Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

In after Baud. Damn.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

“Let’s not pretend [Trump] wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

People are weird.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / He’s Nothing

He’s Nothing

by | 172 Comments

This post is in: 

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread 20

This is so inspirational. I did not expect to be this moved by hearing E. Jean Carroll talk about this.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

172Comments

  2. 2.

    stinger

    I saw that interview earlier. It was moving and greatly cheering.

    Here’s a short article some might find interesting, about a smart, talented young woman who is on her way to becoming rich and famous in the sports world: Caitlinomics

  3. 3.

    zhena gogolia

    That is fantastic. I think it’s really true. I wish we Dems could imbibe this spirit and stop shaking in our boots about him.

  7. 7.

    Trivia Man

    She wants to spend money on something TFIG hates. A few million could process thousands of the backlogged rape kits around the country.

    Who knows? Might even find him again!

  8. 8.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    That’s the million dollar question, okay, several million dollar question, but what whatever that would get a gazillion-dollar donation be something the Orange Fart Cloud would hate that much?

  11. 11.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: I mean both online discourse and MY FRIENDS WHO DRIVE ME CRAZY WITH THEIR CERTAINTY THAT BIDEN WILL LOSE BECAUSE THEY READ THE FUCKING NYT AND TAKE IT LITERALLY

  12. 12.

    bjacques

    Ms. Carroll doing the victory lap on the talk show is great—like chucking Donny in a briar patch and then hosing him down with Mercurochrome.

  13. 13.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @TBone:

    Great!  We could certainly do this Oprah Style, you get a million, you get a million, etc.

    I wonder if there’s something out there that would actually get the narcissistic sociopath’s attention tho?  I dunno, pay the entire Maralago staff to walk off the job for a year.  Something that kicks him in the groin so that he can’t miss the pain.

  15. 15.

    Alison Rose

    “It’s just the people around him who give him power.”

    Damn, if that ain’t the gospel truth. Trump would be absolutely nothing without the fake-something that so many people have projected onto him and imbued him with for his whole life. He’s done nothing that hasn’t been on the backs of or at the expense of dozens or hundreds or thousands of others. He on his own is worthless.

    Fuck yeah, E. Jean Carroll. Keep saying it.

  16. 16.

    Tony Jay

    When this episode in wealth transfer has finished, Carroll will go down in history as the only person Donald Trump ever succeeded in making rich.

  21. 21.

    Ken

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I dunno, pay the entire Maralago staff to walk off the job for a year.

    There’s a chance she might end up owning that property, possibly within the month unless he scrapes up slightly over $90 million to put into escrow for the appeal.

    Related to that: I saw a report (from MuellerSheWrote) in the earlier post that Trump got the $5.5 million for the first appeal from the Trump Organization, without telling the financial monitor appointed by Judge Engoron. Which is apparently a big no-no when you’re on trial for financial fraud (“who coulda knowed?”), which will certainly make it impossible to pull the same trick again, and may shut off other lines of credit.

  22. 22.

    TBone

    The putrid carbuncle on the ass of this nation is gonna cry hard this week.  I’ve stocked up the popcorn supply and even added Doritos to the pantry.  Denouement Syndrome is real.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: Who can possibly think “Trump is good for it”???

    *with “it” being any amount of money being loaned.

    At this point, it only makes sense for anyone to stick with him if they are complicit in his crimes, hoping that somehow magically they all get off scot free because he is magically in office in 2025.

  25. 25.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Ken:

    There’s a chance she might end up owning that property, possibly within the month unless he scrapes up slightly over $90 million to put into escrow for the appeal.

    Then she could try to find a buyer, bargain basement pricing, who would agree to scrape it.  Hmmmmmm, we might be onto something.

  29. 29.

    eclare

    @Ken:

    The legal analyst on Morning Joe (Lisa somebody?)  said that no institution in NY was willing to put up what is basically a bond for the $5 million.  If they won’t do it for five, no way will they do it for $83 million.  It will have to come from his own funds/properties.

  30. 30.

    Ken

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I was vaguely wondering about that. Since he’s on trial for financial fraud involving (in part) false valuations of his properties, it seems that their market value would be somewhat indeterminate.

