It’s no easy feat to write the worst column on an op-ed page that includes the banal burblings of Megan McArdle, but Richard Cohen manages it at The Post today. It’s not that his thesis is completely wrong — it’s that the column is marred with Cohen’s trademark conceit and moral obtuseness, reminding readers yet again that The Post should have shit-canned this worthless hack ages ago.
The column is entitled “Stormy Daniels — not Robert Mueller — might spell Trump’s doom.” That’s not an absurd supposition, and personally, I’m in favor of Trump’s political doom by whatever instrument. Al Capone, tax evasion, etc. But Cohen manages to be so self-regarding and priggish about the whole thing that I felt compelled to complain about it here.
Cohen begins by informing us that he was inspired to reread “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” because Hemingway’s protagonist, Harry, who dies from a minor scratch that becomes infected, reminds him (Cohen) of Trump, with Daniels in the role of the scratch. Having reminded us that he’s a literary guy, Cohen goes on to inform us that Daniels and Trump are a pair of self-promoting publicity hounds, which is superficially true but unfair to Daniels. He writes:
Sometimes, as with the Iran-Iraq War, it is hard to take sides. Here, too, it is difficult. Daniels, after all, is a porn actress. She directs and writes screenplays as well, but she is best known for having sex in the movies — turning what used to be called a romp in the hay into a payday. But, with the inadvertent cooperation of Trump and his band of merry incompetents, she now comes across as the victim.
Iran and Iraq? For fuck’s sake. Only someone as preening and morally obtuse as Cohen would find it difficult to choose a side in the Trump-Daniels saga, and there’s more than a whiff of entitled, misogynistic priggery in Cohen’s tone about how Daniels chooses to make a buck. She’s not a racist, sexist, xenophobic demagogue who has indelibly stained the honor of her country abroad while stoking divisions at home.
Daniels is not even a washed-up hack who inexplicably clings to a perch at the nation’s premier newspaper, hoovering up untold dollars that might otherwise go to younger, smarter and more diverse hires. It’s near libelous for Cohen to draw a moral equivalency between Daniels and Trump, and I apologize to Daniels for mentioning her in the same sentence as Cohen.
Anyhoo, I know many of you find rants about bad newspaper columnists pointless, and you’re probably right. But this is an open thread, so don’t feel obligated to discuss Richard Fucking Cohen. I’ll try to remember in the future that the less said about that bilious windbag, the better.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Indeed, in general people are more pleased with a full exposure of Daniels than Trump. /innocent
Joe Falco
So open thread it is then! My house seemed to have escape from the storm that rolled through Alabama and Georgia last night unscathed. I still have other problems though with an ancient septic tank that needs fixing. I’m supposed to have some folks over soon to look at it. I just hope the backyard didn’t become so wet that they can’t get back there to do it.
RedDirtGirl
Her Twitter feed is fun. She smacks down trolls with aplomb!
LAO
Stormy won’t be alone for long:
Betty Cracker
@Joe Falco: Hope they can fix it soon. The storms are just now rolling into my area, but we’ve been under a tornado watch all day. Quite breezy out!
TenguPhule
@LAO: We are going to be bombarded with Trump dick pics, aren’t we?
Chip Daniels
I’m Cohen’s age, which is to say, old enough to remember when the promise of the sexual revolution was that in the future, people wouldn’t be so priggish about sex, or at the very least, not so hypocritical. Everyone watches pron, its a multi-billion dollar bidnezz, and yet somehow its the pron actors who are the shameful ones.
Major Major Major Major
Open thread?
Bitcoin blockchain itself found harboring child porn, other creepy dark web shit
TenguPhule
Are you sure you’re talking about the right blog here?
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ
@TenguPhule: I just threw up a little.
Mike J
@Major Major Major Major: This is not a surprise.
And good for the Guardian for referring to it as “child abuse imagery”. I hadn’t thought to use that phrase, but I will attempt to do so in the future,
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: I suppose there’s a tasteless joke about Rule 34 hidden in there too.
Kay
I like Stormy. She’s honest. They’re just mad because she’s not an officially approved wheeler and dealer and she breached their gross contract. I cheer up when I see her in the news. She seems to drive them absolutely insane with rage in that awful White House, and that’s an endorsement right there.
How stupid is Trump anyway? She doesn’t have anything to lose by telling all. He thought he could bully and threaten everyone?
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Completely, Kay.
SFAW
Calling Cohen a “moron” would be an insult to morons everywhere.
At least she is/was doing honest work, you stupid motherfucker, and has no illusions that the so-called “p0urn” movies will win Oscars. You, on the other hand, think your idiotic scrawlings merit reading by intelligent persons, as opposed to being a substitute when the toilet paper runs out. Or even before it runs out.
Kay
I admit I love the pairing, because it’s so bizarre. Stormy should join the Mueller team. She can offer valuable insight into the psychopath in the White House.
SFAW
@Kay:
All of it, Kay-tie?
patrick II
@TenguPhule:
@LAO: We are going to be bombarded with Trump dick pics, aren’t we?
No, it will be hidden under the apron.
