Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

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

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

“woke” is the new caravan.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Republicans in disarray!

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

The willow is too close to the house.

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Mystery Man (Open Thread)

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Mystery Man (Open Thread)

Man, this Gaetz-Greenberg scandal has everything. Snot-nosed rich boys who use their daddies’ money and connections to buy office – check. Arrogant Trump-humping douchebags who think their power enables them to act with impunity – check. Abject morons who leave a trail of literal receipts behind to incriminate themselves – check.

As I’ve repeated in every single thread that addresses the Gaetz sleazopocalypse, my fondest wish is that the investigation and prosecution ensnare additional Florida Republicans. Welp: [NYT]

Investigators believe Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector in Seminole County, Fla., who was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge and other crimes, initially met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances, according to three people with knowledge of the encounters. Mr. Greenberg introduced the women to Mr. Gaetz, who also had sex with them, the people said.

One of the women who had sex with both men also agreed to have sex with an unidentified associate of theirs in Florida Republican politics, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Mr. Greenberg had initially contacted her online and introduced her to Mr. Gaetz, the person said.

Jeebus doesn’t love us peninsula dwellers enough to make that unidentified Republican someone consequential like DeSantis, Scott or Rubio, who are the three most dangerous GOPers in the state (in that order). My guess is it’ll turn out to be a nobody like the state rep in central FL (Greenberg’s stomping grounds) who, in the Trumpian-Gaetzian mold, views his job as trolling instead of legislating.

You’d kinda hope for bigger quarry, but this must be a deeply stupid and arrogant person like the named suspects, and I don’t think even Rubio is that dumb.

Anyhoo, open thread.

Reader Interactions

179Comments

  1. 1.

    PsiFighter37

    What’s the over/under when Gaetz is perp-walked? I am also sure that the true story about his ‘son’ will come out as well.

  2. 2.

    patrick II

    I wouldn’t mind finding out about Tucker Carlson’s problems with “some crazy woman” that Gaetz brought up during his interview.  There is so much going on that no one will probably follow that thread, but Tucker is just as sleazy but smarter than Gaetz.  But then who isn’t.  Oh, that’s right, Greenburg.

  3. 3.

    geg6

    This shit gets crazier and crazier.  Florida Man with Ecstasy instead of meth.  Jesus.  And I’m not so sure that Rubio is smart enough to have stayed away from these idiots.  I don’t think it’s him, but that doesn’t make him smart.

  4. 4.

    germy

    The Daily Beast also attempted to reach the former employee who interacted with Greenberg via text message, but was unsuccessful. That employee eventually signed a $50,000 settlement with the Office of the Seminole County Tax Collector over claims of unfair retaliation at work after Greenberg allegedly used a circle of personal friends he hired at the agency to harass and intimidate her and her family. That settlement bars her from “false or defamatory statements” about her former employer, but importantly does not prevent her from speaking to government investigators, according to a copy obtained by The Daily Beast.

  6. 6.

    Tim C.

    Okay,   cultural awareness fail or the outfit around the face makes it unclear to me.   Who is that in the Game of Thrones meme?

  7. 7.

    Immanentize

    Gaetz has been scrubbed (1984ed?) From Fox news.  I predict the next time he is mentioned there, the chyron will identify him as a Democrat.

  10. 10.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    This, apparently, refers to the FL legislature, not the House

    Charlie Sykes @SykesCharlie 2h
    “Sources said Gaetz was part of a group of young male lawmakers who created a “game” to score their female sexual conquests, which granted “points” for various targets such as interns, staffers or other female colleagues”

    interns. Why are “sources” covering up for these guys?

  11. 11.

    lurker dean

    @Tim C.:

     

    @Tim C.:

     

    liz cheney. the scuttlebutt is that she and her father are behind this to get back at gaetz.

    oops, i see someone beat me too it..

  12. 12.

    germy

    Greenberg has maintained a close relationship with Gaetz for several years. Both were rising stars in Florida’s Republican Party in 2016. They have taken selfies together with political operative Roger Stone in 2017, at AIPAC in 2018, and at the White House in 2019. Gaetz publicly lent his support to Greenberg, cheering him as “a disrupter” who should run for Congress.