    So could Carroll’s lawyer seize Mar-A-Lago and sell it to, say, the city for $1, or is there something in the law that would prevent that?  (If she did sell it for a dollar, I’d hope it was with the stipulation that it be made into a historical landmark and public park.

    @eclare: That sounds like another area where the financial fraud could really hurt. He may try to put $90 million of property into escrow, but who’s going to trust his valuations? At the least they’d want to make sure it didn’t have $180 million in mortgages….

  31. 31.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I think some of his property, including Mar a Lago, are in the name of his corporation. The courts may be able to liquidate that for the fraud fine (when it comes) but can Carroll do it?

  32. 32.

    Jackie

    @TBone: Just came to announce that! I’m DVRing it! I’ll watch it about 30 mins after it starts so I can ff through the commercials.

  33. 33.

    jonas

    The longer she’s out there doing media, the chances of Trump just losing it again and lashing out with another defamatory statement approaches 1. You have to wonder what they’re doing to keep him quiet these days. I hope it’s some kind of Hannibal Lecter-style restraint system.

  35. 35.

    Hob

    I realize I shouldn’t be bothered by the large number of people I’ve seen all over the Internet whose first reaction to the news of the damage award was “Too bad that fucker will never pay, Carroll won’t get a dime” or “Too bad that fucker will have no problem getting his rich backers to pay everything for him.” I can’t prove that they’re wrong and I know they’re mostly just venting. I just wish the state of things didn’t make it so tempting to respond with immediate total cynicism to the thought of an evil person ever having a real setback under any circumstances.

    (The one thing I’m a little more tempted to push back at is when people say “Look at Alex Jones, he hasn’t paid.” Jones is trying to use bankruptcy to evade consequences, and it sucks that he’s been able to delay so much in that way, but I don’t think it is plausible that Trump can go that particular route while still pursuing a political career that’s so strongly tied to the myth of his business success.)

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    So how many businesses is the orange shitstain going to have to sell to Russians?

    Oh wait, they probably already own all of them!

    Time to fleece the rubes! – so more!

  37. 37.

    brendancalling

    “ It’s the emperor without clothes.”

    I’d just as soon NOT see God Emperor Dump with it clothes off.

  39. 39.

    jonas

    @Ken: who’s going to trust his valuations? At the least they’d want to make sure it didn’t have $180 million in mortgages….

    Easy. Just go by the assessed valuation for tax purposes.

  43. 43.

    jonas

    @Hob:   Jones is trying to use bankruptcy to evade consequences,

    While still supposedly drawing something like $100k a month income for his “living expenses.” It’s obscene. Let’s just hope this is another one of those “wheels of justice grind slowly, but exceedingly fine” situations.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    @ejeancarroll on CNN: “I had been prepared for the worst force on the earth today…There [Trump] is, he’s nothing. He’s just the people around him who give him power. It’s the emperor without clothes. It’s Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale.”

    She pretty much hits the nail on the head.

    I wish her well. Justice took a little time in her case.

    Also, she can mock him, say whatever she wishes.

    Trump, on the other hand, better keep his stupid mouth shut.

  51. 51.

    Scout211

    Open thread good news!

    NBC    Joni Mitchell will perform on the Grammys telecast for the first time ever on Feb. 4, the Recording Academy and CBS announced Sunday.

    Mitchell has won nine Grammys in the past, and picked up a lifetime achievement award from the Academy in 2002. She is nominated this year for what could be her 10th Grammy, for best folk album, for her Brandi Carlile-produced 2023 release “Joni Mitchell at Newport [Live].”

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Alison Rose:

    Tear it down and build a mosque.

    Agreed.  Not sure how you would decontaminate the land beforehand, but yeah.  (Added, and the decontamination has nothing to do with Islam.  I’d decontaminate the soil even if Mar-a-Shitto was burned to the ground after being seized by the courts.)

    In no way should that shithole that that shitstain called the “southern White House” be turned into any type of tourist destination cult retreat.

  58. 58.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @jonas:

    You have to wonder what they’re doing to keep him quiet these days. I hope it’s some kind of Hannibal Lecter-style restraint system.