The Moar You Know
Stellar effort to make the Trump/Daniels prostitution scandal a “both sides” thing. Might work. Probably won’t.
Lapassionara
So my flight to NYC scheduled for tomorrow morning has been already cancelled, in anticipation of snowmaggedon, aka winter storm Toby.
Going Thursday instead. Love bilious. Where do you find those words?
LAO
@TenguPhule: Yes. It was inevitable.
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
Depends on whether they had an SEM* available for their “trysts.”
*Scanning Electron Microscope
Kay
@TenguPhule:
Team Trump are going to create commercials to keep kids off drugs. They must not know they are a “meme” among the 15 year old set- they are treated with derision and scorn. It’s brutal.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike J: yeah, sad but not surprising that people with a propensity for crypto currency mining would put child abuse imagery (agree that it’s a good term) in the glorified ‘memo’ line.
geg6
@SFAW:
This.
JMG
Apologize if this was posted on an earlier thread, but Ted Olson won’t be representing Donald Trump after all. Cites “possible conflicts” related to Russia probe. Guess he’s still a smart lawyer.
Tom
Romp in the hay? Jesus, it’s roll in the hay! Has this guy never seen Young Frankenstein?
Kay
@SFAW:
I am hoping she has something not titallating (gross- trump- ick) but instead humiliating.
Because everyone already knows he had some sexual contract with her, so what is he so scared of?
tobie
@Lapassionara: I’m feeling very ambivalent about the similarity of the name of this storm to my screen nym. My household is laughing at me.
SiubhanDuinne
But family pride
Must be denied,
And set aside,
And mortified.
SFAW
@Kay:
From your (virtual) lips to FSM’s ears.
trollhattan
@Joe Falco:
Speaking of storms, if any Juicers are lucky enough ducks to have a Santa Barbara address, consider getting the hell away the rest of this week.
TenguPhule
@Tom:
He’s using an older more archaic sub dialect used by prudish assholes back in the day.
LAO
@Lapassionara: Well, as a New Yorker, I’m truly disheartened. I can’t take any more snow.
Mike in DC
@JMG:
Yep. Stuck with C and D list hacks. Cobb and Dowd are B- at best, and they may not be around much longer.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
What would you like to bet that they scrounge some old 80s commercials, try to pass them off as new and steal the rest of the funding for themselves?
MattF
Saw the title of Cohen’s piece– and given that I think people underestimate the damage that the Daniels story could do to Trump, I asked myself ‘Should I read that?’. Decided the answer, given the author, had to be ‘NO’, and you’ve confirmed that I was right.
My view is that Trump is such a lying asshole, that he’ll arouse a great deal of sympathy for Daniels among his supporters. Pun intended. But Cohen would never understand that.
Corner Stone
@JMG:
I for one would have been surprised if he had ever entertained the idea. He’s still an R scumbag through and through but he’s definitely too whiteshoe and pristine in all the right circles to be tainted by Trump*.
*yes, I said “taint” and “Trump” in the same sentence. There’s sex lawsuits afoot! Sue me.
Spanky
Update:
Corner Stone
@Mike in DC:
Cobb may have been a B- at one point but he’s not any longer. The Dignity Wraith got another one. I didn’t think Dowd was ever better than a C-.
Mike J
@TenguPhule: romp in the hay not found.
sukabi
@TenguPhule: don’t worry about it….you’ll need a microscope to see anything.
Corner Stone
@Kay:
Oh, it’s going to be humiliating stuff alright. Not only how disgusting he is but probably some fem-dom action where he licks some porn star leather boots and cries how his daddy never loved him. That 30% to 35% that never get shook from loving him will split in half overnight.
trollhattan
@Spanky:
So now we’ve literally had a gunfight in a school hallway, like the NRA wanted? Just fucking great.
ETA, evidently, Maryland’s governor got the T&P memo.
“Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has also expressed concern, saying “prayers are not enough”.
“Today’s horrible events should not be an excuse to pause our conversation about school safety,” he said in a statement. “Instead, it must serve as a call to action.”
BluegirlFromWyo
@Kay: I like Stormy because she plays the game Trump wishes he knew how, and plays it well.
Ryan
It’s not just the papers either. I watched MoJo yesterday, and Mika could not bring herself to refer to Stormy or Stephanie. She just kept referring to her as “the porn star.” And for someone who has built a brand on empowering women, it was just baffling.
Corner Stone
Melania is going to divorce Trump at some point and try to enforce the pre-nup. Trump will whine that it’s too much and he doesn’t have it. Then he’ll be forced by the court to prove his net worth. Or lack thereof.
Librarian
Hell, he probably didn’t even read the Hemingway story, he just saw the Gregory Peck movie.
Mike J
@trollhattan: Wait for the NRA to point out that an assault weapon ban wouldn’t have stopped this. Then point out that the shooter with a handgun wounded two people, the shooter with the assault rifle in Florida killed 17 and wounded 17 more.
guachi
I have a friend who works at a club in Tennessee. He was assigned to be Stormy’s escort (not *that* kind of escort) while she worked there. He even got to dress up as Trump – and he’s black. He said she was really fun.