    They were also together in the Florida panhandle region on July 5, 2019 when they called a state legislator, Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, and left her a peculiar voicemail that has been obtained by The Daily Beast.

    “My dear Anna, this is your favorite tax collector. I’m up in the panhandle with your favorite U.S. congressman, Mr. Gaetz,” Greenberg starts to say.

    “Hi Anna!” Gaetz jumps in.

    “And, uh, we were just chatting about you, and talking about your lovely qualities,” Greenberg continued.

    “We think you’re the future of the Democratic Party in Florida!” Gaetz said.

    On Thursday, Eskamani told The Daily Beast that she maintained Greenberg at arm’s length for years. Their interactions started when she called him out over Islamaphobic comments then helped him connect with the Muslim community to recover from that. Eskamani said she cautiously entertained “weird” contacts from Greenberg and Gaetz that made her uncomfortable.

    You can hear the phone message here.

  14. 14.

    Jeffro

    Since this is an open thread…there’s an excellent article in that paper about how Virginia has done a complete 180 from its past as the heart of the Confederacy, especially in terms of voting rights.

    Elections have consequences!

    Alone among the states of the former Confederacy, Virginia has become a voting rights bastion, increasingly encouraging its citizens — especially people of color — to exercise their democratic rights. In the last 14 months, the state’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Mr. Northam have together repealed the state’s voter ID law, enacted 45 days of no-excuse absentee voting, made Election Day a state holiday and enacted automatic voter registration for anyone who receives a Virginia driver’s license.
    Virginia, which for nearly 50 years had to submit changes to its elections to the federal government for approval under the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance requirements, has now effectively imposed the same covenants on itself, an extraordinary step for a state with a long history of segregation and racially targeted voting laws.

  16. 16.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Al Z.:

    Who plays Gaetz?

    If this had gone down in the ’90s, I’d have said Ray Liotta – Gaetz bears an uncanny resemblance to Liotta’s portrayal of Henry Hill in Goodfellas, and that’s not intended as a compliment to Gaetz.

    In 2021? Perhaps Neil Patrick Harris? I don’t know about the physical resemblance, but I think NPH has the acting chops to capture the utter punchability of Gaetz. And that is meant as a compliment to Mr. Harris.

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @geg6:

     And I’m not so sure that Rubio is smart enough to have stayed away from these idiots.

    Jack Germond had an anecdote about a time during Nixon’s self-rehabilitation when he tried to hang out with a bunch of reporters and be “one of the boys”; he tried so hard it got creepy and weird real quick. I can see Rubio in a similar situation, trying to hang with the younger bros and the party breaking up quick.

  18. 18.

    germy

    From NBC News: Luke Ball, the communications director for Rep. Matt Gaetz, has resigned, according to a person familiar with the situation

    — Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) April 2, 2021

  19. 19.

    different-church-lady

    Man, the half-life to these wingnut implosions just keeps getting shorter and shorter.

  20. 20.

    cmorenc

    @Al Z.:

    I can’t wait for the Coen brothers take.  Who plays Gaetz?

    This may seem counter-intuitive at first, but Leonardo DiCaprio would be the perfect choice – recall that Leo already has experience convincingly portraying a rich, greedy, arrogant douche bag in “Wolf of Wall Street” – and he has just enough superficial physical resemblance to Gaetz that makeup artists could easily make over DiCaprio into a near-dead ringer.

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    @Immanentize: it’s just amazing – not a single mention that I can see on their home page!

    Here’s what they have up:

    • Immigrants being ‘dropped over the border wall’
    • 22 states fighting California’s firearms ban(?)
    • Biden’s plan is really less than half “infrastructure”
    • Masker vs anti-masker fight at a big-box store
    • Hunter Biden (of course!)
    • Voter somewhere in NY fed up with Cuomo
    • Parents fed up with anti-white-supremacy curriculum somewhere
    • Another story about immigrant kids being dropped over the wall
    • a liberal DA somewhere ‘gutting’ an anti-gang and narcotics unit
    • promo for Piers Morgan to appear on Tucker Carlson’s show

    I mean, does that even remotely look like a news organization?

