UPDATE: Breaking news: verdict reached in Trump’s civil trial after 2.5 hours of deliberation. Will update once I find out what it is, but that deliberation time doesn’t bode well for the orange fart cloud.
UPDATE 2: Jury finds Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, not liable for rape. Carroll awarded $5 million in damages. We now join our regularly scheduled post, already in progress…
Liz Cheney bought ad time on CNN to run this during Trump’s town hall this week:
She’s going to follow that vile shit-stain to the gates of hell, and I am here for it.
Also, I’ve mentioned this in comments a couple of times but thought I should post a front page update. Remember late last year when I told y’all about our dog drama? We’ve managed to reintegrate the pack:
It took turning our lives upside down for months. It took considerable sums of money for DVM behaviorist consultations and a dog trainer. It took more patience than we ever expended raising a human teenager. But it was worth it because peace has been restored and hallelujah!
Open thread!
indycat32
Trump verdict : no on rape, yes on everything else.
Jerzy Russian
Puppies! Glad to hear that they are best friends again.
zhena gogolia
@indycat32: No on rape???
Betty, I’m so glad to see this picture! So SWEET!!!
Elizabelle
@indycat32: And $5 million in financial penalties.
Great to see Badger and Pete! Together again!
Tinare
So glad the pups are getting along. Thank goodness for good juries!
indycat32
@zhena gogolia: sounds like they concluded no penetration but yes on sexual assault
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: No on rape, because no proof of intercourse. But yes on sexual abuse, and all the other counts.
zhena gogolia
@indycat32: So rape has to be penetration?
bbleh
@zhena gogolia: correct, they had 4 options: rape, sexual assault, unwanted touching, or nothing. They went with #2. As one CNN commentator said, it looks a lot like a compromise: I think he raped her, you don’t think she quite proved it to the necessary degree, but we can agree at least it was assault, yes? Fine, done. Now, how much
Plus they also found he defamed her. Total damages near $5M.
Sandia Blanca
@Elizabelle: My spouse says “now we’ll find put of he even has $5 million”!
eclare
Satisfied with the verdict.
So glad to see Petey and Badger together!
Elizabelle
Unanimous verdict.
Elizabelle
@Sandia Blanca: That is true. I guess he can get it from Jared or the Saudis.
Let the floodgates open!
indycat32
@zhena gogolia: IANAL but I think the legal definition of rape requires penetration.
raven
@indycat32: As well as proof. The news lady just said Carrol couldn’t really say if he penetrated her with his fingers or penis.
zhena gogolia
@indycat32: Hard to penetrate with Papa Smurf’s house.
Mike in NC
Another setback for the orange bag of shit. Good!
Alison Rose
“He didn’t rape her but he did sexually abuse her” feels like rape culture in action. But…okay, if this is what we can get, I’m relieved they didn’t just say “LOL go away dumb girl”. I hope Carroll gets a measure of closure from it.
More importantly, I hope it makes Trump angry. As angry as possible.
Mai Naem mobile
Orange Lump will be grifting from this and his MAGats will ofcourse reward him. Idjits.
zhena gogolia
My normie friends have started the drumbeat of “I think Trump’s going to win the election!”
Sigh.
Alison Rose
@raven: LOL. I hope Trump hears that and flips his lid.
NotoriousJRT
So happy to know that Badger and Pete have a durable peace.
raven
@Alison Rose: Well, that’s what she said as well.
zhena gogolia
Brava, E. Jean Carroll!
And Natasha Stoynoff and Jessica Leeds.
And Christine Blasey Ford.
JML
@indycat32: Correct. “New York recognizes and punishes three degrees of rape, ranging in degrees of severity. Section 130 of the New York Penal Code provides that “sexual intercourse” has its ordinary meaning and occurs upon any penetration, however slight.”
raven
@Alison Rose: Yea because his unit is so small she couldn’t tell!!!
Sandia Blanca
@Sandia Blanca: “find out if”
Elizabelle
99 bottles of ketchup on the wall …
Incidentally, where is the sexual abuser and defamer today?
zhena gogolia
@raven: See my #16. Stormy told us so!
bbleh
@Alison Rose: I can’t believe how strong she’s been throughout this. From what I read of what she’s said, I think she WILL get a BIG measure of closure. Note also she didn’t ask for a particular amount of money, which suggests to me that closure is a big part of it.
Alison Rose
@raven: “It may have been his pinky finger, Your Honor.”
raven
They cut in on the most important futbol game in the history of the universe (since the last one) for this!!!
raven
@Alison Rose: Call in the pecker checker!!!!
eclare
@Alison Rose:
MSNBC reporting that E Jean Carroll testified that she wasn’t sure if TFG penetrated her with his genitalia because she couldn’t see. She was sure about fingers.
Alison Rose
@bbleh: Yeah, it takes some serious strength to put yourself through this. Which is why the whole “women make up false accusations against powerful men” BS is so absurd.
Manyakitty
Ooh! A good news thread!!! Happy to see Badger and Pete existing in harmony 💗
Alison Rose
@eclare: I haven’t read much about the actual proceedings because it was too difficult for me. But I love that this is in the court record. I mean, this is the man who bragged about the size of his dick on a fucking debate stage. Yet another lie.
And the thing is, generally I find equating dick size with manliness to be offensive and weird. But in his case, I will mock it forever.
eclare
@raven:
Fuck! Forgot about that!
Miss Bianca
Good news! Good for EJC, and *great* for Badger and Pete!
Manyakitty
@raven: screaming with laughter and horror right now 😂😁. Short-fingered vulgarian, indeed.
WV Blondie
The one “smart” thing TFG did was refuse to submit to DNA testing so it could be compared to the stain on her dress. If it had matched, it would have proven that he at least had his mushroom out and fired it …
Elizabelle
E. Jean Carroll got more justice than Trayvon Martin did.
And, I think the fact that one of the male jurors was a Tim Poole (sp?) (MAGA broadcaster) fan, and voted guilty …
Maybe that fact will discomfort some of the sexual abuser and defamer’s supporters. Maybe.
raven
@Alison Rose: It’s the size of the fight in the dog not the size of the dog in the fight!!
zhena gogolia
@Alison Rose: Don’t read about it. It’s upsetting.
Manyakitty
@zhena gogolia: amen. And Christine Blasey Ford. And Anita Hill.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
I’m getting tired of so much winning
HumboldtBlue
And I know this doesn’t need to be said but decent MEN NEVER FUCKING TALK LIKE THIS IN THE FUCKING LOCKER ROOM OR THE WAITING ROOM OR THE FUCKING BAR ORM ANY-FUCKING-WHERE ELSE!
raven
Cool, no statement to the vultures!
Jackie
Such a sweet pic of Badger and Pete!🥰
And, YAY for E Jean! I hope TFG strokes out from rage!
Suzanne
@raven: I never want to hear about the penis (or lack thereof) of anyone in the government, ever again.
And now…..to go play Mario Kart.
MisterForkbeard
@indycat32: I’m not sure how we got to ‘no’ on rape. I guess is it’s the one or two jurors we knew about that were Trumpkins.
But I guess the insinuation is that Trump definitely held her down and violated her, but… only with his hands, because all that’s he admitted to on tape?
bbleh
@HumboldtBlue: indeed, thank you.
zhena gogolia
Elizabelle
I love those peaceful little doggo faces.
Trump response: “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is.”
Uh huh.
cain
A hopeful sign for women who must fight against powerful men. The patriarchy lost today.
Trump globe invulnerability was broken today – he can be hurt. Kudos to the prosecution for their win against a life long sexual predator.
Fester Addams
So the jury’s verdict is Short Fingers tried to rape Carroll and failed, presumably due to his little mushroom situation.
Noskilz
Nice to start the week off with some good news.
cain
Great to hear the re-integration of the pups in the Cracker household :)
Alison Rose
@zhena gogolia: If that’s real, I’m waiting for the day he tells us he has no idea who Jared is.
Elizabelle
Now MSNBC streaming is yapping about how this affects the abuser and defamer guys’s political future. What will those Republican voters think?
Turned it off.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Elizabelle: I’ve come to the point that I can’t tell whether that’s real or a parody. Or maybe it’s Trump who’s come to that point.
jonas
Oh boy, the ketchup is gonna be flying at Mar-a-Lago tonight!
I guess the question now is how long Trump and his asshole lawyers can tie this up on appeal. Any of the law-talking types here want to weigh in on how likely Carroll is to ever see any of this judgment?
Betty
Trump still saying he doesn’t know her. Huge disgrace, etc., etc.