Tom Levenson
@SFAW: Well played.
trollhattan
@BluegirlFromWyo:
Yup, she’s managing the exposure what must be crushing pressure to go the hell away like a pro. Actually am quite impressed.
Lapassionara
@Corner Stone: Olsen was, iirc, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers in the marriage equality case. He is not the worst person in the world. I am not surprised that the firm said no to the representation.
Corner Stone
@Ryan:
It’s pathetic watching her act like she just stepped out of the nunnery. You know one way you could empower women, Mika? How about you be honest and upfront about the fact that sex workers are actual people, also too.
TenguPhule
@Mike J: It predates google. The people who spoke it typically did not have access to the internet either. There are some really old romance novels that used that phrase.
trollhattan
@Mike J:
They wouldn’t do that, would they? Boy, I crack myself up sometimes.
Ryan
@Corner Stone: Exactly. We’ll see if Joe has any more empathy.
woodrowfan
@TenguPhule: very tiny ones
Mike in DC
Trump has 5 days to settle with Stormy, before the 60 minutes interview airs. Otherwise he might as well drop the suit. Because the damage will have been done. And a dozen more women will emerge…
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone:
Wishful thinking. They will simply picture themselves in Trump’s place and fap harder. Its what they’ve been doing for the last year or so.
MattF
@trollhattan: Hogan is a Republican in Maryland, and is very popular. This is why.
smintheus
Iraq invaded Iran. How is it hard to choose sides against an aggressor like Hussein?! This itself is easily the most damning thing in Cohen’s obtuse column.
Mike in DC
@TenguPhule:
Not if a gimp suit is involved they won’t.
divF
@Tom: Romp in the kip, but not in the hay please – just the phrase makes me itch all over.
MisterForkbeard
@Mike J:Nope. Their response is going to be that a good guy with a gun stopped everything, so obviously teachers need weapons.
TenguPhule
Devos summoned before Congress in regards to a cover up she orchestrated trying to hide her reorganization plan of the DOE from Congress.
Someone start popping the corn.
Lapassionara
@tobie: I think the idea of naming winter storms is dumb. With a hurricane, there are specific criteria for telling when a tropical storm has reached hurricane status. I have no idea what the criteria are for naming a winter storm. Nevertheless, I saw the winter storm watch forecast, and if the storm is as forecast, it will dump a lot of snow on the NYC area.
TenguPhule
@Mike in DC:
I’ve learned to stop questioning the depths of their depravity.
waspuppet
1:
That is, as Charlie Pierce would say, some huckleberry bad writing. And as someone who reads (and OK, sometimes writes) a lot of bad writing, I can tell — he worked SO hard on that and is SO proud of it.
2:
Porn star is a job you have to actually show up and do, something Trump never had until he was 70 and completely can’t handle.
trollhattan
Donny and Vlad
Sittin’ in a tree
Walnuts is not impressed.
They should get a room, already.
TenguPhule
@smintheus:
To be fair, at the time of the Iraq-Iran War, Saddam was officially an ally while Iran had just held our embassy hostage.
And Donald Rumsfield was supplying American chemical weapons for Iraq’s use.
GregB
I am relieved that Olsen isn’t getting on board.
It says to me that people who want to have credibility won’t get on board the Trump Hindenburg.
DiGenova is utter gutter offal.
Yutsano
@Lapassionara: Another guess: he couldn’t get the retainer up front.
TenguPhule
@trollhattan: Putin, Kim and Trump in one room.
World peace achieved in one decapitating strike.
Corner Stone
@Mike in DC: That $20M lawsuit he filed against her is getting louder and louder as it screams of desperation.
But even if he settles (and I think she would be foolish to do so unless the number is FU sized bundles of kesh), isn’t this already done him in? Every other woman with an NDA is going to come looking for payback, whether Stormy settles, is successful in her attempts to break the NDA or is forced into arbitration. The proverbial cat is out of the bag and walking on stage in stiletto heels.
nonynony
@TenguPhule: @Mike J:
MikeJ – use the case-insensitive switch – there are a few examples.
Though a cursory check suggests that “romp in the hay” in most examples means a literal romp through the fields – like children playing. I don’t see any examples of it being a euphemism for sex, at least not with a cursory check.
ETA – never mind, it’s there. Mostly in the books from post-1980 for some reason though…
Brachiator
Nobody cares that Trump had sex with Daniels. Hell, some conservatives might even applaud him. And I heard one talk radio cynic note, not unreasonably, “Trump is rich. People expect him to have sex with a p0rn star!”
And in 2006, Daniels had won a few industry awards, and was a fan favorite. A lot of later Trump voters (and probably quite a few anti-Trump people) were very familiar with her work. And a lot of Trump supporters who try to bash her now probably owe some of the best nights of their lives to her video performances.
Daniel’s revelations might make a small dent in Trump’s reputation. But otherwise, it just ain’t no big deal.
TenguPhule
@nonynony:
Its old and wasn’t that common. I only know about it from some rather old erotic literature myself.
Corner Stone
@TenguPhule: Not if he’s crying like a baby and begging her to spank him. I think that spins a few percentage points of support off into the wilderness.