    Little of what they do is real. There was that dust up about the RNC telling Haley to drop out, the choice has been made (after Trump garnered some 230,000 votes in 2 states of the BILLIONS who would walk over broken glass to vote for him). Then everyone speculating that the RNC wanted to keep him off the stage so that people wouldn’t see his sundowning after which come to learn that Trump himself told the RNC to back off (please, don’t crown me king quite yet, he said with tears in his eyes). It’s a bunch of performative bullshit, like his court appearances.

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    @jonas:You have to wonder what they’re doing to keep him quiet these days. I hope it’s some kind of Hannibal Lecter-style restraint system.

    …AND that ‘they’ forget to unstrap him for a long weekend (or week!)

  63. 63.

    sab

    @TBone: I think I heard on MSNBC that Jean Carroll was referred to Roberta Kaplan by George Conway, who knows who is who and highly competent in the legal profession.

  64. 64.

    Ohio Mom

    @Ken: Oh please, don’t even think that. Carroll “winning” Maralago would be the world’s biggest booby prize and white elephant combined. What would she do with it, who would buy it? What a lemon of a property to be stuck with. It will be comparable to when real estate agents have to market a house where a very publicized murder has taken place.

    It’s so moving listening to her talk about how ecstatic the verdict made her. She is just radiating joy. This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

  65. 65.

    Anoniminous

    @Ken: ​
     

    Trump got the $5.5 million for the first appeal from the Trump Organization, without telling the financial monitor appointed by Judge Engoron.

    How the ever-livin’ hell does he get away with this crap?

  66. 66.

    Princess

    It strikes me that for those of us (exclusively women I’m guessing) who grew up reading E Jean Carroll, she stands in relationship to us much as Trump did in 2016 to those who watched the Apprentice. We invited her into our homes, in the magazines, we liked her, we feel like we knew her and her values. So we’re predisposed to trust her and rejoice in her success. I think that’s part of why her victory has struck such a chord for some of us – not the only reason of course!

  67. 67.

    Chief Oshkosh

    I wonder if anyone (looking at you, FBI and NYS Police) will investigate any of the death threats she’s received. Sure would be nice to have the hides of at least a couple of those assholes nailed to the outhouse door.

  69. 69.

    karen marie

    @Scout211: I’m very happy for Joni Mitchell but I find Brandi Carlile to be incredibly creepy.  Every video of her around Mitchell sends off these vibes that Carlile is gatekeeping Mitchell.

  70. 70.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @WaterGirl: I confess that I was thinking of snack foods that are not vegetables. Popcorn…

    Dictionary says vegetables are the edible part of the plant. I know others say otherwise, specifically for reasons of nutrition, but doesn’t that make all grains vegetables? And fruits and tubers…?

  71. 71.

    eclare

    @sab:

    Yes.  That was on Morning Joe.  He was blistering in his attack on TFG, as we all should be (late convert, but I’ll take him).  No wonder he and Kellyanne broke up.

  75. 75.

    Hoodie

    The nothingness of Trump is pretty insightful. Trump is just a screen for projection of the neuroses and insecurity others invest in him. That’s true of a lot of politicians and other celebrities, but many if not most politicians do have a core that identifies them outside of their political personae. Donald Trump is just an old guy with a bad combover and crappy bronze job, neither being professionally done even though he can afford to do so, as if he doesn’t even want his hairdresser to know the pathetic failure he is.

  76. 76.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Alison Rose:

    Probably Lisa Rubin? She’s on MSNBC shows a lot.

    God, what a FTFNYT-level bothsideser she is.  “A reminder to anyone celebrating the @ejeancarroll verdict: Misogyny has no political party…Democrats & Republicans alike can abuse and have abused women.”

    And what happens when they do? How do members of their own party react? Any difference there, Ms. Rubin? <crickets>

    Just one more Villager in excellent standing, I’m sure.

    Warning: Twitter link

  80. 80.

    TriassicSands

    @WaterGirl:

    In case you didn’t see my response in the previous thread, my use of $200,000/quarter of a million in reference to the infrastructure bill was sarcasm. The bill is probably the biggest deal of his administration and for some to pretend they don’t remember how they voted is…typical Republican dishonesty.

  81. 81.

    cain

    @sab: I heard that from George himself. He had a nice twitter thing on it – where he showed some screencaps of his email to E. Jean carrol.

  82. 82.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lowtechcyclist:

    God, what a FTFNYT-level bothsideser she is.  “A reminder to anyone celebrating the @ejeancarroll verdict: Misogyny has no political party…Democrats & Republicans alike can abuse and have abused women.”