So happy to see your boys hanging out together. Did the hard feelings seem to be more on one side than the other?
Alison Rose
From the NYT live feed:
PAM Dirac
@Fester Addams:
There has to be a Stormy Daniels tweet coming soon. I suspect it might even almost justify Twitter’s existence.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Cheney will follow him to and probably beyond the gates of Hell because, lets face it, if God punished all of humanity for Adam and Eve’s sins he’s not letting any spawn of Dick into Heaven.
Alison Rose
@PAM Dirac: Someone should Instacart a few pounds of mushrooms to Mar-a-Lago.
eclare
@Alison Rose:
Hahaha…
jonas
DougJ is on a roll over at the NYT pitchbot. Best one so far:
dmsilev
@eclare:
Remember, for situations like this it is helpful to always carry a portable electron microscope.
Elizabelle
Happy that this was resolved so quickly.
For us. For E. Jean Carroll it has been years upon years. But she goes down in history as a courageous woman. She persisted.
eclare
@dmsilev:
LOL!
Splitting Image
That’s Guilty!
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!!
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Shake and shake
The catsup bottle.
None’ll come —
And then a lot’ll.
– Going to Extremes, Richard Armour (1949)
;)
Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride
@Elizabelle: Maybe he should have come to the trial so he could have found out?
jonas
Maybe it’s time we start bringing up Trump’s mental acuity and fitness for office again…
stacib
@Manyakitty: i thought it was just me. I don’t know if it’s funny, or in trump’s** words – SAD. I’m crying I’m laughing so hard.
patrick II
I think Liz has suppressed guilt about her father’s part in the Brooks Brothers riot that stopped the vote in 2000. It really is pretty much the same thing except it came down to a smaller scale in one state since they were able to stop the vote count in just Florida and didn’t have to go to the Capitol.
cain
@Alison Rose: We need that giphy of Nancy Pelosi putting on her sunglasses in victory :-)
(soon hopefully to be replaced E. Jean Carroll smiling ear to ear)
She should also start playing “I’m every woman..” :-)
trollhattan
@HumboldtBlue: That has been my comment every time I hear “It’s just locker room talk.” Not any I’ve used.
NB I don’t remember much about JH gym class because it was JH, where everybody is basically a sociopath.
Ken
So nice to have a peaceful pack of hounds underfoot! Congrats!
And good for strong women too!
JPL
@zhena gogolia: That surprised me but she could not say 100 percent it was is penus that penetrated her and not his finger. He raped her and I’m surprised that they didn’t agree. edit to say the news made the assertion that she couldn’t say 100 percent. I did not hear that myself. I assume that he’ll appeal so this is not over.
The other thing that I read was that there is a relatively low bar to move to federal court. fk He’ll definitely argue that in GA. If he or another republican wins, they will pardon him.
Chief Oshkosh
@zhena gogolia: Get different friends. You’ll be happier and live longer.
Jim Appleton
@Mai Naem mobile:
I prefer the spelling, “iDJT.”
zhena gogolia
@jonas:
Joy in FL
That’s a great photo of your dogs. I am so glad all your patience and time and love and money have this wonderful result. They are great dogs.
Elizabelle
@patrick II: And Florida was only stealable because of the godawful Palm Beach butterfly ballot that led a lot of elderly Gore voters to vote for Pat Buchanan.
It had never been tested. Horrible lesson to learn.
wenchacha
Does E Jean Carroll still have the defamation case against tfg when he was “potus”? I recall that case was a tougher one, because sexpest said he was defending his country or some shit.
Tazj
@zhena gogolia: I heard that there was some poll that was supposedly good for Trump. Why? I don’t know. I don’t know the methodology of the poll or if it’s good or not, but I saw some of that sentiment today. “Oh, Trump is going to win.” I refuse to be taken down by one poll and the idiots that would vote for such a monster, no matter how much the media would love a horse race.
Jager
@raven:
She said there was semen on her dress, guess he has a problem with premature ejaculation.
prostratedragon
@stacib:
Makes me wonder where the folks at Spy magazine got that from.
JPL
@zhena gogolia: I had a strong feeling he was going to beat Hillary, to the point that I went to be at 8. I haven’t felt that way since. He comes across like a buffoon, and it will take more than an appealing VP candidate to convince educated people to vote for him.
tell your friends to turn off the news
gvg
@indycat32: I think it varies by state, and also it has not been the same over time, especially in recent decades, so…that may have played into the verdict.
I wonder if the law had to be whatever it was when this was supposed to have happened. I don’t recall the dates but it was some years ago. As a woman I can tell you that these laws can be really behind what you or I assume they are or right and wrong.
Yutsano
ALEXA! ORDER ALL THE HEINZ STOCK!!!
wenchacha
@raven: Which says something. Maybe the sexpest can complain and brag that if he had really penetrated her, she would know.
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
This is Trump’s go to insult. Whenever he wants to belittle someone, he talks about how he doesn’t know who they are, as if they’re too insignificant to make a dent on his memory. This is why there were so many people in Trump’s campaign whose only acknowledged role is getting coffee. It’s another way of saying they’re a nobody.
PAM Dirac
@JPL:
This was in federal court. He will appeal, but although his bluster, bull shit, and gaslighting seem to work fine on our Very Serious members of the press, it hasn’t worked hardly at all in court. I’m very interested to see what the rest of this year brings in that regard.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: Ask them about that red wave. You know, the inevitable one.
Tell them if you want to be around parrots, you will head for an aviary.
sdhays
@Betty: Doesn’t that continue the lying and defamatory behavior that he was just fined $5m over?
He should accept the judgement, shut up about it, and try to change the subject. The media will forget about this quickly, and anyone in the Republican coalition who might be bothered by it will forget it too, unless he keeps reminding them.
raven
@Tazj: The idiots that vote for him don’t give a shit. It just adds fuel to the fire of how persecuted he is.
Jackie
@Elizabelle: A rapist doesn’t need to know their victim…
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore: Of course, another possibility is: there were so many!
I don’t know if EJC would have prevailed, had TFG not run for president. So much came out.
TFG has brought all his crows home to roost on his head through his decision to run for president. Which I would guess was more about the unregulated campaign cash and having a constant megaphone than any desire for the job.
Had he stayed a bloviating golfer/developer, he probably would have skated.
rikyrah
Those dogs are too cute😍🤗
Jeffro
Let’s hear it for Liz Cheney!!
(crickets)
Ok then…I know that outside of the trump-hate, she’s just as bad on policy as the rest of them…BUT…you gotta hand it to her, at least with Liz we have a democracy and not a permanent trumpov kleptocracy.
C Stars
@Elizabelle: Yeah, I mainly have a sense of relief. At least one fucking thing that he didn’t get away with, and one woman’s victory. Of course you know he probably did that to a raft of women. I hope this gives them some encouragement too.
And as always, laughing/crying at the irony of the GOP building their entire platform around the idea that trans women are the big threat when the news is shot through today with GOP men who raped and sexually abused people, many of them minors.
Baud
Really happy about the dogs, BC.
Wyatt Salamanca
This is Trump’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
MazeDancer
CNN, no doubt, celebrating their ratings boost amongst the Trumpers.
So, happy for E.Jeanne.
Baud
Texas is on a roll.
Jeffro
@zhena gogolia: why indeed? LOL
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@prostratedragon: S*P*Y Editor Graydon Carter (later editor of Vanity Fair) interviewed him in person and noticed Dump had unusually short digits. Coupled with vulgarities displayed in the interview Carter coined the moniker “short fingered vulgarian”
Elizabelle
And a second Tuesday miracle. LA Times breaking news.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is en route to D.C. after extended absence
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is flying back to Washington, D.C., her spokesman said, after her extended absence due to the shingles virus threatened to derail Senate Democrats’ agenda.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Feinstein, who had been convalescing in the Bay Area since mid-February, boarded a charter private plane and could return to the Senate as early as this evening. Adam Russell, a spokesman for the Democratic senator, confirmed she is in transit to Washington but declined to comment further.
Jackie
@Elizabelle: Phillip Bump of WaPo has an article interviewing MAGAts with most agreeing TFG probably is guilty, BUT THEY’LL VOTE FOR HIM anyway. Because Biden is worse.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Wyatt Salamanca: Not bad enough.
Am I a bad person for thinking that?
Baud
@Elizabelle:
👍
I hope she’s contagious and gives Lindsey Graham a big hug.
trollhattan
@Jeffro: Hellovan ad, I’ll give her that. And she clearly can hold a grudge and has money left over, so by all means Liz, bat that pinata!
