A.M. Links: Obama vs. Trump, Giuliani Says He 'Won't Be Attorney General,' Russia Launches New Syria Offensive

• 

  White House / Flickr.com

  "From the Iran nuclear deal to the Paris climate change agreement to Obamacare, President Obama and his team plan to spend the next two months aggressively defending and implementing these policies, despite President-Elect Donald Trump's campaign promises to end them once he takes office."

• Rudy Giuliani: "I won't be attorney general." But Giuliani is reportedly the top contender to be Donald Trump's secretary of state.
• Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck: "We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody's immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job."
• The Traverse City, Michigan, police officer who flew a Confederate flag near a group of anti-Trump protesters has resigned.
• Russia has launched a new offensive in Syria.
• Google is vowing to crack down on fake news.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

But Giuliani is reportedly the top contender to be Donald Trump's secretary of state.

In drag.

[Tonio]

Ewwww...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Behold.

[Rich]

LGBT* FTW!

[But Enough About Me]

My eyes! MY EYES!

[gaoxiaen]

Grab her by the... um... whatever.

[Atanarjuat]

*xyr

[chemjeff]

Holy crap.

[Rational Exuberance]

"Oh, you dirty boy! Oh! Oh!"

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

If Obama does that, then if I'm Trump I double down on working towards undoing them if determined it was not the right thing to do.

As for Google, I didn't read, but how will they determine what's fake news? News that goes against the government? Mainstream press? I mean CNN manufactures all kinds of 'fake' shit. Will they crackdown on those derelicts?

[UnCivilServant]

If it runs counter to the narrative, it is "fake" and will be suppressed - for the greater good.

[Colonel Slanders]

Soldiers of the Fire Caste! Kroot and Vespid allies! Today, we stand as a bulwark against the selfish, the soulless, and the mad! Today, we must drive back our enemies from our city and from our world! Today, more than ever before, we fight for the Greater Good! And we will triumph! - Aun'el Shi'Ores of the Tau Ethereal Caste

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

If it goes against the prog-narrative, it is fake and should be censored. If it supports the prog-narrative, even if not "accurate" in the factual sense, then it is TRUE in the deeper sense and is allowed.

[Drave Robber]

* Stick 'Report as fake' buttons everywhere.
* Any user with basic knowledge of some scripting language can now spam against sites they don't like.
* The BDFL whitelists rightthink sites.
* PROFIT!!1!

[Echo Chamber]

I use Norton. It lists Gary's campaign website as questionable.

[Holger da Dane]

Should have used McAfee..

[bacon-magic]

Google and the rest of the 4th estate are doubling down on stupid. It will not end well for them.

[Brett L]

"Trump unwilling to allow Kerry to hold record as worst SecState!"

[Mickey Rat]

But that is traditionally a qualification for FBI Director!

[Brett L]

Winner.

[Monty Crisco]

Scoop!! The BUTTHURT continues! According to the ever-balanced and even-keel Dahlia Lithwick (and do not call her "Black Dahlia" because that is racist...) the R's STOLE this Supreme Court nomination through "unprecedented obstruction and contempt."

http://www.slate.com/articles/.....court.html

And did you guys see John Oliver's show on Sunday? Yummy salty liberal ham tears....nom nom nom nom nom....

[UnCivilServant]

And did you guys see John Oliver's show on Sunday?

I tend not to watch it.

[straffinrun]

Forgivable. The anti beer stance... not so much.

[Swiss Servator]

I forgive people missing out on the wonders of beer...provided they do admit the greatness of port or whisky.

[gaoxiaen]

Port is acceptable if forced to forgo hard liquor.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm not, so I have to go back to the liquor store and see if they've gotten a new supply of Krupnik in. They were sold out last time I was there.

[Mike Schmidt]

Beer is in my food pyramid. I love an occasional neat glass of good bourbon, too. But I've never had port. Might be a good weekend project for me. Any suggestions on brand?

[Brett L]

I like a nice tawny port. 10+ years aged. Don't drink the stuff in the grocery store. Grahams comes well recommended even as a 10 year. If you're going with Ruby, go at least to reserve. Fonseca Reserve is probably about $20-25 a bottle.

[Mike Schmidt]

Thanks. I'll check out your link when I am at home and away from my employer's fire wall...ugh

[Chip Woodier]

I just watched it. His wrap up of how bad a year 2016 was just shows how Oliver, and the liberal elites, remain out of touch. And that's all that was interviewed in his piece. What was is a bad year for New Yorkers is typically a good year for everyone else. And has been ever since they lost the Revolutionary War.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Not salty anymore if this keeps up. I expect them to double down because, well, they're childish idiots.

But.

It will convert itself into simply not observing a Trump presidency with any clear judgment.

[Monty Crisco]

YEah, i thought the left might rediscover "journalism" , but instead I guess they will just remain resolutely partisan with no fig leaf of objectivity...

[Free Society]

No they will crush what remains of real journalism and go full Goebbels.

[Tonio]

They will double down and spend all their efforts on political theater. Then they will wonder why nobody takes them seriously anymore.

[Chipwooder]

+1 giant paper-mache head

[gaoxiaen]

Why paper mache? His head is really that big.

[Shirley Knott]

And when, in the last sixty years, has a presidency been viewed with any clear judgement?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Touche.

Spank!

[Swiss Servator]

Um...let me see...there was...no, I , uh...

[Rasilio]

60 years?

I don't know that takes us back to like 1956 which would have been the start of the Kennedy administration. I'd say they media had pretty clear views of Eisenhower (who was still in office for a few more months), Johnson, Ford, Nixon, and Carter in that period.

[Isaac Bartram]

Eisenhower was re- elected in '56. Kennedy was not elected until 1960.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

Take pity on him, he's probably American and the product of American state schools. But if he's Canadian, have at it, because he's embarrassing Rufus.

[I can't even]

Hell no. I did see Westworld.