    Well, that fact makes me celebrate it even harder.

  84. 84.

    TriassicSands

    @lowtechcyclist: ​
     
    I agree with you about men in both parties being sexist/misogynistic, but Al Franken is one example of the Democrats not responding that historically “normal” way. And it wasn’t only women who called for his resignation.

    Whether individuals think Franken should have resigned or not is another question, but he did after being condemned by his own party. I think, hope, the tide has turned for Democrats.

  87. 87.

    Mike in NC

    I hope as his legal problems snowball in the coming months, Fat Bastard will be left without even a gold-plated pot to piss in.

  89. 89.

    TriassicSands

    @WaterGirl: ​
      There is something oddly satisfying about foods that crunch.

    As someone who hasn’t eaten any solid food for six months, I wholeheartedly agree. For a while, when I was in the hospital for an infusion or transfusion, I would order lunch. (They have an excellent menu and kitchen.) One thing I would order was cole slaw. Not because I’m a huge cole slaw fan, but because of the crunch of the cabbage. Of course, I would chew it and then spit it out into a cup, but there was some satisfaction in tasting and feeling the textures and crunch of solid food.

  92. 92.

    Baud

    @Alison Rose:

    Yeah, if someone said “women do bad stuff too,” it would rightly be seen as offensive. I don’t get why people feel so comfortable saying the things they say.

  94. 94.

    TriassicSands

    @TBone: ​
      Katie Hill

    I know who she is and some of her story, but I’m not sure what, exactly, your point is. Is it supposed to mean that because she resigned that means that women are still the targets of sexism and double standards?

  96. 96.

    TriassicSands

    @WaterGirl: ​
     
    No problem, but now I think you owe me a quarter of a million $.
    To be fair. I will accept installments, but no cryptocurrency, please.

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud:

    I don’t get why people feel so comfortable saying the things they say.

    We are not their audience, and I’ll bet their audience is pleased with the things they say.

  99. 99.

    Another Scott

    @Ken: IIRC (no time to check), the builder (MW Post) gave it to the US Park Service.  They couldn’t afford the upkeep, so let TIFG buy it.

    It’s an old building.  It’s a National Historic Landmark, so (I think) that means the facade, etc., can’t be changed (and it can’t be torn down for condos).

    I don’t think anyone sensible who wasn’t a zillionaire would buy it.  It costs too much for upkeep, and admission fees would either be horrendous or wouldn’t cover the costs.

    Corrections welcome.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  100. 100.

    RevRick

    @stinger: There’s a YouTube video of when she was still in high school and a group of frat boys came to jeer her, “ Overrated!” She proceeded to shoot the lights out from all over the court. The sullen silence of the group of frat boys was a joy to behold.

  102. 102.

    karen marie

    @Alison Rose:   I’ve seen a number of videos of Carlile and Mitchell together – onstage and at Mitchell’s home – and she just gives me a “gatekeeping” vibe.

    She gets between Mitchell and others, she speaks for Mitchell.  At least that’s what I saw.

  104. 104.

    Old School

    @karen marie:

    Every video of her around Mitchell sends off these vibes that Carlile is gatekeeping Mitchell.

    I don’t get that at all.  My sense is that Brandi Carlile is a huge fan who is trying to make sure Joni Mitchell is comfortable in her return to performing.

  106. 106.

    Sally

    May I repeat this (sincere) thank you because I think it is lost in the previous, now deceased, thread?

    Thank you to all the kind people who gave excellent advice for keeping my son’s cat safe – locking husband in a room worked a treat ;) . Cat is now happily ensconced in his home on the 17th floor in son’s apartment. He escaped twice (cat not husband), and husband had to catch him the second time and subsequently never failed to close doors. Cat became less interested in leaving, and son is struggling to live up to the spoilt routine of granny’s house!

  107. 107.

    eclare

    @Another Scott:

    And I think regulations say that it can only be used as a personal residence, which TFG skirted by turning it into a membership club.  But yeah, no turning it into condos.

  108. 108.

    frosty

    @WaterGirl: Of course you were! Some people are hooked on candy or chocolate. Me? Potato chips. I’m a traitor, I’ve abandoned Utz made next door* for Cape Cod. Horrors!!!