Elizabelle
@Jackie: Who cares what those fuckers say? They are not going to say differently to a reporter.
They are owning us. Right.
Burnspbesq
@zhena gogolia:
Tell them, “ not if you get off your lazy asses and do something about it.”
Jeffro
As you all might imagine, the headline at Fox News dot com is not that trumpov was found liable, but HIS view of the verdict:
VERDICT IS A DISGRACE! Trump Reacts: I Have Absolutely No Idea Who This Woman Is.
So clearly they’ve learned their lesson…
Baud
Why are we still obsessed about how MAGA think? It’s like being obsessed about the fact that a rock is hard.
HumboldtBlue
I do believe we have established a truism. I.E. if Trump says he does not know that person, it’s 100% guaranteed there is a picture of that person and Trump smiling together.
Alison Rose
@Baud: Good Lord, he really went for this cliché:
Jeffro
Very true.
And when they have him dead to rights, he calls it “boring”
gwangung
@Elizabelle: I’m OK with this—they’ll prop her up and feed her the actions she need to do.
It was intolerable that she was physically not up to serving.
eclare
@Elizabelle:
Great news!
Burnspbesq
@raven:
Evil vs. evil. I would no more watch Real Madrid vs. Manchester City than I would watch North Carolina vs. Texas.
Maxim
@zhena gogolia: I am hearing so much doom and gloom.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle: Oh, goodie.
My paper has roughly the same story, so it must be happening.
JML
@JPL: can’t pardon someone in a civil trial. that power is reserved for criminal offenses.
AWOL
@HumboldtBlue: I grew up in Trumplandia. No one talks about sex in the manner that Trump does. I’m not sure if it’s his eccentric background, his military-school lingo, or the fact that he was sexually ambiguous as a teen and learned things and distorted expressions from Roy Cohn, his mentor, who had no idea what he was pretending to talk about.
What’s forgotten is how a teenaged Trump hung with Cohn and they were avidly discussing producing Broadway musicals together.
I think a lot of Trump’s hyper-sexual actions and NOW documented sex crimes are a form of compensation about who he was, who he hung out with, and what temptations he may once have had.
Also, he hates women. He really hates women.
Curious to see what Mary Trump says.
trollhattan
@Alison Rose: That family probably can’t WAIT to spend more time with him. “Sleep with one eye open, you shall.”
He should probably inventory the armory as soon as he arrives.
Jeffro
Then I guess it’s our job to remind wingnuts everywhere that they still have choices (and used to have principles) =)
Elizabelle
The FTF NY Times had a brutal Editorial Board piece this weekend. Dianne Feinstein Has to Act. It ended:
The reader comments were even more brutal. Including those directed at her staff, who profit by her remaining (or at least are covering for her). Some wondered if Feinstein was too far gone to realize the situation, and make a decision to resign. 1700+ reader comments; I scanned hundreds of them. No support for having her away from the Senate.
Not surprised it got a reaction from DiFi, or at least inspired the staff to put her on a plane.
frosty
Congratulations on overcoming the Doggie Drama. Worse than a teenager; wow!
Geminid
@Alison Rose: Ms. Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, has represented clients in a number of big cases. United States vs. Winsor (2013) was an important precursor to the Obergefel decision that vindicated the right to same sex marriage. Kaplan’s client Edith Winsor had been denied the federal estate tax exemption for surviving spouses for her late wife’s estate because of Section 3 of the “Defense of Marriage” Act. The Supreme Court struck down Section 3 and required that the tax exemption be granted.
Last year Kaplan was part of the team that won a $20 million+ verdict from a federal jury in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her clients were people injured in the Deadly Unite the Right rally, suing organizations and individuals responsible for the violence.
Roberta Kaplan was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is 57 years old
Baud
@Maxim:
Let’s face it, large parts of liberal culture suck and those parts have done significant harm to this country.
But we were worse a decade ago.
karen marie
@zhena gogolia: Rape is “penetration, no matter how slight” – at least in Massachusetts. I don’t know how the judge in this NY case defined it for the jurors but I would imagine it’s similar. I didn’t hear the testimony, so I can’t say whether the jury split the baby or didn’t hear convincing evidence of even slight penetration.
Baud
@Elizabelle: I would be surprised if DiFi cared about the NYT or its reader comments, so I would chalk the timing up to coincidence.
Jackie
@Elizabelle: It was part of the “I can shoot someone on 5th Ave and not lose their vote” continuation.
I think the deplorable 27% will put TFG on the ballot as a write in EVEN WHEN he’s dead.
JML
@Elizabelle: Her staff doesn’t profit much; if she resigned tomorrow her staff is still probably there for the duration because Newsom is almost certain to appoint a caretaker, who is going to keep the staff in place until the end of the term next year, rather than try to hire new staff who would all get fired in a year. the idea that her staff is manipulating her for their own gain is a pretty heinous statement, not backed up by any facts, only wild rumor. Keep in mind: the Hill doesn’t pay very well. they may be propping her up, but that’s their job: to serve the Senator.
Burnspbesq
@jonas:
I’m far from an appellate specialist, but I didn’t see any reversible error.
The smart move is to just write the check, and eliminate any discovery into his financial condition. Which strongly suggests he’ll do something else.
Elizabelle
@gwangung: Yeppers. Our very own Strom Thurmond. Or resign. Those are the options.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Elizabelle: I’ve been listening to a lot of well-informed (at least I think so) legal commentary. One person said that though the jury was anonymous, he thought at least one juror was a MAGA and there was some danger of a hung jury if that person refused to vote with the rest.
I’ve been very anxious about that possibility and very pleased with this outcome. Pretty amazing if the MAGA was convinced that quickly on that many counts.
frosty
@indycat32: My Irish friend who was a defense attorney says the definition was made with him and other Irishmen in mind:
”Penetration, however slight…”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
If even Turley can’t fluff trump, it must have been a pretty solidly run trial
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Maxim:
Doom and Gloom’s first album was okay, but their later stuff was boring
Maxim
@Alison Rose: “He was around, sometimes, but I never really knew him. Other people dealt with him. My daughter, maybe. You could ask her.”
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That is amazing.
Jackie
@gwangung: Supposedly her first vote will be tomorrow. Schumer should plan a marathon of judge votes until the Judiciary Committee is all caught up.
Roberto el oso
@Jackie: Exactly!
karen marie
@Alison Rose: Did you hear the evidence?
It amazes me how people who think themselves sensible and reality-based are so willing to throw legal standards out the window.
Yes, “sexual assault” and “rape,” in the legal sense, are two different things. Don’t like it? Too bad, but it’s not “rape culture in action.”
Baud
@Jackie:
Do we even know how far behind they are?
Frankensteinbeck
@Jackie:
Biden wants to stop them from hurting others. There is nothing worse than that to a conservative.
Elizabelle
@JML: I think the issue against the staff was in not disclosing how possibly infirm and unfit to serve DiFi is. We will find out, soon enough.
NotMax
@frosty
You don’t have to walk (most) teenagers.
;)
Roger Moore
@Jackie:
Which is BS. They’ll vote for him because he’s guilty. They love him because he’s an awful human being. He does what he wants without excuse or apology, and he hurts the people they want hurt.
sab
@Burnspbesq: Also too, she wasn’t in it for the money. She has vindication for what he did to her when she was being friendly and jokey 35 years ago. Shut down that whole fun side of her personality ever since. And now she has vindication that she isn’t the one who fucked up. He was a predator.
Roberto el oso
@Alison Rose: thoughts and prayers for his family.
Frankensteinbeck
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
While that is a very reasonable fear in theory, in practice it hasn’t been playing out. I don’t know why. Maybe jury selection works. I have stopped worrying about it.
JPL
@PAM Dirac: I should have said the other trial in Manhattan. I assume he’ll continue to do that because of the possible jail sentences.
TriassicSands
@Alison Rose:
It seems like the best possible verdict. It’s been so many years since the incident and it fully recognizes that Trump is a person who thinks the only permission that matters is his own. The defamation verdict is also great, because there is finally a public declaration that Trump’s mouth is just as offensive as everything else about him. He always acts like a disgusting POS who feels free to say whatever he wants about anyone he has a problem with. It is now official — Trump needs to STFU.
JPL
@JML: Yup I just responded to Pam. I meant the case In Manhattan and future possible charges.
Jackie
@Baud: Three months worth.
I assume now that she’s back, the actual number will be mentioned by the media within the next few days.