Turgidson
@Kay:
Isn’t there anyone in that band of dolts and crooks who grew up during the age of D.A.R.E.? “Say no to drugs” became a tired punchline way the fuck back in the late 80s. My 5th grade self could have told them their strategy sucked.
The Moar You Know
@Lapassionara: He considered working for Donald Trump as recently as today. You may want to change your evaluation of him.
matt
Only a fool – or a Frenchman – would read Cohen. Trump and Daniels are both much smarter than him.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Mike J:
To quote Teri Garr in Young Frankenstein
smintheus
@TenguPhule: Yes, I remember how US news media liked to pretend during the ’80s that Iran started the war and Hussein the Iraqi “strongman” was the victim. To be held in thrall decades later by blatant propaganda is absurd. Does Cohen still believe the lies about the Hun’s mistreating Belgian babies in WWI?
jonas
@Kay: I recall hearing a program a little while back that looked at the effect all those anti-drug commercials in the 80s and 90s had on drug use among teens at the time. The researchers were surprised to find that in many cases, viewers became more inclined to use drugs after viewing them because they (unintentionally) portrayed drug use as edgy and rebellious. I’m sure whatever the Trump administration puts out there won’t be at all campy and mockable. After all, all the best media artists and creative minds want to work for them.
Jeffro
Here’s a quick nod to a non-hack columnist, Michelle Goldberg at That Paper Y’All Don’t Like Very Much: Trumpov’s High-Tech Dirty Tricksters
“Shit Midas…”
“…has no bottom”
Major Major Major Major
@waspuppet:
Yep. I know that type of writer well. He probably spent a whole afternoon perfecting it. Told his friends about it. Workshopped it with his wife(?).
eric
Will no one rid me of this meddlesome porn star…….but only when i am done.
Brachiator
@Corner Stone:
I would love to see Trump have to deal with the double whammy of a divorce suit followed or preceded by impeachment. And hell yeah, he would squeal like an orange pig if forced to reveal his true net worth.
Jeffro
@Brachiator:
That’s exactly right. Several religious leaders have come out and said as much. Heck, this is the guy who attacked a POW Senator and a Gold Star family, bragged about serial sexual assault, etc etc. The only thing they care about is that he continues to give full, moronic, spiteful, racist, sexist voice to all the things his followers feel like they don’t dare say.
The only recordings that could possibly bring him down aren’t dick pics; it would be a tape of him talking about his crowd of morons as just that, slack-jawed morons that he’s
gladgleefulDE-LIGHTED to exploitTenguPhule
@Brachiator: Trump would try to hire a hitman. There is no bottom when it comes to ways he comes up with to avoid paying anyone.
gene108
@Kay:
It works when you are the supposed billionaire, with what seems like unlimited resources, bullying Jack’s Plumbing into taking a 50% discount for services rendered.
It doesn’t work, when you are the President and under a lot more public scrutiny.
How dump is Trump? He doesn’t understand the public scrutiny the President is under. He’s lived under 12 Presidents prior to taking office and didn’t get a clue.
LAO
A third!
The discovery process is going be lit.
No Drought No More
If Trump indeed plans to “get together in the near future” with Putin to talk anything over, it will be the terms of his living exile within Russia.
Americans should now play it safe. Why? Picture in mind’s-eye the Vulture, anchored downriver from West Point- that’s why. And why Mueller Inc. should waste no time in asking a court to revoke Trump’s passport.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone: Like I said, I’ve given up on trying to predict the bottom with these deplorables.
smintheus
@Brachiator: A divorce proceeding between Melania and Donald – now there’s something where it’d legitimately be hard for the public to choose a side. He’s a grifter, a fraud, a liar, a racist, an anti-Semite, a crook, an adulterer, and crass in the extreme. She’s a grifter, a fraud, a liar, a racist, an anti-Semite, an adulterer, crass in the extreme and probably but not certainly a crook.
Corner Stone
@TenguPhule:
Trump is the bottom. HEEEEYOOOH!
LAO
A link to the Mcdougal Complaint file today.
ETA: I just started reading and I know understand why conflicts knocked Ted Olsen out. What a shit show.
The Moar You Know
@TenguPhule: you just made my fuckin day
Betty Cracker
@Brachiator: I don’t think the boinkage is the issue — it’s the campaign finance implications of the payoff, etc.
Gelfling 545
@SFAW: Yes, the one saving grace is we won’t be able to see much. Still the prospect of pics of Trump in a state of nature is upsetting to both the intellect & the digestion.
Jeffro
In other news (and as promised yesterday, NOT that anyone cares)…I did see a ‘lightbulb’ go on over the head of a semi-wingnut I know at work. I asked him how anyone (much less a president) could sue a porn star for not keeping quiet over the sex they didn’t have. He started to respond and then just kind of clammed up.
I asked him, “Won’t it be nice to not have to feel that automatic need to defend the indefensible just ’cause he’s your guy?” He laughed and said, “Yeah, that is true…what a putz” and shook his head. SRSLY!!
