ass.

  170. 170.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Six months after he spoke on an aircraft carrier deck under a banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished,” President Bush disavowed any connection with the war message. Later, the White House changed its story and said there was a link.

     

    The “Mission Accomplished” boast has been mocked many times since Mr. Bush’s carrier speech as criticism has mounted over the failed search for weapons of mass destruction and the continuing violence in Iraq.

     

    When it was brought up again Tuesday at a news conference, Mr. Bush said, “The ‘Mission Accomplished’ sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished.”

     

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mission-accomplished-whodunit/

  171. 171.

    Kay

    Matt Zapotosky
    @mattzap
    ·31m
    Tues: Justice official says Barr gave order to clear Lafayette Square on scene, saying something like “Get it done.”
    Wed: WH Press Sec confirms that account on the record.
    Thurs: At his own press conference, Barr is vague, but says he earlier made call to move perimeter.

    Now the new story. It was the park police. I don’t buy it. “Get it done” sounds exactly like something this ridiculous fake tough guy would say. Why does he care enough about it to lie?

  172. 172.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    It’s bizarre. Why is the AG handling White House and Trump family security anyway? And then to lie about it for a solid week? God knows what else they were up to.

  174. 174.

    J R in WV

    @HumboldtBlue:

    the angry raging violent man who assaulted two little girls on a Maryland trail yesterday is a police captain.

    Hoping he will be indicted for assault with intent to cause bodily harm on a 10 y o, and upon the older teen who was videoing his crimes. Lose his job, lose his pension, live under a bridge on sparrows. Raw sparrows.

  175. 175.

    HumboldtBlue

    Buffalo PBA going straight for the Nuremberg defense.

    These guys did nothing but what they were told to do.

  176. 176.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @J R in WV: Not the police captain. Name’s been released, three counts of seconds degree assault. A quick google suggests he’s associated with a commercial property company.

  182. 182.

    J R in WV

    @Elizabelle:

    Thanks much!!

    I lost a beloved cousin last fall too.

    Hard to handle with all the stress of the plague, racist politics, and a tree falling on the house. But I’m good.

    Old enough to know we all die eventually. Some are missed, others not so much!

  184. 184.

    Procopius

    @Ruckus: I was a little puzzled by that. They’re trying to pass the bill by unanimous consent, which is pretty common in the Senate since 2009 saw the historic increase in filibusters. I don’t see why they don’t just bring it up for a floor vote. Let every senator who wants to go on record by voting against it. If Rand Paul wants to filibuster, then have a vote on cloture. If 60 senators cannot be found to vote to end debate, let those who vote against it be recorded. Make them famous throughout the land.

  185. 185.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:   I wonder what job he’s gonna lose.  What a jerk.  Thank dog for video cameras.  The young man did a wonderful job recording the incident.

  186. 186.

    J R in WV

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    OK, I’m good with any RWNJ being creditably accused of this bitter and horrible crime. At least no ne of the kids were physically harmed badly, but the psychological harm and legal position of the criminal is clear.

    Put him away! For a very long time. People need to know and learn that this kind of behavior is unacceptable in modern America~!!~

  187. 187.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    I have been ???

    Wondering why it’s so important to lie about this.

    First, the obsession with lying about the tear gas.

     

    Now, this ??

  189. 189.

    John Revolta

    Republican Stupidity Open Thread?

    (Reuters) – More than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants to try to prevent infection by the coronavirus, according to a survey taken shortly after President Donald Trump publicly asked whether injecting such products could treat COVID-19.

    Washing food with bleach, using household cleaning or disinfectant products on bare skin, and intentionally inhaling or ingesting these products were some of the most commonly reported “high-risk” practices in a May 4 online survey of 502 U.S. adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.

    The survey’s lead author said it was undertaken following a “sharp increase” in calls to poison control centers for exposure to cleaners and disinfectants during the pandemic.

  190. 190.

    Another Scott

    Every accusation is a confession, Part MMLVIII:

    Another story that would be an administration-consuming scandal for any other administration —

    The President and his WH Press Secretary, Who Pose As Crusaders Against Voter Fraud, May Have Voted Illegally in Florida While Residing In Other States https://t.co/BQ33gDxU2i

    — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 6, 2020

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  191. 191.

    WaterGirl

    @John Revolta:

    More than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants to try to prevent infection by the coronavirus.

    Un-fucking-believable.  One third of Americans did this.  The mind boggles.

    Not for the first time, I am cursing the nuns and the Catholic church for drumming into me at an early age that taking god’s name in vain is a terrible sin.

    I will have to settle for “too stupid to live”.

  194. 194.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kay:

    Why is the AG handling White House and Trump family security anyway?

    Because Trump is scared out of his gourd, and Barr is his consigliere.  The military have defied Trump, so they cannot be trusted.  The Secret Service won’t shoot people for him, so they cannot be trusted.  This leaves Barr to find thugs who haven’t disobeyed yet and who are racist enough that Trump thinks they’re loyal to guard the front door (literally, they’ve been doing that) of the White House to prevent the protestors from storming the building.  Yes, all of that requires a demented coward to sound reasonable.  Trump is a demented coward.

    @Procopius:

    I don’t see why they don’t just bring it up for a floor vote.

    I can’t know this for sure, but my guess is ‘because Mitch McConnell is an insecure asshole.’  There’s some bullshit going on with him wanting it blocked, or not wanting a vote that would split his caucus, or something assholish.

  196. 196.

    lamh36

    THIS SHIT IS OVER FOLKS. This primary season is done.
    Time to GET OUT AND VOTE CHUMP OUT! Would love to NOT have a 2016 redux! WE CANNOT AFFORD FOUR MORE YEARS OF DONALD TRUMP. So if we got drag folks kicking and screaming to the voting book to pull that lever for Biden…SO FUQ’N BE IT!!!

    SymoneDSanders

    Biden formally clinches Democratic presidential nomination

  198. 198.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @lamh36:

    Man, apparently Biden needed 89% of the delegates to cross the threshold in this latest round – and he got it.  So much for the Sanders dead-enders.  It looks like actual Democrats are gathering around the candidate and know what’s important:  Defeating Trump.

  199. 199.

    James E Powell

    @senyordave:

    A significant portion of Sanders’s “movement” was people who hate the Democratic Party and have always focused their political energy on attacking Ds. Since Sanders is no longer shouting about the evil DNC, they have no interest in what he is saying.

  200. 200.

    apocalipstick

    @Ruckus: I don’t believe it’s the law that one person can stop a bill; I think it simply a Senate rule/ tradition.

  201. 201.

    Chris Johnson

    @WaterGirl: dead thread, but who would be protecting Graham from exposure?

    That would be the flip side of the kompromat, and another motivation for all these traitors. Russia can expose you if you don’t play along… but Russia can also make dangers to your secret ‘go away’, very conveniently. Hell of a nice racket.

    It raises the question of what’s changed, that now it’s okay to be talking all ‘Lady G’. Who is being sandbagged, and why? But this could be another motivation for treason: play along with Russia, and Putin promises that he’ll get rid of anybody who’d mess with you. Get you both ways: fear, but also immunity. And these Republicans do have a way of acting like they’re immune from any possible consequences.

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