Ohio Mom
We now have proof that even when you’re famous, they actually don’t let you “grab ‘em by the pussy.”
A reminder to the universe: When I said I just wanted Trump to be found guilty of something, I was lying, I want him found guilty of as much as possible. Please don’t stop now.
@AWOL: Trump did not grow up in Trumplandia, he grew up in Queens. As did I, after age 8 (the Bronx before that). We are not a prim people, we curse freely and can get quite raunchy.
ETA: Agree, he definitely hates women.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle: Bets on whether they have to tell her where she is once the plane lands?
Maxim
@Baud: I think a lot of normies, even solidly liberal/progressive ones, are pre-emptively bracing themselves for the worst. This site, and the specific actions we’ve taken over the last few years, do a lot to counteract despair. Everyone who isn’t plugged in to some kind of grassroots effort only sees the forest, which is made up of a bunch of mostly-crappy media narratives. They don’t see all the other stuff that’s going on.
It’s frustrating. I told one D&Ger that their attitude is exactly what the GOP wants. That did not go over well.
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Yeah, Fuss and Bother are much better.
So good to see the doggos getting along again!
Baud
@Jackie:
How many judges? They have been moving some in her absence.
bbleh
@Dorothy A. Winsor: reflect on your transgressions and go in peace. You are absolved.
Geminid
@Roger Moore: Trump’s hard core supporters vote for him for the reasons you describe. But I know other Republicans who don’t like Trump but still voted for him anyway, “because Biden is worse.”
Jackie
@Frankensteinbeck: Very true.
Also, Hillary has been retired as the GQP boogeyman.
sab
@karen marie: Sexual assault short of rape is still very unpleasant for the victim and well outside our social norms for the perpetrator. I am very happy to see a $5 million price tag attached to a sexual assault case
ETA Reading my comment it sounds like I disagree. I think we don’t disagree.
NotMax
@Maxim
Available in family size tubs.
:)
Baud
@Maxim:
I’m at the point of believing the problem is more insidious than that.
Elizabelle
@trollhattan: Guessing she has good days and bad days. But people will be watching intently.
I wish she would resign and open the seat to another California Democrat. A caretaker, I would hope, and voters can choose a permanent replacement in 2024.
Time will tell.
Gremcat
I wonder how tonight’s town hall will be handled. My guess is that he will use at least half of it declaring his innocence and further defaming EJC.
cain
@Roger Moore: Didn’t he talk about her in one of his many electio road trips?
Betty Cracker
@Betty: Badger was the one who went berserk first, but it evolved into a mutual problem, and both dogs needed extensive treatment and training to move past it. I wouldn’t wish an aggression problem between cohabitating dogs on my worst enemy — it was hellish!
@Elizabelle: More excellent news!
cain
@Baud: I had a good laugh at that – that asshole has been doing performative art even against his own party. So I think everyone was happy to get rid of him.
Matt McIrvin
@HumboldtBlue: We need to shut down all the locker rooms until we can find out what the hell is going on.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Jeffro:
I never want another GOPer as president. If it happens anyway, I fervently pray its a GOPer like Liz. We can correct bad policy later. It would be much harder to fix losing our democracy.
Elizabelle
@Baud: ???
As in a deniable MSM campaign against the Democrats, because media owners and other wealthy don’t want to pay more taxes? Weaken Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as much as possible.
Yes. You can see that. They always frame from GOP talking points.
It’s disgusting. They make the “conventional wisdom.”
Need some whistleblowers.
JPL
From Laffy on Mastadon haha Let’s see what they say tomorrow
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: I admit I haven’t been following then count closely, but this
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: I am so glad to see those sweet babies. Being peaceful little dudes.
Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride
@karen marie: At the risk of getting technical and gross, in New York (as in California and other states that use the common law definition) rape specifically means penetration, however slight, “by a penis.” If Carroll testified that she was penetrated but couldn’t say for sure whether it was by a penis or by fingers, and there was no other evidence on that question, that would mean she didn’t establish rape by a preponderance of the evidence — but if the jury believed her, as they did, she absolutely established sexual assault. (Penetration by fingers is a different crime — “penetration with a foreign object” — but the jury wasn’t asked to decide if Trump did that.)
Frankensteinbeck
@Jackie:
You bring up a point I hadn’t considered. Specifically because it centers on whether a man has the right to sexually prey on women, this result defies a central tenet of conservative belief. Think about the Kavanaugh hearings. There may be a bigger reaction to this trial than we would think on their side. I don’t know how they’ll react, really, but this does directly piss on their worldview.
JPL
@Elizabelle: It’s my understanding that the republicans can still refuse to fill the committee seat. She needs to stay, if possible.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Thanks. That doesn’t say what the backlog is, but it shows there’s still action, although that seems to indicate Senate action and not committee action.
Elizabelle
@Jackie:
The good news:
The bad news:
It’s Kamala Harris now.
Jackie
Now that TFG’s been found guilty, CNN is getting clobbered for giving a platform to a sexual abuser. Maybe they’ll cancel it? 🤞🏻
We ALL KNOW he’ll use that air time to bitch and moan about the rigged jury… the rigged judge… and the rigged media.
Alison Rose
@karen marie: Hey, thanks, I definitely needed condescension and snark on this topic. Good for you, stepping up like that!
My fucking point was the fact that we have such narrow standards for what can be called rape is part of the work of rape culture. Making the definition so limited that what a lot of what victims experience doesn’t count as rape is rape culture. Telling a victim who has been traumatized that their trauma wasn’t bad enough or wasn’t done in the right way or have certain specific elements so it’s not rape, it’s just “abuse” is rape culture.
And before you keep dancing a jig on that soap box, I will note that I am speaking from my own experience. If you can find a shred of kindness inside you not to keep flinging salt into those wounds, I’d appreciate it.
prostratedragon
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: NYC is a very small world.
Matt McIrvin
@Maxim: I came of age in the 1980s. Losing is my default experience of politics.
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle: I was in favor of her resignation if she can’t do the job too until I learned that Repubs could refuse to allow Dems to seat a replacement of their choice on the Judiciary Committee. Repubs Graham and Cornyn assured a reporter that heavens no, they’d never break a norm like that, but they’re all fucking liars. Basically, the best case scenario is DiFi returning, and that’s what’s happening, so yay!
eclare
@Jackie:
Glad CNN is getting hammered. Agree that TFG will bitch and moan about this for the whole hour.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jackie:
How he treats this town hall will be a useful indicator of how he’ll act on the campaign trail, which is information we need to know.
CaseyL
@Jackie: CNN loves it; they figure more people will tune in.
“Trump is bad for America, but good for our profits” (paraphrasing Moonves’ infamous remark) – every MSM outlet.
MazeDancer
Hoping some hot 60-something shows up in E. Jeanne’s life. Maybe she would be open to him now.
billcinsd
@Elizabelle: Also, the person in charge of voting was Bush’s state campaign head. And the partial purging of voter roles, and the requests for absentee ballots from Republicans that were incorrectly filled out and sent back in a couple of counties, when similar Dem absentees weren’t sent back for correction and the 15% of Dem 1996 Clinton voters who voted for Bush
Betty Cracker
@Gremcat: I think the townhall is Wednesday? Agree that he’ll whine about the EJC verdict. I’ll be watching baseball instead but will be interested to hear later how Kaitlin Collins handled The Beast.
jame
@Betty, I would be interested to learn more about the behavioral modification classes, and lessons learned, for your dogs.
Baud
As of May 4
I don’t think they need Feinstein there to hold the hearing, so it seems that at most there are 7 nominees who are potentially backlogged, but maybe as many as 16.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Senate Republicans are so craven. I hope that idea comes back to bite them, hard.
Since they are allegedly our representatives, I think we should have more say on Senate rules. They are purposely dysfunctional. On our tax dollars.
Josie
@CaseyL:
Ewww. I can’t imagine anyone who is not a member of the cult being willing to listen to him for more than 30 seconds or so.
Elizabelle
@billcinsd: It was such a tragic clusterfuck.
But turned out to be Election Interference 101 for this century.
sab
So she brought her knee up and maybe stopped him from continuing whatever his attention to do was. Meanwhile she was hurt: in pain, and deeply offended.
So she stopped ( maybe) the rape. Do the those who mourn a not a proven rape result not understand? She couldn’t prove an actual rape, but she could prove an unwanted and traumatizing sexual attack that she thwarted. There should be penalties for doing that to someone. A civil penalty that he did that and that therefore she gets $5 million seems okay to me. Plus women like me saying ” I kept quiet for years. I was ashamed. You are so brave.”