    * Hanover PA, snack food capital of the world!

  109. 109.

    TBone

    @PatrickG: hahaha! It’s a nickname given by an old friend (a riff on my IRL last name) about my tendency to have a loud mouth and just crash into things with it willy nilly.  And some other stuff no one would understand.  My other nickname is Major.

  112. 112.

    Alison Rose

    @karen marie: Well…when they first performed together, it was only a few years after Mitchell had a brain aneurysm. The aftermath of that plus her age has clearly impacted her ability to move about and communicate easily at times. I don’t think it’s necessarily a sign of malice that someone might be assisting her if and when she needs it. I mean, obviously I don’t know them personally and I’m not claiming to know more than you or anything, but that’s a bit of a conjecture to make based on a few clips where a younger person helped an older person who had experienced massive health issues.

  117. 117.

    eclare

    @frosty:

    I am the same, salt is my vice.  I have two bags of Lindt truffles in my kitchen, they have been there a while, unopened.  I can eat one M&M and walk away.

    The can of salted cashews?  With extreme self control, it will last a few days.  I do not dare bring a bag of chips into this house.

  118. 118.

    Old School

    @karen marie: As far as I know, Brandi Carlile does not live at Joni Mitchell’s house, but Brandi certainly has much to do with Joni’s return to performing.  The Grammy nominated album was recorded at a Brandi Carlile show.  Joni was a surprise performer.

    Joni’s actual billed show last year was in tandem with a Brandi show.  Her band was Joni’s band.

  120. 120.

    Scout211

    @Alison Rose: All I have ever read is that they are close friends and Brandi was instrumental in helping her move beyond her “mental paralysis” about playing music again after her aneurysm and her resultant disability. Brandi started  regular jam sessions at Joni’s house with numerous musicians to help Joni get her music back.  Brandi organized all that and helped her through the whole process.

    I’ve read more recent interviews with Joni Mitchell, who seems very appreciative of Brandi and seems to consider her a close friend. The video clips of them together do seem like she is very protective of Joni, but not in a controlling way.

    But I agree that we can’t know everything about celebrities from video clips or even interviews.

  121. 121.

    stinger

    @RevRick: I’ll look for that YT!  There can’t be much of that attitude left. She took her team to the national finals last year and is rapidly approaching NCAA records in scoring, rebounds, and assists. And still has another year of eligibility left — she’ll probably go pro instead, but it would be nice if she stayed and continued to mentor younger players.

  124. 124.

    Jeffro

    OT to the E. Jean Carroll issue but I just want to say, McMegs really outdid herself with the obfuscation, “both sides”, and complete ignoring of recent history in her Post column today.

    She starts off, ironically enough, referring to politics in entertainment terms, never realizing THAT’S PART OF THE PROBLEM

    The 2020 election season was never a fan favorite, yet it is somehow now in reruns. The original co-stars will again face off, now somewhat hoarier, considerably more unpopular and noticeably less capable of remembering their lines.

    She gets the most offensive part out there early:

    Democrats’ reason for keeping the show going is simple. They are stuck with President Biden because he’s stuck with the charmless and inept vice president he chose four years ago for reasons of coalitional politics. For the same reasons, she cannot be replaced with someone who could easily beat Donald Trump.

    Like, for real?  (also: Megs calling someone ‘charmless’ and ‘inept’??!?  oh my…)

    Anyway, here’s the only part remotely close to the truth in the whole thing:

    Republicans’ reason is more interesting — and longer-lasting. Republicans are stuck with Trump because their party has been unable to overcome its collective action problem.  For nine years now, they’ve known that they’d all be better off with Trump gone but also that anyone who tried to make that happen would risk the anger of his voters. loved his out and out racism (fixed that one for ya, Megs).  So individual politicians keep retreating to the same playbook: stay quiet on the sidelines in hopes that fate will intervene or that someone else will muster the courage to take him out. This is both morally derelict and ineffective.

    And get this: according to Megs, it’s not the GOP politicians’ or voters’ fault: it’s because America’s institutions are weak, and THAT is because of all our attempts to clean up our parties and elections.  Get it, big government types?  You screwed it all up and now we have trump…

    Unfortunately, America’s capacity for institution-building has been undermined by internal failures and external challenges. Which is, of course, how we ended up with Trump in the first place.