[Monty Crisco]

WAS AWESOME!!! I KNEW THAT ABOUT BERNARD!! I CALLED IT!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

NO SPOILERS

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I saw that article and was about to post it myself. Someone doesn't understand how the Constitution works, apparently.

[Tonio]

Shorter Dahlia: "We throw a tantrum..."

[John DeWitt]

Anyway, If Senate Democrats attempt to filibuster, Senate Republicans will probably just kill the filibuster for Supreme Court seats, as they have already promised to do, and as Democrats only last week were promising to do if they won the Senate.

So both TEAMS threaten to end the filibuster, but something tells me the negatively affected TEAM will clutch their collective pearls in horror when it happens.

[John]

The clip of Oliver smugly begging Trump to run for President and offering to write him a check to fund him doing so might be the most delicious piece of film I have ever watched. What a douche bag.

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

That ought to be thrown in his face at every turn.

[gaoxiaen]

+1 bottle of sulfuric acid

[Monty Crisco]

Agreed. He's not laughing so hard now.... gosh, how we must have disappointed him!

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....

[LynchPin1477]

I've seen so many proposals for how to combat a Donald Trump administration, and none of them are serious. You are not going to convince enough electors to flip (and even if you did, it would only outrage Trump supporters more), Obama can't just appoint Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court (and why on Earth do you think that is a good precedent to set?), your state is not going to secede, Congress cannot tell the President who to appoint as their chief of staff...

As someone who isn't a fan of Donald Trump it would be really refreshing to see some serious proposals for limiting executive power - Congress taking back its power to declare war, rolling back the administrative and regulatory state in favor of clear and specific Congressional legislation, state-level movements to assert more local control, etc. It really does baffle me that this isn't a lesson being more widely learned.

[Rich]

Congress taking back its power to declare war

I don't understand why Congress doesn't exercise the "power of the purse" more than it does. Must be a "pussy" thing.

[Bubba Jones]

HOW DARE YOU SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT?!:?!!?!

That is why.

[Rich]

It's only *part* of the government.

*** kicks pebble ***

[commodious is retromingent]

Must be a "pussy cuck" thing.

[Rasilio]

Because Congress likes it this way.

If they actually had to vote on important legislation that would cost people things then they would be worried that they could be personally held accountable come next election. Instead they write vague legislation passing the task of actually implementing the hard work off to the executive branch, congratulate each other for "doing something" then go back to fighting with each other over non issues like gay marriage and guns to "feed" their constituents and ensure their reelection.

[gaoxiaen]

Grab it!

[Tonio]

They won't. They believe this is an aberration and that they'll retake the White House in 2020 and that America will never elect another Republican. They are True Believers.

[robc]

You are not going to convince enough electors to flip (and even if you did, it would only outrage Trump supporters more)

This. Plus, its not like if you did get them, they would flip to Trump, it would be some coordinated effort for President Jeb or President Rubio or something even more stupid. It wouldnt be to Clinton.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

why on Earth do you think that is a good precedent to set?

By any means possible.

I don't get what the election-protesters are trying to accomplish, personally. Do they want a do-over? Just reject the results? Anything like that would be far, far more damaging to the republic than four years of Trump.

[LynchPin1477]

They seem to not realize that separation of powers and checks and balances, weakened though they may be, are a big reason why we haven't ever had a real dictator, and that they are better preserved and used against Trump than destroyed in the name of some temporary gain.

[Tonio]

The protesters tend to be very unsophisticated, and probably believe that if they whine loud enough that they will get a do-over. Remember that this is the generation raised on safe spaces and participation trophies. I do feel a certain sort of pity for them because they don't know any better. It is going to be really, really difficult for these people to have to face a harsh reality for which they were ill-prepared by their parents and schools. Will be interesting to see whether they blame reality, or the people who made them this way.

[Echo Chamber]

Protesters protesting in a state that Hillary won amuses me.
Plus the local TV station reported that more than half of the arrested protesters didn't even vote.

[gaoxiaen]

+1 puppy/ pillow/ crayon

[Juice]

Yes, I think a Trump presidency has a chance to galvanize the other branches of government against the executive and maybe roll back some of its power. The SC has already struck down a few ways Obama went outside the lines. Now I want Congress, a Republican one at that, to start to limit the presidency too. It may be too much to ask though.

[Ship of Theseus]

It is. Them rubber-stamping Bannon is a pretty good sign they're going to go along with whatever Trump wants, no matter how retarded.

[LynchPin1477]

Does chief of staff require any Congressional approval?

[Ship of Theseus]

Don't know. I guess "rubber stamping" is the wrong phrase. It just looks like they're all getting on board the Trump train, even if it might be heading to Dipshit, USA.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Does chief of staff require any Congressional approval?

No. Which is interesting, given its one of the most important roles in the executive branch.

[Brett L]

But it also doesn't have any duties outside of managing the President's schedule and office. Sure, that's a powerful position, but its solely within the purview of the President.

[Echo Chamber]

Bannon isn't chief of staff. He's been given some made up title like chief advisor.
Wait until Trump starts naming his Czars

[Free Society]

It is. Them rubber-stamping Bannon is a pretty good sign they're going to go along with whatever Trump wants, no matter how retarded.

Not really. For one thing, the Chief of Staff serves at the Presidents discretion, the Senate has no say in the appointment of Chief of Staff. There's nothing to rubber stamp. Secondly, el Presidente has lots of political capital at this point so for the first year or so, it's a lot easier to get your agenda off the ground and that fact is not necessarily indicative of a servile Congress.

[John]

That depends on what Trump wants to do. Everyone assumes Trump is going to do all of this crazy shit but they never seem to be able to give an example of what they mean.

Trump has both houses of Congress. I am not sure what Trump wants to do that he won't be able to get the Republican congress to agree to doing. Moreover, he will want to do that because if the Obama Presidency proves anything, it proves the limited value of doing things by executive order rather than with Congress and by statute.