JaySinWA
@Frankensteinbeck: I’m pretty sure we already know how he will act on the campaign trail, same as before but with more vehemence. What will be useful is how his current supporters respond, and the press. The press still has influence in shaping public opinion. Their hands off, horse race approach fuelled T’s rise as much as anything.
Baud
@JaySinWA: We would have been ok with a hands off approach. The media was actively anti-Hillary.
eclare
@CaseyL:
Damn, I bet you’re right.
Dan B
@C Stars: In addition to HOP men there are daily convictions of Christian clergy, especially youth pastors for pedophilia and abuse. Drag Queens and trans, there might have been one trans who raped but even that is uncertain.
Score: Christian clergy: tens of thousands. Drag Queens and trans: one or none.
BTW Doggos look Great!
Geminid
A Turkish election news headline from Middle East affairs journal Al Monitor:
Turnout was 44.6% in the 2018 election. Germany has 1.5 million eligible voters, and the German government authorized 15 voting sites.
An account from Ireland:
Mr. Agdere and his friend had hoped to vote on their lunch hour. When they saw the line, the friend went to his nearby house to fetch snacks, folding chairs, and a backgammon game.
There is intense interest about this election among Turkish citizens. Polling suggests turnout could be as high as 85% this coming Sunday, which would be a record.
jonas
Refuses to pay and E. Jean Carroll gets a summary judgment and lien on Trump Tower with interest compounding and ends up owning it in a few years.
eclare
@Dan B:
News reporting a new pedo here in Memphis burbs today. On top of the one last week or so.
What is HOP?
Wyatt Salamanca
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Ideally, I’d love to see Trump die in a prison cell for inciting the Jan 6th insurrection, but I’ll take whatever smaller victories our legal system produces against this slimy bastard.
EarthWindFire
@Elizabelle: It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true. To a narcissist like him, we’re all interchangeable and expendable.
JML
@Burnspbesq: I don’t practice, and I was never that into this area of law anyways, but I would agree with you. There has been a track record of verdict being reduced upon appeal, of course, but this one doesn’t look particularly outrageous by any means.
Of course, the Trump MO for decades has always been to drag things out for as long as possible in court, even when he’s guilty as sin, and try to bully the opposition into taking a fractional settlement because they can’t afford to keep rolling. That trick no longer works when you have a) state-based actors that don’t have to worry about how long the case takes, and b) people who are willing to bankroll the case if necessary to bury The Giant Orange Idiot
Omnes Omnibus
Words have specific legal definitions. Finding Trump not liable for rape but liable for sexual assault should be seen as a complete vindication of Carroll and her story. He did what she said he did and the jury believed her. End of story.
tokyokie
@Burnspbesq:
OK, I get Real Madrid and Man City and texass, but North Carolina? OK I understand UNC if it’s hoops. But I’d still use U$C instead.
Frankensteinbeck
@JaySinWA:
I don’t think we know that at all. Trump isn’t the same person he was in 2016, and doesn’t have the same message. “I was robbed” is a much whinier, less red meat message than “Mexicans are rapists”. And he’s a lot less coherent than he was then. Can he hold it together to get back to the white supremacy instead of whimpering about how everyone is unfair to poor little him? Those are drastically different to conservative ears. Sure, they agree with him, but constantly reminding everyone of his own loser stink is demotivating.
Jackie
@Betty Cracker: A Beast only in TFG’s feeble little brain.
Elizabelle
RE CNN: companies can make grave errors, too.
I realize they are retooling under fascist-curious ownership, but giving TFG a town hall is an unforced errror. It makes me think so much less of CNN. I don’t care how charming Anderson Cooper is, I never watch them any more. And I even feel bad if I check something out on their website.
There have to be a lot of people who decide to forgo CNN. So many more informative news sites out there.
Dan B
@AWOL: Saw Mary Trump on Michael Steele. Much discussion of systemic racism, none about TFG or LGBTQ.
Saw Chasten Buttugieg on Brian Tyler Cohen. Much talk about anti-gay attacks on Chasten and Pete, very well considered and thoughtful observations. And BTC had his shirt unbuttoned halfway showing off nicely hairy chest. It seemed strange since he’s straight.
JaySinWA
@Baud: The Hillary hatred was a real issue and probably would have been enough to move swing states towards a generic Republican, but I would like to think some genuine reporting would have kept T from being nominated in the first place.
But I am not relitigating 2016, Biden is not Hillary. Trump does not have to be inevitable either as the nominee or elected in 2024. The press has a roll in this, unfortunately they seem to be willing to play dumb again.
sab
@MazeDancer: I missed the earlier comments so I may be be misundrestanding comments.
E Jean Carroll used to be a delightful, funny flirty very emancipated woman who wrote often sexy magazine articles about life in the world that we midwestern housewives could only dream about. When I read them I thought she and I were only dreaming. But they were fun. Then her articles dried up.
Trump?
Jackie
@Baud: Her vote is needed to break the tie in the judicial Committee. Without her it’s an 8-8 split so the nominees can’t advance without a majority vote.
Elizabelle
@JaySinWA:
Complicit. The word is complicit.
Burnspbesq
@tokyokie:
I’m sitting at my desk wearing a t-shirt celebrating Duke’s ACC men’s lacrosse championship. Now does it make sense?
BTW, Duke is the top seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, to which the Weak Blue were not invited.
Baud
@Jackie: Yes, I understand that. I was asking how many judges the Republicans were actually blocking. I found the answer, or at least the highest potential number.
Ihop
As Ms. Carroll was a friend and biographer of hunter thompson, I will only say that while viewing a ‘pizza with everything’ thompson complained that there was “never enough everything”.
It could be more, but this one stings harder for him (the orange turd) than any other public event. And it may get worse.
MomSense
@zhena gogolia:
hahahaha!!🤣🤭🍄
Wyatt Salamanca
Dumbass RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel reacts to Trump’ guilty verdict:
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/ronna-mcdaniel-refuses-to-answer-fox-hosts-question-about-trump-losing-sexual-assault-case/
Elizabelle
@Baud: I think there was some legislation that was narrowly defeated, too.
DiFi’s absence has brought consequences.
Baud
@Elizabelle: I don’t recall that. I remember a bad bill passed because Feinstein wasn’t there, and Biden will have to veto it.
JML
@Elizabelle: Correct. Manchin sided with the GOP on a truck emissions bill. That said, not sure why Biden wouldn’t just veto it since it has zero chance of being overridden…
different-church-lady
Let the floodgates open.
JaySinWA
@Frankensteinbeck: I was referring to how he is campaigning now. I don’t think T is capable of changing course from his revenge run. So far the public hasn’t rejected him for his whining. I don’t see it changing until he has a negative crowd reaction. If the CNN townhall goes badly enough, he might change course, but I doubt it. He’ll see it as CNN stacking the crowd against him.
The tell will be how polling and reporting goes going forward as to how well the general public sees T.
eclare
@Elizabelle:
There was something about truck emissions. Manchin voted with the R’s. If DiFi had been there the vote would have been 50-50 with Kamala stepping in.
What JML said.
different-church-lady
@jonas:
Wait, she gets Trump Tower? But I thought she won.
Wyatt Salamanca
OT
https://www.mediaite.com/news/breaking-tucker-carlson-relaunching-his-show-on-twitter-walking-away-from-millions-to-escape-fox-contract-per-report/
Roger Moore
@AWOL:
For Trump, sex is about status and power. He thinks he gains status by having sex with desirable women, and he’s going to brag about to men he wants to impress it when he does. I think that’s behind him wanting to marry models. It’s also why he wanted to have sex with Stormy Daniels; sex with a porn actress is a sure sign of sexual prowess. He shows his power by forcing himself on women who aren’t desirable enough to qualify for the first one. “Forcing himself” includes sexual assault and rape, as in the case of E. Jean Carroll, but also generally getting away with being incredibly creepy, like going into the dressing room at the Miss Universe pageant.
different-church-lady
@JaySinWA:
The public is sick of Trump.
The problem is the public is also sick of Biden (as stupid as that is).
The huge problem is the public will instantly be sick of any other sane person capable of winning the presidency.
Elizabelle
@JML: Yep. Manchin peeled off because he could get away with it.
If Biden vetoes it, that would be minty.
Ken
Oh great, he’s confused her with Marla Maples again.
Tony Jay
@Jeffro:
Shocker – that’s also the format of the FYF Guardian headline. Extreme Centrist rag loves to help out the naughty boys of the Right and their click-getting antics.