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    One of the women who had sex with both men also agreed to have sex with an unidentified associate of theirs

    Boy, that Kathleen Harris really gets around, don’t she?

    //

  28. 28.

    germy

    Meanwhile, in Russia…

    Wow. Instead of being visited by a Dr, @navalny was visited by a team from RT, led by MARIA BUTINA (yes, the same woman convicted in the US of being a Russian agent). She shouted this was the best prison. Navalny then called her a parasite and a servant of the power of thieves. https://t.co/CaFTKHIz1F

    — Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) April 1, 2021

  30. 30.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jeffro: We need to brace ourselves for a slew of Hunter coverage across non-Fox outlets. His book is about to be released, and he’s doing media appearances around that.

  31. 31.

    danielx

    @NotMax:

    Hot and cold running STDs for everyone!

    Seriously, if ever there was a poster boy for backpfeifengesicht it’s Matt Gaetz.

    ETA: whose communications director just resigned, if only I can find the link.

  35. 35.

    lowtechcyclist

    @germy: Dude probably realized this business was way beyond being spinnable, and it wasn’t going to go away. So time to quit.

  37. 37.

    Shalimar

    @Betty Cracker: Ugh.  I have empathy for his problems, I know his life has not been easy, but there is no reason I should ever have to hear the word Hunter again in my life.

  38. 38.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @Betty Cracker: Ugh. Is there a world where someone can actually read the room and think, “oh, this might not be the best time to release a book about me?”

    I was so enjoying the non-drama of it all (well, except that “Major” scandal of who poo-ed on the carpet and when.

  40. 40.

    danielx

    @germy:

    I knew I’d seen it somewhere, but I got my second shot yesterday and have about a minute’s worth of flash to bang delay this morning. Never get headaches but bigod I have one today.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    @Shalimar:

    As I understand it, the book will talk about his addiction and could be a help to some people.  I see no reason to crouch in fear because Fox will be Fox.  Biden has already won.

  42. 42.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @cmorenc: recall that Leo already has experience convincingly portraying a rich, greedy, arrogant douche bag in “Wolf of Wall Street”

    Haven’t seen that, but I’ll second your casting choice based on “Django Unchained”, where he plays an evil rich bastard who is a moron but thinks he’s smart.

  43. 43.

    Gravenstone

    @PsiFighter37:  I’m waiting for critical mass to be reached that culminates in his being expelled from the House. I expect Nancy has already been asked about it internally. At some point the Republican caucus will also realize that he has become too toxic to continue protecting.

  44. 44.

    germy

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Or maybe he’s the third guy? There was a third guy that had women paid for, but he’s still unidentified.

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate…

  45. 45.

    Betty Cracker

    @TaMara (HFG): I saw a short interview clip — can’t remember which media outlet, seems like it was an outfit like “Today” or something relatively softball. Anyhoo, they dove straight into the laptop thing, of course, and Hunter said it was possible someone hacked his computer or stole a laptop to get that material. Maybe this is an effort to get out in front of something. I don’t know.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    Biden holds first call with Ukrainian president amid Russian buildup

     

    The conversation follows at least three high-level calls between the U.S. and Ukraine this week

     
    Biden isn’t concerned about Hunter.

  47. 47.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @TaMara (HFG): Publisher probably has some input into the decision, and there may be contractual obligations to help publicize the book. They need to recoup their investment, after all, and they may have decided that now is a good time (especially since the President’s apparently on a roll right now).

  49. 49.

    feebog

    As much as I would like to see Scott or Rubio or DeathSantis mixed up in this I’ve got to think it is someone younger who ran in the same crowd. Betty, you know Florida politics better than most on the blog here, who fits that description?

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @lowtechcyclist: Or he participated in their illegal behavior and is hoping that no one will notice him once he’s gone.