[John DeWitt]

your state is not going to secede

Don't ruin my dream of a Free Pacifica Republic. The liberals would never win the Presidency ever again.

[gaoxiaen]

You just fucked up my surfing and pot smoking schedule.

[Free Society]

I agree. I'd love to see the left coast jettisoned.

[Chip Woodier]

Most of California isn't a liberal hell hole. They don't want to secede. They'd be fine if SF and LA just slid into the ocean.

[NealAppeal]

That part of California wants to secede from California.

[Lord Humungus]

Tigers, cougar, skunk found in Cypress woman's home, police say

Houston Police Department officers said they were sent to investigate Trisha Meyer's home after she tried selling a kitten to a man in California for $3,000, but never gave him the kitten after receiving the money.

When officers arrived at the home, they found several wild animals all roaming freely inside Meyer's home, including three tigers, a cougar, a skunk and a fox, police said. They also said Meyer's 14-year-old daughter was in the home during that time, police said.

Meyer also told police she had several monkeys, which can be vicious and had attacked someone previously, police said.

Police said she had permits for the tigers, but none for the skunks and foxes.

[Citizen X]

Cougar, huh?

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Tonio]

Was the daughter one of the foxes?

[Swiss Servator]

*continues to narrow gaze*

[Crusty Juggler]

including three tigers

All of which were bad at golf.

[Rich]

Rudy Giuliani: "I won't be attorney general."

NOOOOOOOO!!

[straffinrun]

He can go frisk himself?

[Rich]

Nice!

[Tom Bombadil]

I predict Trey Gowdy.

[Rich]

He'll be fun.

[SugarFree]

What's wrong with him?

[Tom Bombadil]

Nothing wrong with him. Hillary will be in prison before the mid-terms.

[SugarFree]

Oh, I just figured it Trump would pick him he must have some huge defect.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody's immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job.

Can we get a similar pledge with regard to the DEA?

[I can't even]

I'll call it a Libertarian moment when they lose all their federal funding. Or at least a Federalist moment.

[Tom Bombadil]

Yep. Feds got so much leverage due to the Federal funding teat being so pervasive, especially in Cali.

[gaoxiaen]

No.

[11H1P, Professional Beach Bum]

Google cracking down on false news...
Yeah.

[DJF]

They keep on talking about "fake news" yet I can't find any examples of it in their reports that are open to everyone.

Or is "fake news" just news they don't want to hear?

[Rich]

is "fake news" just news they don't want to hear?

That, my friend, is the $64K question.

[SugarFree]

The examples cited I've seen was a story saying that the Pope had endorsed Trump and one that Trump had been in a mental institution in the 80s.

[Juice]

I saw one about how Trump hired a white supremacist as his chief advisor.

[SugarFree]

Totally fake. Bannon is the chief strategist.

[straffinrun]

So an Islamophobe and anti semite walk into the oval office....

[gaoxiaen]

And the POTUS says oral sex playoff.

[Citizen X]

...and discuss the orderly transition of power.

[UnCivilServant]

Senator Byrd was Hillary's mentor... oh, you mean the false allegations towards the guy who left Breitbart.

[commodious is retromingent]

White supremacist, probably not. Unalloyed power ambition, sure. But it's funny hearing the party of Her complain about it.

[(((Renegade)))]

false allegations towards the guy who left Breitbart.

Wait a minute, every allegation made by an ex-spouse during a bitter divorce is always true. This is known.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Onion hardest hit?

[11H1P, Professional Beach Bum]

I thought that in this 'verse, The Onion had become real news and the MSM usual suspects were a parody.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Or is "fake news" just news they don't want to hear?

We all know the answer to this question. Fake news, you know, like criticism of Hillary's email server or any talk whatsoever about the O'Keefe videos. You know, the fake stuff!!!

[Brett L]

They got taken by a fake news site saying Hillary was running away with the popular vote. It was their top result for the popular vote stories for a while Monday morning.

[Lord Humungus]

18th century statue destroyed by selfie-taking tourist

A priceless 300-year-old statue in Lisbon's National Museum of Ancient Art shattered after it was knocked over by a tourist trying to snap a selfie.

Museum officials said the statue of Saint Michael, which dates back to the early 1700s, is broken beyond repair.

The offending tourist reportedly posted a photo of the destroyed statue to Facebook and said, "It's the price to be paid for free entrances on the first Sunday of every month."

[straffinrun]

The tourist was being Candide at least.

[DJF]

Was the tourist name "Mohammed Death to the Infidel Mohammed?

[Zeb]

?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Wo. Not good.

But did the picture get sent and seen? I mean, that's all that matters, right?

[robc]

You break it, you bought it, right?

[robc]

300-year-old statue
Ancient Art

My definitions differ.

[robc]

300-year-old statue
Ancient Art

My definitions differ.

[The Fusionist]

I'm guessing the reporter is American...

[The Fusionist]

Hmmm...maybe.

[Monty Crisco]

And how do the squirrelz feel about that?

[Tonio]

300 years is indeed truly ancient measured against the lifespans of squirrels.

[Zeb]

Maybe whatever words in Portuguese translates to "ancient art" don't translate perfectly.

[Brett L]

I'm assuming Brit expat without reading.

[Mickey Rat]

What happened to concepts of sgame and accountibility? How do you post destruction you wrought and essentially claim it is the owner's fault for letting your unself-aware ass in there?

[Fist of Etiquette]

"From the Iran nuclear deal to the Paris climate change agreement to Obamacare, President Obama and his team plan to spend the next two months aggressively defending and implementing these policies, despite President-Elect Donald Trump's campaign promises to end them once he takes office."

That's not going to cause even further chaos at all.

[PurityDiluting]

End-of-term executive orders & regulations should be the easiest ones to rescind.