    We ended up with trump because of…the damn hippies and then campaign finance reform.  yes, really!

    During the 1960s, our culture took a hard turn against institutional authority. The most spectacular and memorable examples of this came out of the left-wing counterculture, but the libertarian and populist currents on the right were also in important ways anti-institutional, though this was masked for a time by the fact that so many people on the right belonged to thriving religious institutions.

    In politics, these trends led to good-government reforms that slowly gutted the parties as decision-making institutions. Primaries handed the choice of candidates over to the electorate. Congressional reforms first dispersed the power that had been held by a handful of powerful committee chairs and in various ways made it harder for them to broker legislative deals — or be held accountable for failing to. Campaign finance reforms weakened the parties’ role as a source of campaign funds, which forced individual politicians to rely more heavily on outside donors and activist groups and, at the same time, limited each party’s ability to discipline members who went rogue.

    Whoops, forgot: this next graf is close to the truth, too:

    The GOP today looks less like a political party than a collection of hundreds of political entrepreneurs. They might all operate under the same franchise license, but their ties to fellow franchisees are weak, and it is hard to interest them in stewardship of a larger corporate brand.

    All this has been exacerbated by another good-government reform: the move to put more and more congressional business on camera, which has turned our national legislature into one long television commercial. This is part of a second factor undermining our institutions, a series of technological shifts that have turned institutions upside down and inside out.

    C-Span!  That damned C-Span!  THAT’s what wrecked everything!! (eyeroll)

    And it only gets worse from there.

    How this person continue to draw a paycheck, I will never understand.

  126. 126.

    Jeffro

    @eclare:The can of salted cashews?  With extreme self control, it will last a few days.

    Lightly salted and roasted cashews are the devil’s work.

    I do not dare bring a bag of chips into this house.

    Preach!  (also…’sob’…)

  129. 129.

    Anonymous At Work

    Attorney Question:

    If you wait too long to request recusal, is it waived?  For example, 6 months after a first trial and 2 weeks after a second trial, both of which went against you/your client?  Say to the tune of 90+ million dollars…

  130. 130.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

     I had been prepared for the worst force on the earth today

    the Dodgers?

  131. 131.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Jeffro: How this person continue to draw a paycheck, I will never understand.

    Her opinions, bad and uninformed as they are, support the powerful and, therefore, have value to the powerful.

  133. 133.

    TheOtherHank

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: I think it works like this: fruits are the part of the plant that are around the seeds (apples, zucchini, tomatoes, etc), seeds are the seeds (pecans, corn, wheat, etc), vegetables are the edible part of the plant that isn’t seeds or fruit (lettuce, spinach, rhubarb, etc).

  136. 136.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Jeffro: Good lord, McArgle-Bargle is such an embarrassment to her family and friends. How in the wide wide world of sports does she not die from forgetting how to breath?

  138. 138.

    C Stars

    @Jeffro: I get the feeling that the Harris hate on the right is very similar to the Hilary hate. She’s a female politician who doesn’t have “charm.” Meaning, she wants to get shit done and it shows. A woman who won’t pander to male political ego is both charmless and a serious threat to them.

  139. 139.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @WaterGirl:

    Who can possibly think “Trump is good for it”???

    I all of a sudden heard Edwin Starr’s “War” in my head.

    Trump.

    What is he good for?

    Absolutely nothing.

  140. 140.

    Hob

    @Jeffro: ​
    I know I shouldn’t be abusing my brain by trying to evaluate a McArdle column, but… usually I can at least tell what the stupid argument is that she’s making. In this case I have literally no idea what this sentence is supposed to mean: “They are stuck with President Biden because he’s stuck with the charmless and inept vice president he chose four years ago for reasons of coalitional politics.”

    I mean, I get the obvious part about insulting Kamala Harris, and I assume (because I have no reason to interpret McArdle’s euphemisms generously) “coalitional politics” is supposed to be a cute way of saying she was an affirmative action hire. But why would “Biden is stuck with Harris” ever be a reason for “the Democrats [to be] stuck with Biden”? WTF is she actually saying there? The incumbent has an allegedly terrible VP that allegedly nobody likes, who was necessary in order for Biden to appeal to more voters that Biden himself couldn’t otherwise get, but is apparently a terrible liability now, and… that caused the party to insist on nominating Biden again?