Corner Stone
@Jeffro: It’s not the sex with a porn star angle that Trump is so ruffled about anyone finding out about. My guess: 1) she’s got the goods on him and he knows the goods are not good for him, 2) it’s just all about money and he wants to shut her up so he doesn’t have to buy off any more witnesses that may or may not have the goods on him, 3) some combo of money and shame (in a deeply personal sense that would harm the way he thinks of himself and all the reality he’s been desperate to avoid his whole life).
Amir Khalid
@SFAW:
You may or may not know this, but the US porn industry does have an annual awards show.
sukabi
@jonas: my kids, who were in grade and middle school during the DARE period, said they learned about drugs and how to do them from the DARE program demonstrations.
Thankfully they opted to not indulge.
Brachiator
Cohen does make one small point. He reminds us that Trump loves to pick on and bully women. He wrongly thinks he can shut them down. Back when he feuded with Rosie O’Donnell, Trump stupidly thought he could come up with better quips and insults than a professional comedian. Rosie did not slap him down harder than she might have only because Barbara Walters was concerned about collateral damage to their tv show, “The View.”
And Trump can’t simply brand Daniels a liar. If she’s lying, why pay her $130,000? And what exactly is this supposed $20 million lawsuit about? That she was supposed to continue to protect his slimy ass?
Back when he was a swinging bachelor (and apparently a still swinging married man), Trump would have been proud to brag that he had so much charisma that a p0rn star threw him a freebie. But he wants to be able to grab p*sssy and also pretend that he has “family values” integrity. Sorry. He can’t have it both ways.
ETA: Interesting, too, that it appears that Don Jr shares his father’s values when it comes to his respect for the institution of marriage. The rotten apple does not fall far from the tree.
rikyrah
@LAO:
UH HUH
WANT.TO.GET.PAID
Corner Stone
@LAO:
Do we know how many more levels of appeals Trump has to use up before this gets started?
germy
germy
danielx
@TenguPhule:
Really glad I’ve had lunch, that may have ruined my appetite for days to come.
germy
rikyrah
@Kay:
I love her lawyer. He’s not playing with them.
SmokeyB
Betty, please DON’T stop ranting about imbecile pundits, heartless politicians or Donnie Sprinkles. Your passion is infectious.
sukabi
@The Moar You Know: is this related to the memo she put out the other day that “rewrote” the ability of the teacher’s union to negotiate contracts or something?
Can’t remember exactly, it didn’t get much play in the sea of shit we’re swimming in.
gene108
@Brachiator:
There are tons of not-as-plugged-in-as-Balloon-Juice-readers, who maybe watch CNN for news a few minutes a day and when they see Trump paid off pron star to keep silent about an extra-marital affair, they get another reason to not vote for Trump and/or associate this with Republicans, who are on the panels bending over backwards to deflect blame from Trump.
The chain is Trump -> lies and cheats, Republicans do not condemn him, Republicans -> lie and cheat.
It’s sort of chic for a lot of people to be self styled Independents, even though they are inclined to support Democrats or Republicans, when it comes time to voting, because neither Party is particularly cool and politicians are scummy, lying, cheaters anyway.
This will drive home to those folks that Trump sucks worse than they imagined. And Republicans suck too, because they seem to be all in with Trump.
And will either depress turn out among Republican voting Independents and/or cause a few to vote for Democrats.
boatboy_srq
@LAO: I’m waiting for some Reichwingnut FundiEvangelist to make some reference to three wives and 700 concubines as if that’s a metric for a wise ruler.
danielx
Speaking of lunch, had some with my sister at a place of her selection today. I was early, got a table, sat down…and figured out that I was in a spot for ladies who lunch. Fairly small cafe with gourmet sandwiches and the like; there were about twenty women and four guys, the latter including me and two servers. I felt like a rat on a wedding cake.
Chyron HR
@jonas:
Pepe sez: “Only brainlet Wojaks do dope!”
JCJ
@Kay:
I remember going to the Gator Bowl with Stanford playing, maybe 1986 or so. That was when Nancy Reagan (ptui!) had her “just say no” campaign. The Stanford band performed at halftime and they did something to make fun of that and the announcer said, “Don’t just say no, say no thank you!” This nonsense has been mocked for years.
TenguPhule
@sukabi: Bigger and worse then initial reports suggested.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy: wow, a unanimous vote in any committee about anything is a Big Fuckin’ Deal these days, as Uncle Joe might say
gene108
@Brachiator:
Trump never pretended to have family values. The Religious Right and Trump agreed that he would advance their agenda and they would whole heartedly support him.
This just shows how full of shit the Religious Right is about their talk on “family values”.
encephalopath
I don’t think Trump is going to settle with Ms. Daniels before the 60 Minutes interview airs. Trump will threaten her and CBS some more, then interview will air anyway.
In the interview she will allude to the humiliating stuff she has on Trump without fully saying what it is. The Trump people will then call her a liar, after which she will produce it.
And thus we will all be forced to view the full horror of the presidential member.
gene108
@danielx:
I bet a wedding cake is better food than a rat normally eats, therefore a rat would be very pleased to be on a wedding cake.