[LynchPin1477]

The Traverse City, Michigan, police officer who flew a Confederate flag near a group of anti-Trump protesters has resigned

He should have just shot a few, could have kept his job that way.

[Rich]

The Traverse City, Michigan, police officer who flew a Confederate flag near a group of anti-Trump protesters has resigned.

Why?

[SIV]

Guilty of cultural appropriation

[Rich]

Nice!

[Atanarjuat]

Shooting black men : swept under the rug, awarded back pay when it blows over
Offending progs with a symbol that is labeled by SJWs as anti-black : forced out in disgrace

Shows where the real power is these days.

[Lord Humungus]

Russian Politician Sacked for Recording Workout Video in Funeral Parlor

A regional Russian official was recently expelled from the ruling United Russia political party for recording a bizarre workout video at the workplace ? a creepy funeral parlor ? and posting it on her Instagram account. You can say that she gives the phrase 'dying to lose weight' a whole new meaning.

Anastasia Myakina was head of United Russia's faction in the Shelekhovo District Assembly in the Irkutsk Region, as well as the manager of a state-owned local funeral parlor. Until recently, she was considered a successful business woman in her home town, but then she made the grave mistake (pun intended) of recording a short workout video at the workplace. In the bizarre footage, which has gone viral online, she can be seen smiling as she squats in front of the camera, with tombstones, funeral caskets and wooden crosses in the background.

ain't she a pretty thing /s

[straffinrun]

We will bury you! *Switzy's joke*

[Swiss Servator]

....

[straffinrun]

Not yours? H/T to whoever then.

[Not a Libertarian]

Is next... Day-vear!

[Monty Crisco]

In Soviet Russia, casket bury YOU!!!

[The Fusionist]

Uh...can you dig it?

[Lord Humungus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-OYKd8SVrI

[Juice]

But why was she sacked? So what?

[Brett L]

I mean, if you google Russian fitness instructor, she's not going to win the image search. I was hoping for something else.

[Chipwooder]

Same here - I figured, Russian chick doing a fitness video and expected some top shelf talent. Sad!

[Atanarjuat]

politician

[Brett L]

I'm sad to see that Russian politics is also becoming "Hollywood for ugly people". This is why Ukraine will be stronger.

[Citizen X]

I was gonna say something about Vera Kichanova, but apparently she's not in politics anymore.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Traverse City, Michigan, police officer who flew a Confederate flag near a group of anti-Trump protesters has resigned.

But not flying the rebel flag made the officer fear for his life. Doesn't that count for anything?

[Chip Woodier]

A flag was flown.

[Chip Woodier]

A flag was flown.

[Chip Woodier]

I am not sure if I can blame this on skwirlz. I clicked it twice,

[Lord Humungus]

Angry George Lopez Tells Trump To 'Suck My Ass'; Confirms He's Leaving U.S.

While most celebrities have since clarified that they were just joking around, George Lopez seems to be the one stand out that may have actually been serious. When recently asked whether he would give Trump a chance, George Lopez responded as follows:

"I'll give him a chance to suck my ass. Listen man, I'm in escrow so don't worry about my residential status. I'm already in escrow, motherfucker. And I'm not going to tell you where I'm going to go because it will drive up real estate prices 'cause by the end of the year no one's gonna wanna be here."

"I've stopped eating Cheetos, too. Anything orange, I don't want."

[LynchPin1477]

"I've stopped eating Cheetos, too. Anything orange, I don't want."

That's a pretty funny line.

[Tom Bombadil]

I wonder if Latinos will stop selling oranges near the off ramps.

[Citizen X]

For George.

[Chipwooder]

I've often seen George Lopez described as a comedian.....has he ever actually made anyone laugh? Even a little bit, by accident?

[straffinrun]

He made a hooker laugh once.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm laughing at him now.

[commodious is retromingent]

You? Doubt it.

[Crusty Juggler]

Look at this guy, signaling his whiteness.

[Chipwooder]

Look, just because I wear New Balance......

[Crusty Juggler]

I BURNED MY NEW BALANCE IN PROTEST

[Brett L]

He was funny in the 80s. I think. Maybe he was just the same and the 80s were weird.

[DenverJ]

I'm laughing at him.

[Citizen X]

Real Talk, though. If George Lopez leaves, who is Carlos Mencia gonna steal material from?

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF CARLOS MENCIA

[UnCivilServant]

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF CARLOS MENCIA

I'd rather not.

[Chipwooder]

I hadn't thought of Carlos Mencia in years.....until today. Thanks, dick.

[Citizen X]

DUH DUH duuuh!

We're on this journey together, now.

[Rufus The Monocled]

It always astounds me whenever they make such declarations why anyone should or would care? Are they that delusional and egotistical? Never mind.

Take off hoser, eh?

[Suthenboy]

He's not telling anyone where he is going because he is just going back home, pulling the curtains and sulking.

[Cdr Lytton]

Here you go, George

[Lord Humungus]

Defcon nuclear threat REDUCED to safest level following Donald Trump victory

The Defcon Warning System, a private organisation which monitors world events and estimates the nuclear threat against America, is now at Level 5 - its lowest possible state.

Just weeks ago the warning was accelerated to Level 3 following increased tensions between US and Russia, with insiders fearing the West was creeping closer to nuclear war.

Level 3 means US troops could be mobilised in as little as 15 minutes.

But the group, made up of experts claiming to have contacts within the US security industry, have seen Donald Trump's election win as a pacifier for Russian relations.

The group wrote on its website: "The United States took a tentative step toward a more isolationist policy with its recent presidential election.

[PurityDiluting]

We're still at Derpcon Level 2

[John DeWitt]

I fear we'll only see two Derpcon levels from here until the end of the Republic (if it hasn't ended already), and that's the lowest one.

[Crusty Juggler]

That's just because the white nationalist militia groups - the greatest threats to America - have been calmed by the election of their leader.

[Volren]

Wait I thought that was climate change?