    I mean, I realize she has to say something, anything other than “Biden’s voters and colleagues still support him overall, he’s doing a good job, there is no magic candidate who would be worth abandoning him for.” But there are so many other intelligible (if stupid) sentences she could’ve written instead of this.

  141. 141.

    TriassicSands

    @TBone: ​
     
    Even if the tide turns, sexism is so embedded in this culture that progress will be slow and since it is only likely at all on the Democratic side, slower still.

    I looked at the Wikipedia entry for Kane and it is quite damning. Of course, I don’t (and can’t) know all that happened, so I won’t offer any judgment about her case. Do I believe there could have been sexism involved? As I said, it is so deeply embedded in out society that it is certainly possible. However, what to do if she actually perjured herself? Again, my information is limited, so I won’t say more.

    One of the most toxic things about our history of sexism is that it can taint almost anything involving women and men. Men can, and do, go after women because they refuse to accept women in positions of authority or importance. Women can be guilty of something and claim sexism is what is behind the accusations/charges. I think the former is far more common than the latter, but either is possible, and it often impossible to know what the truth is. I don’t know how to fix that.

  142. 142.

    C Stars

    @Matt McIrvin: Right. McArdle clearly appreciates the advantages of “institutional authority” in a way that someone who did not, ahem, have the opportunity to attend Riverdale Country School might not.

  145. 145.

    TriassicSands

    @TBone: ​
     
    All is forgiven. I’m used to not eating solid food.

    Every year, in mid-May, the Copper River salmon run comes in. Copper River sockeye salmon is probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten. It’s ridiculously expensive and I don’t eat much. I may have eaten my last bit of Copper River salmon.

    In some ways, I feel good about that. I always feel a little guilty, since they are such magnificent critters, but they are about to die anyway. It’s really too bad they can’t be caught after they finish the task at hand — reproduction.

  146. 146.

    Alison Rose

    @C Stars: I know this isn’t you saying this, but Harris and Clinton both absolutely have charm.

    The problem is that for the right, for a woman to have charm she has to be a vapid slutty boring-hot* idiot. That’s what they find charming.

    (*boring-hot is what I call women who might be considered attractive based on conventional Western beauty standards but have nothing interesting or unique about them at all)

  147. 147.

    C Stars

    @Alison Rose: I know. There is no politically ambitious woman beyond the likes of Noem or Lake or Boebert who they would abide. Haley is barking up the wrong tree.

  150. 150.

    Jeffro

    @Hob:

    I know I shouldn’t be abusing my brain by trying to evaluate a McArdle column

    I had the same thought…and then did anyway (sorry, brain!)

    but… usually I can at least tell what the stupid argument is that she’s making. In this case I have literally no idea what this sentence is supposed to mean: “They are stuck with President Biden because he’s stuck with the charmless and inept vice president he chose four years ago for reasons of coalitional politics.”

    I mean, I get the obvious part about insulting Kamala Harris, and I assume (because I have no reason to interpret McArdle’s euphemisms generously) “coalitional politics” is supposed to be a cute way of saying she was an affirmative action hire. But why would “Biden is stuck with Harris” ever be a reason for “the Democrats [to be] stuck with Biden”? WTF is she actually saying there?

    Here’s my shortest take on her “thoughts”, such as they are: 1) Biden is way old but can’t step aside b/c Harris as heir apparent (in Megs’ opinion) doesn’t cut it, meaning the party would fight about who succeeds him, and 2) (insert gratuitous insults here), 3) so Democrats have to ‘ride with Biden’ regardless of how they really feel about his age.  (Did y’all know he’s old?)

    Which is complete BS, as Biden is a very successful incumbent with a VP that excites our party, and while the ‘old’ thing is not nothing, it has (as we all know quite well) been absolutely driven into the ground by the media.

    She’s both downplaying Biden’s achievements and Harris’ good qualities to make it look like the Dems have the same level of problems that the GOP has with its creature er candidate.

  151. 151.

    karen marie

    @Hob:   She’s saying that Dems are “stuck with Biden” because VP Harris can’t win on her own.