The Moar You Know
@sukabi: Not the teacher’s union. The DOE’s union. But yes.
Management does not get to impose “contracts”, last I checked.
Brachiator
@Betty Cracker:
This might inflict a small wound, but I don’t think it’s going to bring Trump down. However, it is bad and doesn’t look good. So, who can take this further? Congress? DOJ? Some ethics office? Or do we have to wait to see if the Dems can at least retake the House?
ETA: Got to listen to the podcast yesterday. Very good stuff. Good overview of the Florida election scene. Look forward to more.
TenguPhule
From FTFNYT
Shitshow doesn’t begin to scratch the surface. Devos has driven the DOE to the brink of revolt.
Mike J
@nonynony:
Grrr. Could have sworn I had. Wish they would set that as the default.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
Hahahahahahahaha.
Oh, you were serious.
catclub
@TenguPhule:
when they romped in the hay!
It rhymes!
Yutsano
@Brachiator: He’s underwater. His liabilities way exceed his income. I’ve believed that for years from the lack of getting credit except by devious means. That’s why divorce would wreck him. He’d be exposed as the ultimate fraud.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Lapassionara: Twitter. The winter storms are being named by the Weather Channel so that there’s a consistent hashtag when people tweet about the storm.
Roger Moore
@Mike J:
You get better results if you make the phrases case insensitive. “Roll in the hay” is clearly more common, but “romp in the hay” is also used.
Aleta
Something I notice: The subject that Daniels brings up is not her movies or their industry. At the same time, it seems like every headline, and what seems like 8 out of 10 liberal men writing, introduced her news as, above all, “p o r n star says.” (Her lawsuit was summarized at TPM as “dic pics!” “sex tape!” without any evidence. A joke introduced on twitter “Why are they all called stars?” was copycatted here as a main point.)
It’s a little like police officers laughing about a pros titute or p o r n worker who tells them she was raped at knifepoint. Because of where she worked, the news is a joke, centered on the person. (Historically, sometimes a serial killer continues on because of this.)
The odd part is seeing this done by people who don’t believe p o r n should be shameful. Yet they still trivialize the women and men who make it, and largely ignore associated crime.
The other day Daniel’s lawyer said “Yes she’s been threatened.” (Duh.) And “Some of her story happened since he’s been in the WH.” The conclusion of people who analyze the news, call themselves professionals? This means sex in the WH! Let’s not miss the crime part.
GregB
@encephalopath:
Days if Shame.
In other news. Nix has been suspended from Cambridge Analytica.
I assume that company is well on their way to getting Weinsteined.
LAO
Well, after (speed) reading the complaint filed by the 1998 Playboy Covergirl, I could really use a shower, Damn — everyone in this is sleazy. (see comment #98)
catclub
@gene108:
unless it was a wedding of two hungry cats.
or the owl and the pu*s*s*ycat
Roger Moore
@smintheus:
It’s harder than you think when the aggressor is attacking somebody you have strong reasons to dislike.
Mandalay
@Ryan:
This. No female media figure is more harmful to women than Mika Brzezinski.
There are a gazillion videos on YouTube of her flirting with Donald Trump. She allows Joe Scarborough to talk down to her all the time. She regularly allows the panelists to start another conversation full of guffaws while she is speaking. In every show she gets absurdly emotional over trivia, and says things like “Am I being unfair?…”, “I can’t…even!….”, “Is it just me, or…?” and “Help me understand this…”.
She is a caricature of a woman who is a weak, dumb, submissive, helpless doormat.
WaterGirl
Just checking in after my appointment with the orthopedist for my broken ankle, for anyone who is interested.
Good news at the appointment yesterday – no pin, no screws, no surgery! Total relief about that!
Still very swollen. 6-8 weeks recovery on a series of non weigh-bearing casts. I liked the doctor, and I see her again one week from tomorrow for a “weight-bearing x-ray”. She saw my face when she said that and said it would be okay, she wouldn’t do that if she didn’t think it would be safe. I’ll let you know more after that appointment.
Henry is now 3 weeks post-op after his ACL surgery. He has 12 water treadmill sessions – friends have to take him because I am not mobile yet. Very grateful for friends! His first one was yesterday. Halfway through the 15 minutes on the water treadmill, Henry turned around, sat down, said ‘thanks, but I’ve had enough fun”, and road down the treadmill like a water slide. That’s my boy! Wish I could have seen that. :-) They made him do another 7 minutes.
Will check in later. Miss you guys, hope to have a new normal by next week.
So Henry is still in his crate 24 hours a day except for bathroom, vet appointments and the occasional snuggle. I kind of feel like I am crate bound, as well! The friend who had Tucker for 2 weeks are keeping him for another 2 weeks. so that’s good.
Lots of challenges, but so grateful for no surgery.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
He backed out? I missed that. I wonder if he knew he was interested in the job….
rikyrah
@LAO:
PASS.THE.POPCORN.
rikyrah
@WaterGirl:
yeah Henry :)
TenguPhule
@Mandalay:
Ann Nazi Coulter. Miserable Malkin.