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

    edit: I swear I wrote this before seeing comment #44.

  55. 55.

    MattF

    Gaetz has some… behaviors… similar to those of TFG but hasn’t figured out that ‘flooding the zone with shit’ won’t work for him. I’m hoping he never does.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    The U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 6 percent, in the strongest indication yet that the labor market is finally working its way back to pre-pandemic norms as the number of vaccinations continues to rise.

    The hiring and employment data, released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, firmly beat economists’ predictions of 675,000 positions added. Totals were revised upward for January by 67,000 to 233,000 positions and for February by 89,000 to 468,000.

  58. 58.

    Amir Khalid

    @cmorenc:
    Malaysians paid for The Wolf of Wall Street — the money to make it was stolen from 1MDB — and we never got to see it in cinemas. (It was never going to get past the Film Censorship Board.) Pout.

  59. 59.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I really want that Boehner book, and would even spring for the Boehner off-script version where he tells Ted Cruz to go fuck himself.

  60. 60.

    Ken

    @yellowdog: It can all be done with CGI nowadays, like in Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland — the one that faithfully reproduces the Tenniel illustrations.

  61. 61.

    Sasha

    Jeebus doesn’t love us peninsula dwellers enough to make that unidentified Republican someone consequential like DeSantis, Scott or Rubio, who are the three most dangerous GOPers in the state (in that order). My guess is it’ll turn out to be a nobody like the state rep in central FL (Greenberg’s stomping grounds) who, in the Trumpian-Gaetzian mold, views his job as trolling instead of legislating.

    He might love you enough to have said nobody have dirt on someone higher up the food chain.

  62. 62.

    Betty Cracker

    @feebog: I would wager a small amount that it’s state-level Rep Anthony Sabatini, whom I was alluding to in the second-to-last graf in the OP. I have no inside info, but he is Gaetz adjacent, was in close geographical proximity to Greenberg and seems exactly the type of arrogant, dumb shithead who would be involved in something like this. I’d wager a SMALL amount because this is pure speculation, but he seems to fit the bill…

    If I’m right, the happiest person in Florida will be US House Rep. Daniel Webster, whom Sabatini is challenging in the next GOP primary. Webster is my rep, and a loathsome, corrupt religious fanatic who’s been in politics forever, to FL’s detriment. But Sabatini would be worse, so maybe this is partly wishful thinking on my part.

  63. 63.

    germy

    Matt Gaetz’s sexually predatory behavior was first reported on in 2017.

    It is 2021.

    — Xeni Jardin (@xeni) April 2, 2021

    It's almost as if we live in a country where a guy was caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women and then a month later that guy was elected president.

    — Ami Berger (@AmiBerger) April 2, 2021

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: the audio version where he riffs on his own book after his third (and counting) glass of Gallo Hearty Burgundy

    “this is the part where I wanted to call Paul Ryan a pencil-necked fuckwit Eddie Haskell, but my editor said it was too mean for the old ladies in the church book club and the kids don’t know who fucking Eddie Haskell is….”

  65. 65.

    Ksmiami

    @geg6: when I think of Marco, the last thing I think about is passion or lust or performance…So yeah, probably not him

  78. 78.

    MazeDancer

    Also enjoy the speculation that this is all Dick Cheney pay back.

    Do not mess with the OG Darth Daddy.

  79. 79.

    Jay C

    And speaking of “receipts”: there’s a report at Talking Points Memo that there is video evidence of Gaetz and his fellow sleazoid Greenberg (illegally) sifting through (? expired ?) drivers’ licenses in the tax-collector’s office. Not only did these brain-trusts not realize they were on surveillance video, but they left the DL’s sitting out on Greenberg’s desk (office employees found them, and Joel casually admitted he had been showing his pal “the Congressman” around….)

  80. 80.

    NotMax

    OT.

    Closed captioning on a WW2 documentary keeps printing out Karl Dönitz as Carl Doughnuts.

    :)

  82. 82.