    While I understand your support and enthusiasm, take a step back and look at reality – Harris has no political background other than as an elected DA, running a campaign for the Dem primary in 2019, and VP.   There’s really not much there to suggest that beyond wanting to “get it done” that she could get anything done.

    I’d vote for her because she’s a Democrat, not because I think she has any special individual quality that would make a great president.  Pretty much any Democrat* would fulfill the criteria of not being a Republican.

    *If Manchin were the Dem candidate, I’d be significantly less inclined to vote but I still would, because as sleezy as he is, he’s  less likely to steal state secrets or install a police state than his GOP counterpart.

  152. 152.

    Jeffro

    I swear, every third column, I feel like I can hear Megs trying to channel her RWNJ parents as they carp at the TV: “damn hippies!” “damn soshulists messing with the free markets!”

  153. 153.

    TBone

    @TriassicSands: I had to stop doing a beloved pastime (fishing and fly fishing) because I suddenly, out of nowhere, became acutely aware that I was causing harm to such beautiful creatures.  I haven’t picked up a rod since.  Now, I am a fisher of men (angler derivation). Haha. Thank you for your forgiveness.

  154. 154.

    TriassicSands

    @Jeffro: ​
     
    The truly shocking thing is that she might be the Post’s “best” right wing columnist. She’s clueless, but not obviously as bad as columnists like Marc Thiessen and Hugh Hewitt.

  155. 155.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Jeffro: I considered reading that column and stopped after the second paragraph. Thank you for confirming my initial reaction. You have my sympathy for subjecting yourself to it.

  157. 157.

    Scout211

    @karen marie: Harris has no political background other than as an elected DA, running a campaign for the Dem primary in 2019, and VP.

    She was also Senator.

  158. 158.

    TriassicSands

    @TBone:

    I agree about fish. When I was a child my father would take my brother and me fishing. I still remember watching the bass my father caught in Maine suffocating as it hung out of water.

    The Copper River salmon I have eaten in May is the best source of protein I ever got. I never ate as much in any year as the weight of a single fish, but I was still very much aware of what I was doing. Long ago, I had shark for the first time and it was delicious. However, we began and have continued to over-fish and deplete many shark species. The worst offender is probably shark fin soup, something I would never consider eating. I believe there should be an international ban on shark fin soup. As it is, I haven’t had shark in several decades because of our mindless industrial fishing. I wouldn’t eat beef or pork, even if I could, and the way we treat most chickens is beyond cruel.

    With Crohn’s disease my protein level is very low, even getting IV nutrition. When I could eat solid food, beans were out. The worst news for me nutritionally was that Crohn’s patients should avoid fiber. What does every nutritionist recommend? Yep, more fiber.

  159. 159.

    cain

    Things with that “Protest Convo” is not going well. Money quote:

    Last week on a planning call, one of the organizers also waved off concerns about entrapment. “When J6 happened, that’s DC, that has nothing to do with the United States. It’s its own continent,” said Mark Anthony. “This is a whole different ball game. We’re out in our country, not a foreign territory. Each state and county has been strategically thought through.”

    Mark Anthony must have tried to talk to his psychic person Cleo and worked it all out

    ​https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjygb/trucker-convoy-texas-border-standoff-conspiracy-theories-dooming-protest?utm_source=reddit.com

  163. 163.

    TBone

    Holy shit, did E. Jean really just ask Rachel if she wanted to go fishing…in France?!?! 🤣

  165. 165.

    TBone

    @TriassicSands: I guess you didn’t see my recent travails with that very issue.  I have IBS and was advised to take fiber.  One day, I bought a different brand (organic, on sale) and had an allergic reaction where my lips swelled up and the skin burned off, no matter what I did (salve, hydration, humidifier next to bed). Spent 3 weeks in agony and looking like a clown with huge, red lips for Christmas.  I thought they were just chapped.  Doc put me on steroids, which suppressed my already crappy immune system, and now I’m on antibiotics for Strep which is really rough because  I ruined my gut treating Lyme Disease.  When I got Covid in early 2020 I had multi system inflammatory syndrome and it truly fucked me up!

  172. 172.

    karen marie

    @Scout211:  My bad.  That’s true.  One term.

    Again, I fully support Harris as a candidate, independent of Biden.  I’m just pointing out why someone who doesn’t support her would say so.

Comments are closed.