Brachiator
OT: A Guardian story that
Are they trying to steal Putin’s thunder? And it’s looking like we got a crammed clown car of idiots piled up to try to stop Hillary back in 2016.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@LAO: interesting wording here
rikyrah
@SmokeyB:
I agree with this, BC.
TenguPhule
@WaterGirl:
When will you learn to specify instead of abstracting!
New does not necessarily mean better.
patrick II
@Brachiator:
We haven’t seen the pictures.
LAO
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh, I think he was interested.
His law partner, however, represented Karen Mcdougal pro bono, tweeted this:
He then retweeted a link to the Mcdougal Complaint.
catclub
@rikyrah:
somebody else noted that her lawyer – or she- knows how to string out the reveals to make it a more interesting story, i.e how to make a scandal have legs.
Aleta
Sorry to rant. I think I’m sick and everything’s weird.
LAO
@rikyrah: THERE ISN’T ENOUGH POPCORN. MUST ORDER MORE.
Mike J
@TenguPhule: Normal people have never heard the name Malkin. 90%+ have never heard of Coulter. I’d be shocked if 50% had ever heard of Mika.
Frankensteinbeck
I am shocked by how viciously I want to punch this slut-shaming dipshit in the face. It’s just sex, shit-for-brains. It doesn’t make her filthy or lesser, so it doesn’t matter whether she did it for money.
@germy:
Eh. Lie detectors are garbage. They’re unreliable, human bias is involved on top of that, and they should never be used. Fortunately, Trump’s own reactions make it quite clear he did it.
TenguPhule
@Aleta:
I’m sorry to tell you that its reality that’s terminally weird and not you.
different-church-lady
…had Harry then immediately taken a 10 year bath in raw sewage and rubbed it vigorously into the minor scratch while splashing wildly, covering his cot, his wife, and the entire snow-white cone of Kilimanjaro with excrement.
Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog
@WaterGirl:
Sympathy. A broken ankle’s no fun, and non weight-bearing is a logistical PITA.
I heard of a device called “iWalk” that may be helpful. I only know one person who’s used it though. Definitely a “check with your doc first” type of thing, but maybe it’d be worth looking into. Sort of a walking one-legged stool, so it prevents your putting weight on the injured ankle, but lets you Long John Silver around without crutches.
Mandalay
@TenguPhule:
Nope, not even close.
Being an odious woman is very different to being harmful to other women. Mika Brzezinski reinforces old stereotypes about the woman knowing her place, being put in her place, being helpless and being overly submissive. And she does it every fucking weekday on TV.
While Coulter and Malkin are pretty obnoxious, I don’t think anyone would accuse them of being weak or submissive.
catclub
@Mandalay:
why else do you think they keep paying her as much as they do? For intelligent commentary?
different-church-lady
@TenguPhule: We’re hoping it’s not terminal, actually.
TenguPhule
@Mike J:
If only this was true.
But we live in the darkest timeline. Both Nazi fluffers have gotten regular pundit space on print. And books.
LAO
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: There is definitely a conflict — Olsen can leave Gibson Dune to represent Trump, but he can’t have it both ways. Ted Boutrous of Gibson Dun represented the 1998 playboy cover girl, Karen Mcdougal.
zhena gogolia
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but Jennifer Rubin told people to vote the GOP out in November.
TenguPhule
@Mandalay:
There are people that watch tv during the day that’s not DVR of the previous night’s shows?
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
Thinking good thoughts for you and Henry and Tucker.
TenguPhule
@Frankensteinbeck:
Not shocked at all. Its a natural reaction to him.
TenguPhule
@zhena gogolia: She’s been doing that for months now. I note she is still a registered Republican though.
Roger Moore
@jonas:
What I remember is that they were so over the top they wound up hurting the credibility of the anti-drug message. They made it seem as if using drugs just once would cause your life to spiral out of control. You’d instantly become hooked and become unable to stop using ever harder and more dangerous drugs until they killed you. Kids who had used drugs, or knew others who had used them, without that kind of thing happening knew those claims were bullshit, so they blew off anything else the anti-drug people said.
different-church-lady
Not only everything you said, but his entire premise is wrong: anyone who thinks having sex with a porn star is going to go over badly with his Cro-Magnon base is seriously out of touch.
Mike J
@TenguPhule:
Normal people don’t read oped pages or books.
The Moar You Know
@LAO: Just finished it.
There’s some fucking horrible people out there. And the number of people willing to go to the wall for Trump is truly dismaying.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s interesting to see that either Trump or someone in his orbit (probably Jarvanka) knows that he needs more fire power on his legal team and it’s just gobsmacking to me that they literally can’t find anyone credible who is willing to do it. Olsen would be a good choice.
danielx
Cambridge Analytics…
The following was published at Antidote Zine on January 22, 2017, originally from a German language publication. If you want to know how far behind the curve mainstream media was on this whole deal, the date tells you a lot right there.
Trump Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself
different-church-lady
And somehow Google Ads has drawn the conclusion that I am in the market for $83,000 watches. BIG DATA!