[Jimbo]

Exactly!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Have people not understood it was Hillary/Obama who were provoking Russia?

[John DeWitt]

I think they do, hence the drop to Level 5.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I guess not electing the candidate who promised to shoot down Russian jets is good for avoiding nuclear war?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Google is vowing to crack down on fake news.

I think it's called Faux News.

[Get To Da Chippah]

The Onion hardest hit.

[Lord Humungus]

Bigfoot sightings shake up quiet community

Baldemar Galvan is one of the people trying to prove the sightings are real. 3News met up with him as he was calling for Bigfoot to show itself in Normanna, just north of Beeville.

"Sometimes they're close by," Galvan said. "You can hear them knocking or shaking the tree or something, but they'll let you know they're close by."

Galvan runs the Bee County Bigfoot Research Group. He said the area along Medio Creek is a favorite hangout for the creature.

"When I saw it, it looked like a person," Galvan said. "A man with two legs."

Galvan and other Bigfoot believers gathered at the historic McClanahan House in Beeville to speak with 3News in hopes that others would step forward with their own stories of the beast.

Richard Rabe, a local real estate agent, showed 3News a picture he took of what he feels was a structure built by one of the creatures.

"Your blood runs cold," Rabe said.

[Citizen X]

"When I saw it, it looked like a person," Galvan said. "A man with two legs."

STEVE SMITH LOOK MORE LIKE HAVE THREE LEGS, IF KNOW WHAT STEVE SMITH MEAN.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

ONE LEG LONGER THAN OTHER TWO.

[Lord Humungus]

THAT'S THE JOKE

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

THAT NOT JOKE, THAT AM TRUTH. COME TO FOREST AND STEVE WILL SHOW YOU.

[Citizen X]

AND BY "SHOW," STEVE SMITH MEAN "RAPE."

[Tom Bombadil]

"When I saw it, it looked like a person," Galvan said. "A man with two legs."

And it had a backpack and was smoking a pipe, and it was holding something up to its ear and speaking.

[UnCivilServant]

Oh, so it was just a hipster sighting.

[straffinrun]

Off to the Boston Marathon.

[commodious is retromingent]

Hopefully it walks away with both legs afterward.

[Atanarjuat]

Too soon!

[Dixon Sider Woodchipper]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X_Ot0k4XJc

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Shouldn't Google be looking into this?

[The Late P Brooks]

"From the Iran nuclear deal to the Paris climate change agreement to Obamacare, President Obama and his team plan to spend the next two months aggressively defending and implementing these policies, despite President-Elect Donald Trump's campaign promises to end them once he takes office."

"My legacy! ! My precious, beautiful legacy!!!!"

[But Enough About Me]

Burn, baby, burn. I'd like to see that Waggle-eared idiot's "legacy" in the dustbin of history.

[Tonio]

While it is within the purview of a sitting President to implement policy up until his last moment in office, it's also blatant obstructionism to implement policy which you reasonably believe your successor will undo. Having said that, it's easier to tear down than to build up.

[BakedPenguin]

...it's easier to tear down than to build up.

Uh, Tonio, this is government we're talking about.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

It's only obstructionist when team Red does it, it's the actions of the noble and loyal opposition when Team Blue does it, duh.

[SFC B]

It would have made it a lot harder for Trump to undo those if he'd had the senate ratify them as treaties...

Just sayin'...

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

You got something against a pen and a phone?

[Lord Humungus]

Google, Facebook move to restrict ads on fake news sites

Google said it is working on a policy change to prevent websites that misrepresent content from using its AdSense advertising network, while Facebook updated its advertising policies to spell out that its ban on deceptive and misleading content applies to fake news.

The shifts comes as Google, Facebook and Twitter Inc face a backlash over the role they played in the U.S. presidential election by allowing the spread of false and often malicious information that might have swayed voters toward Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The issue has provoked a fierce debate within Facebook especially, with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg insisting twice in recent days that the site had no role in influencing the election.

Facebook's steps are limited to its ad policies, and do not target fake news sites shared by users on their news feeds.

"We do not integrate or display ads in apps or sites containing content that is illegal, misleading or deceptive, which includes fake news," Facebook said in a statement, adding that it will continue to vet publishers to ensure compliance.

[Chipwooder]

So no more MSNBC ads, huh?

[The Last American Hero]

Or Vox, or Huffpo, or DU.

Does this mean I don't get to see links from friends that show me how once again Samantha Bee has literally destroyed the Republican Party (which she apparently has to do every night) ?

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Republicans regenerate 1d4 hit points every round, it is known.

[robc]

How are they distinguishing fake news from parody?

Or is The Onion cut off?

[Tonio]

^This.

[Bubba Jones]

I think they mean no "news headlines" in ads. There is a whole genre of this, especially targeting news aggregators. The ad gets embedded within the "real" stories. Much like the clickbait on Reason.

[SugarFree]

Something MUST be to blame. That Hillary was a terrible candidate CANNOT be the answer.

[Zero Sum Game]

The problem with Google's "solution" to this (and Facebook is hard at work doing the same, by the way) is that it is undoubtedly a secret system of control over.

How do you call up Google when your site is flagged by their system and complain about the false positive? How will you even know that it has happened to you? These companies will probably deny it when contacted.

We don't need a search engine off playing Snopes or Politifact for us. We are purportedly an intelligent species capable of determining these things for ourself. Fuck these people for trying to manipulate us into their view of the world.

[Zero Sum Game]

I realized something. Is Wikileaks going to be smothered in the crib by this shit? Google and Facebook may well claim that the substance posted there is unverified, thus "fake."

[Chipwooder]

All children, animals, and wise people love Hillary Clinton!