If they could guarantee another Trump term and the return of Flobalob you’d still hear the wails of orgasmic joy if you were confined in a metal box inside a plastic ball inside a hessian wrap inside a sleeping Giant Squid at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Wankers.
eclare
@Ken:
Hahaha…
Dan B
@eclare: Typo. GOP not HOP.
PAM Dirac
@Frankensteinbeck:
In 2016 outside of NYC most people’s impression of him was of a no nonsense, get it done, rich, genius business man. He hated all the right people, but plenty of people hate all the right people, he was going to be someone who did something about all these lowlifes taking what rightfully belonged to the real (Ie white) Americans. He got to be president and even though he threw out plenty of hate, the only real legislative accomplishment was to slash taxes on the rich. He lost the next election and despite his claims of massive fraud he is still not president. The people that actually showed up to try to “Stop the Steal” are in jail or on their way to jail. He is losing court cases left and right. He’s still one of them, but he is too much one of them because he can’t do a damn thing to fix the injustices. He’s like the loser who sits at the end of the bar every night and whines about how badly he’s treated. As you say they hate the loser stink and they want someone who will end the loser stink, not some who who will wallow in it with them.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@JaySinWA:
Wouldn’t the 2022 midterm results be a good indicator? Trumpy candidates were rejected by voters in competitive battleground states
tokyokie
@Burnspbesq: Understood. You can probably discern from my handle where my loyalties lie.
Elizabelle
Well, today has been a good day. E. Jean Carroll prevails, and Dianne Feinstein is returning via private jet charter to Washington.
And. The fact that it’s a private charter, when there are frequent regularly scheduled SFO to DC flights. That is curious.
Geminid
@Elizabelle: Manchin peeled off because he’s running for reelection in a,red state. John Tester joined him for the same reason.
I think President Biden is expected to veto the bill, which would undo a new rule by one of his agencies.
JaySinWA
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Yes, we did in 2022, and yet T is still the front runner for the R nomination.
Betty Cracker
@jame: It’s a really long story, but the short version is we did extensive behavior modification work and proximity exercises using positive reinforcement. We worked with a veterinary behaviorist who rehabs pit bulls rescued from dog fighting rings and followed her advice to the letter. We took it very slowly, letting the dogs’ behavior signal when it was time to progress to the next stage. For months, we kept them separated with barriers or under our control on leashes, indoors and out, which was a gigantic pain in the ass! There’s a lot more to it — I could literally write a book! But that’s the short version.
Baud
@different-church-lady:
I’d be curious to see how Biden compares with Obama and Clinton at similar points in their first term.
Dan B
@different-church-lady: I’m feeling that much of the dislike if Biden is what the public calls inflation but is mostly price gouging. The low info public believes the President can fix the “inflation” but how does he rein in corporate greed? He has a bully pulpit to call it out but corporate media won’t use their megaphone and social media is filled with lying cranks.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@JaySinWA:
The general public is not necessarily the same group as the Republican base. Trump is all they’ve got. Republican primary voters chose those Trumpist candidates, even if narrowly
JPL
@Ken: 😄 🤣 😂
Geminid
@Dan B: At least you didn’t type HOA. People would have been reaching for their pitchforks.
Omnes Omnibus
In other legal news…
Dan B
@Geminid: Phew!
Geminid
@Elizabelle: A private plane makes sense to me. It’s more private, and much simpler at both ends of the flight. She’s got the money, I believe, just like Al Gore did.
Dan B
@Omnes Omnibus: In other
legaldelightful news.schrodingers_cat
@PAM Dirac: I knew he was a cheesy charlatan when I was a little more than a child in the late 80s and early nineties in India.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Aha. And it is from my “beloved” CNN:
hotshoe
@Jackie:
yep, wishing for him to be furious enough to give himself a stroke was my very first thought.
best possible: the stroke which immobilizes his ability to speak/walk but leaves him conscious of how damaged he is.
PAM Dirac
@schrodingers_cat:
Yes, anyone who paid even a bit of attention knew he was a loser. Those that paid attention were mostly, but not exclusively, in NYC.
Elizabelle
@Geminid: True. And maybe she has a lot of luggage, etc., since she has been out since mid-February, and the season has changed in the interim. Maybe more medical supplies, too.
To be continued …
Baud
@Elizabelle:
👍
Elizabelle
@PAM Dirac: I think it was shocking to learn how completely and successfully TFG had recast his image with the help of that silly reality show.
It worked like a charm. The gullible took it for reality.
Frankensteinbeck
@JaySinWA:
People tend to win polls when they’re the only name on it. The question has been ‘Trump or DeSantis?’ and DeSantis rolled over and conceded without a fight. There’s no evidence even the base is enthusiastic for Trump anymore. His rallies have been pathetic. He puts out calls for his fans to gather and make a fuss, and half a dozen people show up. Sure, they’ll never turn against him, but he’s got no sparkle anymore.
Matt McIrvin
@Dan B: The problem with inflation is that once it happens, it’s basically with you politically forever, because even when it’s over the public perceives the continuing higher prices as continuing “inflation” and the prices can’t be lowered across the whole economy again without another economic disaster.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Elizabelle:
May he be forced to resign
eclare
@Dan B:
Thanks!
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Evidence?
Ruckus
@MisterForkbeard:
She couldn’t positively say he violated her with his dick. And he had admitted on tape that he had with his fingers. This is a pretty big deal, for her, for the state and against him. And 5 million dollars is not chump change. In this case it is dump change but still…..
Omnes Omnibus
I really am somewhat amazed at how little glee there is here about the Trump verdict.
Frankensteinbeck
@Omnes Omnibus:
…you’re right. I tend to view these things in practical rather than retributive terms, but I’d have expected the schadenfreude to be flowing freely, a free round for every jackal and popcorn to go with it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Maybe it’s just sinking in? I’m very happy about it, plus the good news about DiFi getting back to DC. It’s been a pretty good day
Any thoughts on how CNN’s TownHall with Trump is gonna go? I hope he whines about the EJC verdict the entire time
JaySinWA
To spend more time with his lawyers.
I doubt that he will unless it is a condition of dropping charges. Being elected seems to be a better stay out of jail trump card than anything else he has to offer. OTOH he may have some others in the party to offer up, but they have to be big players and he has to have the goods in ways that mean his being a lier don’t matter.
Kathleen
@Baud: You’re absolutely right. Far worst than most are willing to admit.
Another Scott
@Elizabelle:
I think I am scheduled to sort my sock drawer then…
Cheers,
Scott.
twbrandt
@Omnes Omnibus: This is BJ, where every silver lining has its dark cloud.
Origuy
Not a good day for Republicans. Rep. George Santos charged by Justice Department in federal probe
Dan B
@Omnes Omnibus: I showed Trump Guilty headline to my partner while he was on the phone. He then sent the news to his ex and now there is a big printout on the back of his ex’s truck. I’ve been busy getting the word out to friends.
Also: Champers soon!
Nelle
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’m grimly satisfied. I’ll tell you why I’m not gleeful. A woman was harrassed and penetrated and has had her life changed by the event. She has been targeted and maligned. Justice is necessary, but this is small justice in the train of women being harrassed and raped and maligned for centuries and centuries. If only this were the actual beginning of a sea change, but this is barely a burp in the ocean of patriarchy and misogyny that we’ve had to swim in. So, no, not gleeful, in the face of it all. Good on her for pursuing it. Kavanaugh is still on the Supreme Court.
eclare
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I’m very happy with it too.
TheronWare
Also George Santos indicted!!
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: This is a glass half empty kinda blog, with a few exceptions.
Another Scott
@Origuy: “Who’s George Santos? My name’s Anthony Devolder. You’ve got the wrong guy. Innocent mistake, I’m sure…”
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Maxim
@Baud: You think they’re deliberately undermining the Democrats? I know that happens on the fringe left, but that’s not what I see from the people I know.
JaySinWA
@JaySinWA: The more I think about it, Santos is more likely to do a runner than a resignation. I’m not sure how this house would handle that.
UncleEbeneezer
@Origuy: But I was assured that Merrick Garland is afraid to go after anyone powerful /sarcasm
Layer8Problem
@Omnes Omnibus: ‘fr cryin’ out loud, I’M loaded with glee about it!
Kathleen
@Another Scott: Must Flee TV.
Elizabelle
I am elated with E. Jean Carroll’s victory and vindication. She prevailed.
It’s been a good day for justice, and good possibility TFG is going to be found liable and convicted in many upcoming cases. FAFO.