Barbara
@The Moar You Know: I think Mr. Davison should star prepping for a new career path.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
Okay, not to get too graphic or gross, but what would “the goods” Daniel’s might have on Trump? He wants to be spanked and put in a diapy? He is poorly endowed? Water play?
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
That’s some nice writing, CS.
Aleta
@germy: That’s good. @WaterGirl: Wait, you broke your ankle? This is not OK.
LAO
@The Moar You Know: It really is and they really are.
I feel like punching anyone who claimed (or still claims) that President Obama destroyed the dignity of the Presidency.
danielx
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Gotta Get Paid.
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
All this talk of Russia has resulted in Balloonjuice turning into a gala of Russian hookup ads featuring beautiful women I can’t believe are Russian.
different-church-lady
@danielx:
I weep for our species…
Aleta
@different-church-lady: ha. Your jokes are good.
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
So long and thanks for all the fish.
Mandalay
@LAO: This part of the complaint you linked to put a smile on my face:
You lawyers really are such scallywags sometimes!
TenguPhule
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Strap-on dildo play where he’s on the receiving end.
You now can’t unsee that.
danielx
@different-church-lady:
There are not enough drugs in the Western Hemisphere to cool the simmering brain.
Aleta
@TenguPhule: When they merge is the worst of all.
different-church-lady
@TenguPhule: Adams’ jibe that we were only the third most intelligent species on Earth may have been far too high.
scuffletuffle
@TenguPhule: I prefer”a bit of rumpy pumpy” myself…
Brachiator
@TenguPhule:
No, I wasn’t. I guess I need to spell it out for you and maybe a few others.
Congress? The GOP’s got Trump’s back and will never allow an impartial investigation.
DOJ? Also known as the Sessions plantation. No relief there.
Some other ethics office? Like any of the many which have been swamped by Trump’s astounding violation of every freaking rule that has ever bound practically all other presidents and elected officials?
Or were you trying to be double snarky?
Fair Economist
@Lapassionara:
I do. “Can we sucker enough people into watching the weather channel without them feeling stupid about it afterwards?” Roughly, a storm strong enough to produce 3 episodes of interesting video, I think.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
Yes.
zhena gogolia
@TenguPhule:
You have obviously never been to Russia.
Brachiator
@patrick II:
There could be a sex tape and it would not matter. Also, I can’t imagine Trump being anything more than vanilla. Even the supposed light spanking with a magazine is weak beer. And if there were any seriously embarassing pictures, a big payment would have been made to make everything go away.
The only way this gets any traction is if there is a videotape of Daniels, Trump and Putin having a threesome, and in the background there is a bucketful of cash with a sign on it saying, “From Vladdy to his Pudding Bear Donald.”
Trump is just making himself look more like a total fool. But his supporters don’t care. They are just as stupid as he is.
Lapassionara
@Fair Economist: LOL
Yellowdog
Has anyone heard anything more about Trump getting the case moved to a Federal court and forcing arbitration? Some talking head I heard in passing said it could shut her down permanently.
Corner Stone
@zhena gogolia: I have never been to Russia but it don’t take no fool of a white boy to know smoking hot when I sees it.
SFAW
@Amir Khalid:
In fact I did not know that.
I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t ask what the award statuette looks like.
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
Like the Oscar. But with a bigger bust.
zhena gogolia
@Corner Stone:
TenguPhule was implying there are no smoking hot women in Russia. A walk down any Moscow street would disabuse him of that notion.
Corner Stone
@zhena gogolia: Yes. I know.
TenguPhule
@zhena gogolia: I meant that the women in the ads look like other European & Asian nationalities.
zhena gogolia
@TenguPhule:
Oh, so you’re walking it back.
JPL
@Aleta: You should read comments more often, because that was not a rant.
TenguPhule
@zhena gogolia: No, but I could see how my phrasing could be read differently.
Brachiator
@gene108:
Yep.
Gelfling 545
@Mike J: Nobody’s heard of Malkin. Everybody’s heard of Coulter because she’s a caricature of a right winger. Some even thnk she’s funny and most believe she’s playing a rôle. Many/most have heard of Mica first because of who her father is and secondly because she and her partner havee been so prominent in the whole Trump debacle. In my experience.
The Simp in the Suit
One for the ages.
My skin crawled when I read his scrawl. You’ve perfectly described why.
Shana
@Turgidson: Not to mention those asinine “This is your brain on drugs” ads.
VeniceRiley
@different-church-lady:
Yeah. That can’t be the kompromat he’s worried about. I mean, we all know this about him already. Cro-MAGA, I would call them.
They are jealous and want to have sex with pronstars too! They want old timey factory jobs for white boys, and a titty bar on every corner.
Ruckus
@patrick II:
The correct answer is “It can only be seen with high magnification.”
Ruckus
@JMG:
Can’t be that smart, he considered it.
Corner Stone
@VeniceRiley:
Where’s a ballot I can vote for you? Oh wait, I already live near Houston. Nebbermind.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
It’s almost never the act as much as it is the cover-up.
As you and others are saying it really isn’t a big deal that he did, just that he’s lying about it.
RedDirtGirl
@Corner Stone: I like that scenario!