I fundamentally don't get these people. I mean, I really like Rand Paul. For a politician at the national level, he's likely to be as good as I'm going to get. I was disappointed that his presidential bid went nowhere, but I didn't lay around bawling my eyes out when he threw in the towel. I wouldn't go running through the streets, screaming my head off and throwing rocks at cars if he made it to the general election and lost. I don't worship at the altar of Rand Paul. What the fuck is wrong with these people?

[Zero Sum Game]

I've seen several videos of children crying over this. Children should not give a fuck about who the President is. They have no experience or any of the wisdom that comes with age. All of them have been little girls, which means the adults in their life have been indoctrinating them into identity politics super early on. They'll claim when they're older that they aren't motivated by that, but it's hard to unlearn the shit you learned as a little kid.

[Lee Genes]

I really don't like the parents and educators who participate in that nonsense. They're dragging their kids into their own problems. The kids don't care.

By the same token, I get irritated by people who use their kids as political props.

[Zero Sum Game]

I can't see how it isn't any different than neonazis teaching kids to hate blacks, jews, etc. Teaching your children to look at gender and race of the President to set them up later on to believe in "privilege" and "the patriarchy" is instilling a basis of hatred. Little kids aren't sophisticated enough to understand any of the politics, so the adults in their lives get to work hacking the primordial disgust response.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Little kids aren't sophisticated enough to understand any of the politics, so the adults in their lives get to work hacking the primordial disgust response.

The adults in their lives aren't sophisticated enough, either.

[SFC B]

This is the part that is boggling my mind. If your kid is distraught in this outcome to the point of inconsolable crying (whether the child is 6 or 26) you as the parent bear a huge burden for that.

[SugarFree]

Well, 1) they aren't that bright and B) they are driven primarily by emotion. So not only do they believe that Trump is the devil, they were personally invested in Hillary's win because their loyalty wasn't based on her qualities and capabilities, but their identification with her as a symbol.

It was a cult of personality, much like Obama. But it was a very hard cult to for someone outside to understand because if you did not identify with her, she was devoid of charisma. All she really offered was a purely symbolic victory and a faint promise of destruction for "the other" that opposed her.

And the real problem was that her opposition operated on almost the exact same dynamic. Trump engaged people emotionally, but not rationally. That's why he could say pretty much anything he wanted, even complete contradictions, and the core fan base didn't care.

When there is enough distance, and enough insider information comes out, there will be some fascinating books written about this cult fight / shitshow.

[Lord Humungus]

Well said, SF

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

there will be some fascinating books written about this cult fight / shitshow.

I look forward to the Warty Hugeman graphic novel.

[Citizen X]

Fun fact: every previous attempt to publish a Warty Hugeman comic has resulted in papal sanctions, autos-da-fe, fatwas, excommunications, general unrest, and, in one memorable case, Hitler.

[Idle Hands]

I agree, I just don't know if you would see this level of histrionics if Hillary won. There would be pissed off people sure and they may have been marches but videos of kids and people crying is so over the top.

[SugarFree]

Because histrionics isn't the primary reaction of the Trump faction, anger and cynism is. If Hillary won they would be pissed, calling the election rigged, and so forth.

[Brett L]

Best fake news yet: Hillary got physically violent with John Podesta on Election Night.

[Holger da Dane]

1) .. B)

Triggered! I need my safe space.

Someone please lay out the coloring books sorted alphabetically by subject theme.

*Literally shaking*

[Zeb]

Great. Now Google and Facebook want to be the arbiters of the truth?

Seems to me that there was so much bullshit coming from both sides that it's a wash. If anything, the deceptinve and false info probably helped Clinton more by convincing a good number of people that Trump is literally Hitler and must be defeated even if it means voting for the evil ice queen.

[John DeWitt]

I think Google is just referring to the "Hikers Found This Horse Alone In The Woods. Then They Looked At His Face and Realized..." type of news that is being restricted. I think the author of the article just got confused between Google's long term strategy of improving user experience with a knee jerk reaction to the election. Google talked about this months ago.

[Lord Humungus]

Realized what? WHAT?

[Zero Sum Game]

...realized these ten tips that big pharma doesn't want you to know about cancer.

[UnCivilServant]

We are talking about the same company that runs YouTube - now growing famous for it's abetment of censorious ideologues.

[BakedPenguin]

"How to get girls with this one WEIRD TRICK!!"

[commodious is retromingent]

Dragging Central Park joggers into a wooded area?

[Citizen X]

It's pretty easy to get girls: just don't act like, think like, appear similar to, approve of, or be Johnny Longtorso.

[Lord Humungus]

Man collects over 1,200 pieces of prehistoric poop, sets Guinness World Record

George Frandsen began his collection as a college student of palaeontology

The 36-year-old history buff has collected poop from 15 states in the US and eight countries worldwide.

His largest true-to-form coprolite, otherwise known as fossilised faeces, weighs a whopping 1.92 kg.

It was found in South Carolina and dates from the Miocene epoch, 23.8-5.3 million years ago. It was produced by a huge crocodilian species around six metres long.

The coprolites are as hard as a rock and they have no smell.

As required by Guinness World Records, each piece in the collection was inspected by a professional palaeontologist to verify its authenticity.

[Tom Bombadil]

STEVE SMITH SPEECHLESS.

[Cdr Lytton]

BECAUSE STEVE SMITH TOO BUSY RAPING HIKERS PREHISTORIC STYLE

[Rich]

1,200 pieces of prehistoric poop

Nice band name; but maybe too close to 10,000 Maniacs.

[Tom Bombadil]

10,000 laxatives?

[Citizen X]

It's a 30 Odd Foot of Grunts cover band.

[Zero Sum Game]

Bono not impressed. Plans are underway to ensure that when he dies he will be fossilized.

[Holger da Dane]

He wants to become the world's largest coprolite?

[DenverJ]

*In Robin Williams voice
"Good morning, Hit and Run!"

[Lord Humungus]

Robin Williams - his humor was as subtle as the rest of his acting skills.

[Zeb]

I do like his standup from when he did lots of drugs.