Miss Bianca
@Nelle: Yeah, that’s pretty much where I stand on it as well.
Geminid
@JaySinWA: Santos’s political fundraising violations seem to have involved former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, last year’s candidate for New York Governor. Other NY Republicans including Rep. Stefanik might have legal exposure as well. With a majority of only 5, Squeaker McCarthy needs Santos’s vote, but he may also be protecting DeSantos from expulsion in order to keep him quiet.
I want to see what the charges are. They could cover a lot more than illegal fundraising and bogus expenditures
Baud
@Maxim: No, I don’t think it’s deliberate. I think it’s a psychological and subconscious internalization of cultural and behavioral influences.
Elizabelle
@Baud: In that case, what could we do to arrest that behavior?
Because it is absolutely detrimental to a functioning democracy, with accountability.
Baud
@Elizabelle: I don’t know. Hire Betty Cracker’s dog trainer.
MisterForkbeard
@Wyatt Salamanca: That’s better than screaming about inflation I guess, since inflation happened but hasn’t grown much recently.
But still a great non-reaction. “As a suburban woman, I don’t care about Trump sexually assaulting women. What really matters is tik-tok and school funding that we’re also voting down”
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro: It’s a really good ad.
bbleh
@Omnes Omnibus: this. period. (also $5 million, if the period didn’t make the point.)
Ken
If he’d insisted on appearing, could he have been forced to provide a DNA sample? Just wildly speculating.
Omnes Omnibus
@Nelle:
Grim satisfaction works.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Nelle:
That’s entirely fair
RaflW
@Alison Rose: Slaton is resigning to spend more time negotiating the terms of his divorce with his wife.
Elizabelle
Live right now: Sherrilyn Ifill speaking at the NY Public Library. Hourlong program; will be available on library website after. Has not been introduced yet.
https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2023/05/09/sherrilynifill
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m freaking THRILLED about it.
But I’m shitty.
NotMax
@Layer8Problem
Can’t wait to pop open a fresh can.
;)
MisterForkbeard
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s a big deal.
But ultimately, I don’t think people think this is a real punishment for him. He’ll pay it out through funds acquired from other people, he’ll fundraise on it, and his party openly doesn’t care that he’s a lunatic, racist rapist. So there’s not a lot of reputational damage either.
So it’s right and satisfying, but not gleeful.
PaulWartenberg
@Elizabelle:
IT’S THE RETURN OF FITZMAS!!!!
Where all the wonderful dreams come true!
SUCK IT, SANTOS. If that IS your real name.
Geminid
@Geminid: For a while, George Santos’s Twitter heading had a picture of him and another picture of Rep. Elise Stefanik. It seemed like a blackmail move to me, but that could have been wishful thinking on my part.
It still seems odd though, that with other ambitious Republicans in the NY 3rd CD, the party picked Santos to run there twice. A possible reason: he was the conduit for a lot of Russian money.
gwangung
That’s the really depressing part of this.
NotMax
@PaulWartenberg
“That volleyball isn’t my type.”
//
RaflW
Speaking of the Gates of Hell: If it is true that Musty’s Twitter is going to host fellow horrible person Cucker Tarlson’s new “show”, that will be the point when I deactivate my account.
I’m locked in (for now) to supporting Fox because my condo association isn’t yet ready to cut the cord. But the Apartheid Ahole hosting a guy too toxic for Fox? Not going to get to count my ‘membership’ in that shit-stained club.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Yay!
Dan B
OT: New College, the small prestigious, liberal college in Florida, announced that Dr. Scott Atlas will be the graduation speaker. He, a radiologist, was tapped by TFG to head the Covud response. He championed herd immunity and claimed Covid would only kill 10,000 in the US. He was forced out after disagreements with Fauci and Birx. Stanford has repudiated him.
Baud
@Dan B:
I’m not sure how prestigious it is now.
Jackie
@Wyatt Salamanca: LOL! Meanwhile a TN senator was quizzed by a FAUX host about TFG being found guilty and the possible ramifications of GQP voters. His response: BIDEN AND THE BORDER, THE BORDER!!!
Layer8Problem
@PaulWartenberg:
“. . . SANTOS. If that IS your real name.”
This, sir, this is a Simpsons reference, to which I would only respond to Rep. Santos as follows:
“Now make like my pants, and SPLIT!”
Dan B
@RaflW: Texas lege unanimously voted Slayton out, 147 – 0. Seems a resignation can be rescinded. He was also in favor of the death penalty for LGBT people. Consistency!
Dan B
@Baud: Yep. The new administration looks awfully fasch.
Dan B
@Layer8Problem: The problem for Santos is non extradition countries are also virulenty anti-LGBTQ. Of course Santos forever looking over his shoulder or chained up in some awful prison are acceptable.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: I would skip the ceremony if I were graduating.
Maxim
@Baud: Ah. That, I buy.
NotMax
Meanwhile…
Florida lawmakers want to use radioactive material to pave roads.
PaulWartenberg
@Omnes Omnibus:
The glee the BJ commenters have is tempered by the understanding that these court losses for trump will not make him disappear. The bizarre situation that for whenever the news seems WORST for trump, his wingnut fanbase only adores him more and gains him more votes / visibility on the national stage. Even if trump is CONVICTED and held in jail on federal criminal charges by the time November 2024 rolls around, he could still garner 62-72 million votes and cause electoral college havoc.
This fight is NOT over.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: A number of people are saying that skipping the ceremony would be best. Protesting the speech just gives talking points for worse right wing acts against Florida colleges and universities.
PaulWartenberg
@NotMax:
Who needs street lamps when the highways will all be glow-in-the-dark???
RaflW
@Dan B & @Baud: I was just reading this morning that the New School has seen some 40% of professional staff make plans to skedaddle either already or at the soon-to-arrive end of term.
Of course bomb-throwing fart-sniffer (and New School board member) Ruffo says this is all according to plan, as a ‘who needs those woke folk’ good riddance. But I’d expect a ton of students are transferring out, too (and, sadly, some will just drop out of college track as other schools similar to the old New School are private and much more expensive).
If enrollment drops by half, and they have craptastic adjuncts as faculty, I’m not sure the school swirling the drain is going to be the win conservatives think.
Layer8Problem
@Dan B: Anywhere where the dress code is simply orange jumpsuits and the accommodations are six feet by eight feet.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
I’ve read they use it in Canada and Europe. A rare case where the US has more strict regulations.
I wonder why Canada and Europe allow it’s use yet the EPA doesn’t
eclare
@Dan B:
I’d skip it. But then I skipped my own, not for any ideological reason, I was just ready to get out.
Layer8Problem
@PaulWartenberg: We stand ready to continue putting the boot in.
eclare
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I noticed that too and wondered. I only use nail products approved for use in Europe, American brands are full of toxic chemicals.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
US government cancels $42B in public service workers’ student loans under revamped program
WaterGirl
@RaflW:
I don’t recall which state it is that has a similar sort of school, but they offered to take any and all New School students at the same tuition they have been paying at New School.
Omnes Omnibus
@PaulWartenberg:
No one said fucking fight is over. But whatever.
different-church-lady
@Ken: Win.
MattF
A bit of Santos news— there was an FBI informant in Santos’ current Congressional office.
MisterForkbeard
@Dan B: Conservatives are always prestigious and acceptable and if students think it’s in appropriate then it’s clearly the students who are wrong.
I think that’s how it works.
different-church-lady
@PaulWartenberg:
Happy about the victory in this battle, and how it helps in the war.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: I thought the fight was over. I bought streamers for the party.
different-church-lady
@Origuy:
That clucking sound you hear is a whole lot of chickens making the turn for home.
Brachiator
@PaulWartenberg:
No. But I want to see him publicly branded as a criminal and a loser. I want to see whether this chips away at his protective delusional armor.
Trump assumed that having been elected president would confer immunity against crimes and bad behavior.
He won’t go away. He will continue to rage.
I want to see him suffer. Sadly, the media may continue to suck up to him. And he may run to Fox News, etc., for aid and comfort.
different-church-lady
@Baud:
Those things have sharp edges. Helpful for the battles to come.
Scout211
This thread is too epic to read all the comments. So I apologize if this has been posted already.
Was it just yesterday when we discussed the teaser that Tucker and Elon were going into business together, maybe? It’s happening.
cain
@Geminid: That would be some thing if the GOP lose the house because of legal scandals.
cain
@PaulWartenberg: Winning the presidency is probably the only way he can stay out of jail. But jezus – can you imagine all these law and order GOP brazenly pulling for him. A sexual assaulter, a constitution assaulter, and god knows what else.