    Suzanne

    You’d kinda hope for bigger quarry, but this must be a deeply stupid and arrogant person like the named suspects, and I don’t think even Rubio is that dumb.

    I don’t know. I never cease to be amazed by some dudes and the absolutely idiotic lengths they will go to in order to get laid.

  83. 83.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @NotMax:

    I’ve taken to using closed captioning in British and Irish shows. Beats the hell out of constantly stopping to replay to catch a bit of dialogue, only to still be clueless.

  85. 85.

    germy

    The communications director for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) had resigned amid allegations that the congressman made payments to multiple women recruited online for sex, according to NBC News.

    A source told the network that Luke Ball, who has been a spokesman for Gaetz since 2019, resigned out of principle.

    If he had principles, he wouldn’t have worked for Gaetz in the first place.

  87. 87.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Betty Cracker: I cannot figure out how he is your rep, unless he has a flop somewhere over there. Son of a bitch lives in Winter Garden and that ain’t anywhere relatively close to the southern tip of Sumter or Hernado, Marion or the Northwest edge of Lake county.

  88. 88.

    germy

    @Jay C:

    I think the video was destroyed, if I’m not mistaken, but there’s an eyewitness account from a security guard.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Yup yup. Also too, Scottish. The documentary I mentioned above happens to be British.

    As I don’t find CC intrusive I keep it enabled all the time. Have the text color set to yellow. Was missing too much against snowy backgrounds while watching Nordic stuff when it was set to white.

  90. 90.

    wenchacha

    @patrick II: We may have to satisfy ourselves with the tale of Tuck beating up a guy in a restroom who he says came on to him.

    From a while back.

  92. 92.

    germy

    Fully vaccinated can travel again, says new CDC guidance

    NEW YORK (AP) – Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can enjoy again, according to new U.S. guidance issued Friday.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward.

    Previously, the agency had cautioned against unnecessary travel even for vaccinated people, but noted that it would update its guidance as more people got vaccinated and evidence mounted about the protection the shots provide.

  93. 93.

    Ken

    @germy: I think the principle is “looking out for himself.”  Guy probably has hopes of making the leap to Fox, and association with an unperson like Gaetz will not play well.

  95. 95.

    PaulWartenberg

    I had to update my blog article to include your quote, Betty.

    And Christ, the stories are getting worse. Gaetz was part of a Spur Posse gang – harassing women into sex to “score points” – at the State Lege as far back as 2013. Gaetz’s eagerness to show off nudes of his conquests on his smartphone on the floor of the U.S. House.

    Christ. The White Frat Boy ™ Privilege is destroying this nation.

  100. 100.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Betty Cracker: Looked at the district map when I posted, it’s just funny that all his bio’s say he lives in Winter Garden which is in Orange County, but he could I guess now that I think about it list Winter Garden but live in that area where Winter Garden and Clermont run together along 50 and depending on who is winning the city limit sign battle. His House identifier does say R-Clermont.

  102. 102.

    PaulWartenberg

    @germy:

    Testing poor people who can’t afford drugs, while rich white guys in political office don’t get drug tested for the meth and/or ecstasy that gets pumped directly into their veins. /headdesk

  104. 104.

    Cameron

    I thought I misread it at first, that Giant Puppet Head’s birthday is May 7.  Alas, it’s true – that’s my birthday also.  I have neither an adopted son nor underage girlfriend, so I guess I’ve missed out on the best things in life.

  106. 106.

    quakerinabasement

    Pensacola proud.

    Just one more reason I moved away decades ago and why I’m never moving back.

  108. 108.

    Betty Cracker

    @Doc Sardonic: Pretty sure that map was redrawn a while back too, but I wasn’t paying much attention at the time since I was south of Tampa. Now I’m back in my home county. Frying pan, fire, etc.

    @TaMara (HFG): I hear ya. The less we hear from that quarter, the better, IMO, especially when high-profile Republicans are imploding. But I suspect there’s a rationale behind the timing.