[robc]

muffled by his coffin?

[straffinrun]

Yikes! Gallows humor.

[UnCivilServant]

"No noose is good noose?"

/Mel Brooks reference.

[Citizen X]

"They said you was hung."

"And they was right!"

[Rich]

Emanuel Tells Undocumented Immigrants Chicago 'Always Will Be A Sanctuary City'

"A small people, a silly people: greedy, barbarous, and cruel."

[The Last American Hero]

And probably more dangerous than the murderous, lawless land they came from.

[Juvenile Bluster]

By some measures they'd be safer in a war zone.

[I can't even]

Human shields?

[Yusef Adama]

+1 T.E.L.

[The Late P Brooks]

The Confederate Flag: a little dishrag capable of striking terror in the hearts of the mentally infirm across the land.

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck: "We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody's immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job."

"You're fired."

[Tonio]

Meh. That line of thinking leads to local LE enforcing other federal laws - like federal MJ laws in states which had legalized it.

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

Just making an election-appropriate joke, Tonio. I do wonder if he's correct, though. Is there some sort of "obstruction of justice" type charge the feds could slap on him if they were inclined to?

[Tonio]

Yes, but only if he actively interfered with federal law enforcement efforts. I believe that those local LEOs who do enforce federal laws have to get special permission and training from the feds to do so (based on Reason reporting on I think Arpaio). There is no mandate for locals to enforce fed laws. Often what happens is that the locals will make a bust, figure out there's some sweet fed charges to be brought, then call in the feds.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Maybe, in the near future, when local agencies try to enforce federal law, the DOJ won't bring suit against them?

/Arizona

[Chipwooder]

Agreed on that. I see no need for local cops to start policing federal law.

[BakedPenguin]

I wonder if his dept. was helping lightworker Obama on his record setting deportation total.

[The Late P Brooks]

Google is vowing to crack down on fake news.

Tesla hardest hit.

[Rufus The Monocled]

They would never ever touch The Temple of Tesla.

[Rockabilly]

Alison, my Hillary supporting neighbor told me she had to cancel her Hillary victory party.

I said you could have had a sore loser party and served humble pie and sour grapes.

But in all seriousness, it's a shame Rodney Dangerfield is no longer with us. I can image Al Czervik playing a Trump like character in Caddyshack 2 The White House.

[SugarFree]

There already was a Caddyshack II.

It was terrible.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Some of us are happy denying Caddyshack II was ever made.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Caddyshack is one of those movies, like Highlander, that should've received a sequel but never did.

[SugarFree]

Ghostbusters as well, no sequel and no reboot.

[Lord Humungus]

Post-Trump Dispatches from Planet New York Times

After a flurry of post-election stories bemoaning the various potential downsides of President Trump ? some legitimate, some not ? the storied Gray Lady decided to run with this doozy: "A Newly Vibrant Washington Fears That Trump Will Drain Its Culture."

One could write a doctoral thesis regarding the multiple-layered ironies within this headline, or merely stare at it and marvel for days. As a bonus, it ran just one day after an equally spectacular headline: "Is Fashion's Love Affair with Washington Over?" This piece, showing extra chutzpah, earnestly praised Hillary Clinton's purple and black concession-speech pantsuit, which resembled the getup of a fancy comic-book villain, as "the end of what might have been an extraordinary relationship" between style and our nation's capital. Okay.

This tone-deaf bonanza should come as no surprise, of course. In the election's wake, even Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the Times, noted that the paper was profoundly out of touch. "We've got to do a much better job of being on the road, out in the country, talking to different kinds of people than we talk to," he said, "and remind ourselves that New York is not the real world."

[Rockabilly]

"and remind ourselves that New York is not the real world."

And yet The Donald is NYC.

[Mr Drew]

Is there any chance the world will stop obsessing about Donald for a few minutes?

Don't get me wrong, the proggy tears are awesome but I'm starting to get tired of "Trump blows his nose!" stories.

[Rich]

Nope. It's Trump for *four fucking years*.

[Agile Cyborg]

Rebuilding a crushed culture requires a motherfuckton of recycled angst.

[Rich]

Good Morning, A C!

[Not a Libertarian]

hmmmm /up way early...or not having slept?/

[Shirley Knott]

No. Not for months and months yet. It's remotely possible that 18 months will see a reduction but that's when things will start heating up for the mid-term elections and, well, we're right back in the middle of the shit-stream.

[Lord Humungus]

And just wait for the cauterwalin' in about 3.5 years when the new Democrat super hero is going to come in and save the day.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

new Democrat super hero

Zombie-Bernie?

Lie-awatha?

[Brett L]

Keith Ellison or Cory Booker if the demographic trends continue into the 2018 mid-terms.

[PurityDiluting]

Nope. The media is addicted. Just stop clicking

[VG Zaytsev]

Tired of winning already?

Trump.was right again.

[Echo Chamber]

*applause while laughing*

[Crusty Juggler]

Westchester County Gets a New Gun Store. Many People Aren't Happy.

Behold, the true Clinton voter:

"I think you should consider how these children are feeling when they have to hide in a closet during a lockdown drill," Nicole Marciano, a special-education teacher with a child in the school district, told a panel of local officials. "A gun store here is absolutely absurd."

Michele Geller, a small-business owner and mother of two, urged local officials to put a referendum on the store before the town's 27,000 residents. "I don't see this as a Second Amendment issue," she said. "I see this as a community lifestyle issue."

[Crusty Juggler]

Such assurances were not enough for area residents like Maurio Sax, a retired schoolteacher who lives in neighboring Rye but frequently shops in Harrison. "It doesn't belong here, or even in Westchester," he said, "because of all the violence that has been going on in the country."

Mayor Ron Belmont of Harrison said the town was in a tough position, explaining that the safety and welfare of residents was his No. 1 concern. "But there's nothing to prevent him from opening a store," he said, referring to Mr. Zacchio.