Maxim
@WaterGirl: I think it was in New Hampshire. Big cultural adjustment for anyone who took them up on it.
lowtechcyclist
@Elizabelle:
Damn that chaos theory and its Butterfly Ballot Effect.
Mel
@Frankensteinbeck:
I noticed the same thing.
I can only speak for myself, but here’s my two cents worth.
What happened to me happened decades ago, when I was a young teenager. I didn’t speak out. I compartmentalized it to survive. Until a few years ago, I had only ever told one person, my dearest friend, who passed away 15 years ago.
I lived with all that barely buried fear and shame and anger and helplessness for over 40 years. So many different elements led to that decision: the knowledge that justice wouldn’t have happened, the very real fear of physical and social retribution if I reported the attack, the shame and blame culture that stigmatizes and traumatizes victims who speak out socially, psychologically and professionally over again and again…
The Kavanaugh hearing is what initially shook it all loose for me. I don’t remember a lot about that span of a few days. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t focus, couldn’t keep any food down, until I finally spoke the words. I told my husband and I told my brother:
I was attacked, dragged into a dark room by three high school football players when I was walking down a hallway at a Halloween party to go to the restroom. I knew one of them. I thought he was my friend. At first, I thought he was goofing around, trying to scare me. Then, I realized there were two others who had been hiding in the room. Then, I realized what was about to happen, and I cannot begin to explain the mindless, bottomless, blinding terror that I felt.
For me, and maybe for some others here, hearing the verdict today is a strange and volatile sort of experience.
On the one hand, halle-fucking-lujah that Trump is finally being held accountable for some of the suffering and horror he has inflicted on so many people. i’m beyond thankful that E. Jean Carroll got her day in court, got heard, got some justice.
On the other hand, despite knowing that the jury followed the letter of the law and delivered a smart verdict that will be harder to overturn on appeal, and allocated damages in a smart way that made it less likely that the judge would reduce the damages, I’m also sick inside, because I wanted to hear a different verdict, hear the words, have him pronounced guilty of rape, since to E. Jean and to every person who has been in her position, that is what it is. I wish that I had her courage. I wonder if I had come forward years ago, would it have saved another person from being preyed upon by the monsters who preyed upon me? That question weighs on me every day.
Maybe that’s part of the disconnect or the sense of ambiguity or even grief today for some Balloon Juicers – knowing intellectually that what happened today was a good, even a great outcome in the legal sense, but feeling all of those other feelings as well.
Baud
@different-church-lady: They’ll never know what hit ’em.
Layer8Problem
@Scout211: Doesn’t he have agreements with Fox to not do that, involving throwing money away if he does anything like this?
different-church-lady
@Baud: And when they figure it out, they won’t believe it.
Sure Lurkalot
A case where justice delayed was not justice denied.
lowtechcyclist
@Jeffro:
Actually, no. Probably still pretty bad, but she believes climate change is real, and believes the medical establishment re Covid. (Per her concluding statement at the WY primary debate.) That’s two pretty significant things that separate her from the Republican mainstream these days.
Scout211
Apparently, opinions vary.
lowtechcyclist
@Wyatt Salamanca:
And with any luck, there will be many more to come.
I want that SOB to have a wardrobe that matches his skin tone.
Geminid
@Layer8Problem: I think Fox intends to pay Carlson’s contract., but they also intend to enforce the mon-compete clause even if he wants to take someone else’s money. It’s probably worth it to keep him off a competitor’s platform. Plus, he’s pissed off management and ownership.
Carlson’s big shot attorney is making big talk about how Fox cannot keep Carlson off the air, but I’m not sure he can back it up.
Scout211
@Mel: Thank you for sharing your story. What a nightmare you have been through. Triggers stay with us for a long, long time. I’m so sorry.
I am satisfied that the jury ruled that Trump is liable for damages but yeah, I am not jumping for joy. The whole thing is sad and Trump is a disgusting man.
But contrast this with the Access Hollywood tape when Billy Bush was giggling his effing ass off. This is much more satisfying.
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Ken
Oh dear, another employee who thinks company email is “private” communication.
Brachiator
@cain:
The GOP leadership consistently treats Trump as though he is above the law.
And his base forgives him all his sins.
zhena gogolia
@Mel: Thank you for your story.
eclare
@Mel:
Oh how awful, I can certainly see why you would have mixed emotions.
lowtechcyclist
Of course TFG has no idea who Carroll is. He’s sexually assaulted so many women, how can he possibly keep them all straight in his tiny brain?
Well, one of them finally made him pay. Good going, EJC!
Jackie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): May the Squeaker be forced to hold a vote to oust him (Santos) from the House.
Elizabelle
@Mel: I am so sorry that happened to you, and that you never got any justice. Or even any support at the time, because it was a different time, and there was a definite stigmatism afoot.
Times change way too slowly, but they can get better. Albeit slowly.
Maxim
@Mel: Thank you for bearing witness. There are so many whose experience is similar to yours.
Geminid
@Jackie: McCarthy might do that. The debt ceiling fight has McCarthy and his caucus on the hot seat already. McCarthy could ride out the DeSantos controversy when this Congress began, but now it may be worth losing Santos’s vote just to turn the page on this scandal, maybe even if Santos has dirt on other New York Republicans.
I read somewhere that the indictment will be unsealed tomorrow. I hope it is.
kalakal
@Omnes Omnibus: Personally I’m delighted. My glass overflows with glee.
It truly is a joy to see that odious waste of skin very publicly, for the first time in his miserable, worthless life, face consequences for his actions
Elizabelle
@Mel: I am thinking more of your traumatic experience, and thank you all the more for sharing the story. We never have any idea how many lurkers we have, or who has had what happen to them, and some may feel comforted, in a way, for knowing they were not alone on this.
It was courageous of you to share
The common thread for these old stories is, usually, the guy(s) got away with it. And that is changing way too slowly, too. (The silence protected the attacker, under the guise of protecting the victim’s privacy.)
Nelle
@Mel: I’m identifying over the response to the Kavanaugh hearing. I found myself sobbing and it took me a minute to realize that I’d rationalized the way it felt to be demeaned and challenged by a defense attorney in trial. I am so sorry about your attack; the attack on me was in no way as horrible. And still, to see Christine Blasey Ford being demeaned and ridiculed by those men in power struck a memory that I thought was laid to rest. I hope it was okay for you to share here. I don’t think we owe the world our stories yet so many seem to need those stories to understand, even just a tiny amount, what women are talking about. I wish you peace.
Jackie
@Mel: Oh, Mel, I’m so so sorry you went through that and kept it bottled inside for so many years. May letting it out help release the poison and give you some peace.
Thank you for giving us your trust.♥️
Manyakitty
@Matt McIrvin: waves from Revere High School class of 86
Another Scott
@Mel: Thank you for your story. I’m very sorry you went through that and had to say nothing about it for so long.
My mother was the next to youngest of 3 male siblings. Shortly before she died, she told me that when she was 16 or so, her oldest brother tried to pressure her into having sex with him. She resisted him. She kept it bottled up. It poisoned their relationship the rest of her life.
I’m hopeful that young males are learning and internalizing that girls and women are actually people and do not exist as things for their pleasure. Less lead in the environment should help. But it’s a continuous process.
:-(
Peace to you, and thank you again for your story. It’s important.
Best wishes,
Scott.
MazeDancer
@sab: Trump hurt her, for sure.
Manyakitty
@hotshoe: ooh, dreamy
Manyakitty
@Mel: hopefully, the more you tell your story, the farther you’ll spread ripples of healing healing for yourself and whoever hears it. Peace.
Gvg
Yeah this is why I can’t be happy enough with the Carrol verdict. Morally I think what he did WAs rape and he should be in jail. Not facing a civil suit. No civil suit for any of his crimes actually satisfies me. I recognize logically how hard it was to get a conviction so many years later and think the law is written that specifically as a way to get a few more convictions out of jurors when a lot of the public is still rather patriarchal in social training, and it’s not just men who think that way. So logically this is a good win. Morally and emotionally I think he should be in jail for rape, so I can’t get enough out of it.
brantl
@Jeffro: That’s not because she wants it to be a democracy, just her kleptocracy. Remember the shtupping Haliburton gave our government? I’m sure Darth Cheney is still getting kickbacks for it.
Paul in KY
@raven: Fortunate to get out of there with a tie.
Paul in KY
@Burnspbesq: Go City!