  109. 109.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    @Al Z.: Maybe the Coen brothers could hire the Beavis and Butthead animators and use voice actors. Sean Penn has little physical resemblance to Gaetz but has insufferable douchebag down cold.

  110. 110.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @germy: Doesn’t do me any good as I can’t get even partially vaccinated here in Larry Hogan’s Maryland.

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    @germy:

    A source told the network that Luke Ball, who has been a spokesman for Gaetz since 2019, resigned out of principle  in the hopes that none of the shit that’s coming out will stick to him.

    Fixed that for you.

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    @MattF: I’m not understanding the connection between the Drivers Licenses and trafficking.  What am I missing?

    And why would expired drivers licenses be sitting in that office?

  114. 114.

    Elizabelle

    Have to catch up on this thread, but one of the things I love about the timing of this Gaetz scandal upon scandal unfolding is that it’s the big talk on a holiday weekend, which is one of the first when more and more Americans can actually gather together, given the progress with the vaccine rollout.

    And, if you know about the dirtbag associate Joel Greenberg, who was elected (!) Seminole County Tax Collector, it just gets better and better.  A lot of Florida man corruption and Republican sleaze, in two quite unappealing packages.

    Bonus:  NY Post, without a paywall:  last photo is of Gaetz and TFFG together, apparently on Air Force One.  Birds of a tawdry feather. https://nypost.com/2021/04/02/gaetz-showed-nude-photos-of-women-he-said-hed-slept-with-report/

    One question for the jackal hive mind:  does Gaetz look more like Beavis or Butthead?  I know he resembles one of them.

  116. 116.

    Jackie

    @Cameron: I have to share mine with TFG. This year’s BD is my first in FIVE years I don’t have to watch him ruin “MY” day!!!

  117. 117.

    Elizabelle

    @tom:  Yea!  Keep us posted on your aftereffects.

    April 16 (?) is your “fully vaccinated” day, hmm?  Mine will be April 19th — Branch Davidian and Timothy McVeigh bombing day.

  123. 123.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I don’t think even Rubio is that dumb.

    There is hope, Betty. Hubris trips up more people than stupidity ever did. It got Grietens.

  124. 124.

    Jimmm

    @Al Z.: I can’t wait for the Coen brothers take.  Who plays Gaetz?

    I keep seeing a young Bill Paxton (if you remember his portrayal of Chet from Weird Science).

  125. 125.

    brendancalling

    My big question is “who flips?” Specifically, I’m wondering if Greenberg—who the NYT reports “potentially faces decades in prison on three dozen charges”—is singing or considering singing.

    Seems to me a man facing “decades in prison” might be motivated to throw his pal under the bus for a more lenient sentence.

  126. 126.

    Elizabelle

    Incidentally, Gaetz’s [soon to be ex-??] fiancee, Ginger Luckey, is also yucky.

    She is sister to Palmer Luckey, Trump supporter and young billionaire, who founded Oculus VR (virtual reality headsets), and got fired from Facebook once his Trump-humping became known.

    The Guardian from September 2016:

    Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey spends fortune backing pro-Trump ‘shitposts’
    Facebook’s virtual reality headset creator is secret backer of a group dedicated to Donald Trump support through ‘meme magic’

  127. 127.

    Betty Cracker

    @WaterGirl: Also, expired driver licenses were lying around because when people renew their licenses or switch from one state to another, they typically surrender their old licenses, which are then collected for shredding.

    One reason Greenberg got busted is because he visited a DMV branch after hours (with Gaetz!) and left a bunch of old licenses that were supposed to be in the “to be shredded” bucket lying around in the work area. That prompted the manager of that branch to contact him about the after hours visit.

    To quote something once said of a previous generation of GOP criminals, “These guys aren’t very bright, and things got out of hand…”

  128. 128.

    Matt McIrvin

    I just had my second shot… for shingles.

    (Asked for and got it at a doctor’s appointment scheduled for unrelated reasons. The timing’s right since I don’t become eligible to get vaccinated for COVID-19 until April 19th, which is right outside the two-week grace period they want you to leave after getting any other vaccination.)

  131. 131.

    FelonyGovt

    So Katie Hill resigned from Congress because nude photos of her were being circulated, while Gaetz shared nude photos of women with his Congressional dudebros. That stinks.

  132. 132.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Betty Cracker: Apparently redrawn in 2015 after the redrawn 2014 map got tossed by a judge,so district 10(my old district) got carved up and rolled into 3 other districts 11,6, and 15. But even weirder is that his house district identifier says R-Clermont and according to Lake County’s map Clermont is in 15 so who knows, trying to figure this shit out gives me gas…..now I gotta go guitar shopping.

  133. 133.

    VeniceRiley

    @PST:
    @Al Z.: Who plays Gaetz? Armie Hammer.

    This made me throw up in my mouth a little; so. PERFECT.

    Oh and I did wonder if Ginger Luckey was related to Palmer – whom I have hated since he was doing anti-Hillary memes on behalf of Bernie.

  135. 135.

    germy

    @FelonyGovt:
    Here’s a tweet from last year:

    Many of you know @mattgaetz & I have an unlikely friendship. I can’t stand a lot of his beliefs but he’s been there for me when others haven’t. He talks about Nestor more than anything, has done so much for his son & is truly a proud dad. This #freenestor thing is bullshit. Stop. https://t.co/qqOx9opXzH

    — Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) June 18, 2020

    A more recent tweet:

    A 17 year old girl is a girl, not a woman. Statutory rape is rape, not anything else.

    — Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) March 31, 2021

  136. 136.

    Benw

    Ugh these guys are repulsive. Generically, clumps of (white) men sniggering at something is so gross and off-putting

  138. 138.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Elizabelle: FWIW mine will be April 17, the anniversary of my father’s death.

    If I’m not in the hospital. Heard a horrific story yesterday from one of the assistants at my dr’s office – massive side effects from vaccination including pulmonary involvement they’re still trying to figure out two months on.

    (Could be worse – one of my dance friends is under treatment for a non-COVID-related pulmonary embolism. Yikes!)

    I’m just hoping I’ll be sound enough after Moderna #2 tomorrow afternoon to drive 40 miles to my brother’s for Easter with the family (all masked except at supper). Not sanguine ATM (some queasy/chill after #1) but I will preposition electric blanket & carafe of hot tea for the evening & massive infusions of ibu & coffee the next morning & we’ll see.​

  141. 141.

    Elizabelle

    @Uncle Cosmo:   I hope you will be well in aftermath of the second Moderna.  Keep us posted!  I hope you do get to spend some (masked) quality time with your family.  Has been a long time coming.

    Keep us posted!  Fingers crossed for you.

  142. 142.

    prostratedragon

    @Cameron:  Oh my, and my brother’s too.  Don’t think he does those things,  or did when he was younger,  either.  Y’all do have some notable offsets.

  148. 148.

    LurkerNoLonger

    I love it when assholes get caught for being assholes. I hope Gaetz resigns, is prosecuted and goes to jail.

  151. 151.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Cermet:

    Woke up fresh as a daisy Wednesday morning after having felt like stepped on dogshit Tuesday. To me, feeling bad meant that it worked as advertised.

    Of course, I’m the guy who actually asks for stuff like mercurochrome on cuts to make sure I don’t get infected, sooooo…..

  156. 156.

    feebog

    @WaterGirl:

    I spent a shitton of money getting Katie Hill elected, only to see her piss the whole thing away.  It’s even worse than it seems, because Christy Smith ran in the special and November elections against Mike Garcia and lost.  Smith was my assembly person and was pretty much a lock to be reelected for her state seat.  Now we have Republicans in both seats.  Smith just announced she is if for a rematch, but it is going to be ugly.

  161. 161.

    Brachiator

    Investigators believe Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector in Seminole County, Fla., who was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge and other crimes, initially met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances, according to three people with knowledge of the encounters.

    I remember when this was called prostitution.

    I had not been following this story closely, but whenever I take a look, the level of sleaze increases.

    I love it when assholes get caught for being assholes. I hope Gaetz resigns, is prosecuted and goes to jail.

    Hell to the Yes on this!

  162. 162.

    zhena gogolia

    @NotMax:

    I was attending a webinar where the univ. president referred to a faculty colleague and his name was on the captioning as “Andy NASDAQ.”

  163. 163.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: My understanding is that Katie Hill resigned because so long as she held public office the Daily Mail could publish more compromising pictures of her and a campaign worker.  California law allowed the newspaper to assert a “public interest” to except it from laws criminalizing publication of “revenge porn.” Of course, the Daily Mail was really interested in its own circulation, not any public interest. But legal analysis was that this ostensible claim blocked Hill from any legal redress while she was still a public figure.

    If Hill had a stronger support system of close friends, she might have been able to bear the emotional cost of further exposure, and tough it out. Hill’s husband, though, seems to have been a dominant, emotionally abusive man. He probably blocked friendships that would have afforded her more emotional suport.

    Hill’s husband is a thoroughly despicable man. He exploited her, and when she told him that she would divorce him, he almost certainly is the one who gave the photos to the Daily Mail, as revenge.

  165. 165.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: I got this info from state and local nrwspapers that covered the matter in more detail than the national news. My assertion that Hill maybe did not have a clese support group is just a surmise, based on my own observation of power dynamics that I have observed in others.

    There is a picture of Hill on her first day of Congress that is very appalling in retrospect. She and Speaker Pelosi are standing near each other on a riser, perhaps after Hill had been sworn in. They both look somewhat uncomfortable, though, because standing between them is her husband, a large man with a big smirk on his face.

  167. 167.

    J R in WV

    @danielx:

    I knew I’d seen it somewhere, but I got my second shot yesterday and have about a minute’s worth of flash to bang delay this morning. Never get headaches but bigod I have one today.

    After my second Moderna shot about the only thing that didn’t hurt was my head. 3 or 4 days later muscle cramps in places I had never had cramp up before.

    Would still get the vaccination, the lessening of stress is great, even with the back/front/shoulder ache.

  168. 168.

    J R in WV

    @Bluegirlfromwyo:

    Sean Penn has little physical resemblance to Gaetz but has insufferable douchebag down cold.

    Wouldn’t that be what the call type-casting? Seems like Mr Penn is actually insufferable, not sure about douchebag…

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    @WaterGirl:

    I’m not understanding the connection between the Drivers Licenses and trafficking.  What am I missing?

    And why would expired drivers licenses be sitting in that office?

    As I understand it, the DLs were turned in by people moving to his county, in return for a shiny new FLA driver’s license.

    Then he created phony driver’s licenses to use while attempting to procure V young girls/women for sex. Or something like that. Which seems more intelligent than you would expect from this douchebag.

  170. 170.

    cope

    @Al Z.: Consistent with my new policy of replying to posts once they have been triaged into ICU, I suggest Max Headroom play Mr. Gaetz.

  171. 171.

    evodevo

    @SFBayAreaGal: ​
      Yes, this lol – we have to use it for Brokenwood, and the various Scots and Irish series – Yorkshire accents are often unintelligible as well…

  173. 173.

    Ken

    @J R in WV: Now I’m wondering if that was part of the payment for going on a date with Greenberg- in addition to other gifts, the underage girls get a fake ID showing that they’re old enough to drink. That could be another whole set of charges, involving misuse of his public office.

  176. 176.

    bluefish

    @Al Z.: 
    My beloved and much missed Aaron Eckhart. With extensive work done by hair and make up.

    Thank You For Being An Idiot.

  177. 177.

    SFAW

    @Al Z.:

    I can’t wait for the Coen brothers take.  Who plays Gaetz?

    Were Grady Sutton still alive … nah, actually I think Sutton was probably an OK guy.

  179. 179.

    SFAW

    @Suzanne:

    I never cease to be amazed by some dudes and the absolutely idiotic lengths they will go to in order to get laid.

    You say that like it’s a bad thing.

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