The town does have a prohibition against puppy mills, Mr. Belmont noted. "But," he said dryly, "there's no constitutional right to own a puppy."

[robc]

And just because there are no mills, doesnt mean breeders cant exist.

I am sure the gun store owner had to go thru legions of paperwork to open.

[LynchPin1477]

here's no constitutional right to own a puppy

Oh for fucks sake

[Bubba Jones]

If it doesn't belong there, no one will buy guns and it will go out of business.

[Injun, as in from India]

"there's no constitutional right to own a puppy."

Yes there is. It's an unenumerated right.

[Tonio]

^This. It's one of those things like the right to breathe air, drink water and eat food that was considered so obviously inalienable as to not merit writing it down.

[robc]

And why the 9th amendment exists to make sure we realize it is still covered.

[John DeWitt]

It goes up to 9?!?!

[DenverJ]

The only thing deader than the 10th amendment is the 9th.

[spqr2008]

The most ridiculous thing is that my very progressive friend's mom, also a progressive, totally agreed that the country would be much better off if the 9th and 10th amendments were restored to a state of reverence in this country, so that people could easily vote with their feet and go live where they are represented accurately. I was kind of surprised, but she's always been a kind of hippie personality, so maybe it's more about "I'll do me, you do you, but I still want the government to pay for all this shit."

[robc]

I am sure she would have loved to see her business put on hold for a few years while the town had a referendum on it.

[The Last American Hero]

I never figured Buffy for a Pro-2A kind of gal. She seems to prefer melee weapons.

[Zeb]

What do these people think happens at gun shops that is going to affect their lifestyle? They are pretty easy to ignore if you aren't interested.

[UnCivilServant]

Don't you know, that must concentrated animistic evil in one place radiates bad vibes that sour everything in a ten mile radius.

[Crusty Juggler]

It's 450-square-feet of pure evil.

[SugarFree]

Nicole Marciano, a special-education teacher with a child

I'm not really comfortable with her having a kid, but I really don't think they should be letting them teach.

[BakedPenguin]

How else are they going to maintain their political advantage in NY?

[bacon-magic]

Dayum.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

"I now present Potentates SIrrah and Sarrah MIchelle Geller, primarchs of pondering the potential parents of perpetuity."

[Idle Hands]

The United States is, in many ways, gun country. Firearms are such a pervasive part of American life that there are more gun outlets than supermarkets and post offices. And using that most American of barometers, there are three times as many gun retailers as McDonald's restaurants.

What does this even mean?

[Brett L]

Lots of dudes have gun dealer licenses so they can improve their collection without jumping through hoops every 1-3 months when they want to buy or sell a new gun.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Billions and Billions served?

[(((Renegade)))]

Russia has launched a new offensive in Syria.

So, Hillary got a job as SecState in Russia? Good for her!

[(((Renegade)))]

The original outrage story was all over my FB feed, reposted and commented about by every idiot progressive I tolerate. Narrative collapse is soo sweet, though.

How to yell "niiger!" in a crowded ghetto

[Crusty Juggler]

To protest the outcome of a civil suit? I laughed that one.

[Suthenboy]

"They plan on issuing a citation to Parker, not for the content of his sign but because the sign is slightly too big and violates city ordinance."

So the imbeciles are going to prove him right by violating his 1A rights?

Genius.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Today in zero tolerance idiocy....

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. - A South Florida couple is outraged after they said their daughter was suspended from her middle school for using a child butter knife at lunchtime to cut a peach.

"There's no one there trying to educate and to be reasonable to say, 'Let's work this out,'" the girl's father, Ronald Souto, said.

Souto's daughter is an honor roll student at Silver Trail Middle School in Pembroke Pines.

"She's always trying to help someone. She's always trying to share things," Souto said about his daughter.

Ronald and Andrea Souto told Local 10 News reporter Michael Seiden that their 11-year-old daughter was suspended for six days for bringing the knife to school.

"This is a set of a spoon, fork and knife for toddlers -- one year old," Andrea Souto said. "It is made for children to learn how to eat properly. She's used it since she was baby."

According to the school district, the girl violated the county's weapon policy when she used her butter knife in the cafeteria to cut the peach.

[Crusty Juggler]

It's so absurd. I'm guessing the principal that defends the decision is making close to six figures, if not more than that.

USA! USA! USA!

[(((Renegade)))]

WELL over six figures. Middle school principals fall into category D. 244 day calendar.

They're cleaning up.

[SugarFree]

Look, the little terrorist bitch was caught and punished. That's all that matters.

[(((Renegade)))]

The principal is angling for a sweet sweet DHS job.

[SugarFree]

He's an idiot so he might be too smart to job a job there.

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes, I low-balling that figure like it was Winston's mom. If their publicly accessible salaries were mentioned every time a story like this came out I would think the outcry against the schools would be greater.

[Zeb]

I wonder, does the scholls weapon policy define what constitutes a weapon? Or are they just making it up?

That knife is a much less effective weapon than the fork that goes with it or a sharpened pencil (do kids still write?).

And do they not provide any kind of knife in the school cafeteria? Or does everything come in bite sized pieces?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Or does everything come in bite sized pieces?

Gruel is normally liquefied.

[0x90]

Is Wayne Brady gonna have to cut a peach?

[Gleep Glop]

In all seriousness, does anyone think these stories influenced people at the polls? I know education is normally a local issue, but these stories seem to not have a geographic constraint.

[Rich]

Tech Distractions Blamed for Rise in Traffic Fatalities

"This is a crisis that needs to be addressed now," Mark R. Rosekind, the head of the [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], said

MANDATE DRIVERLESS CARS!!

[Juvenile Bluster]

More like mandate "texting while driving" laws and give police the right to search cell phones when they pull people over, which I'm sure will cause absolutely no issues.

[Rich]

Good luck with that. I swear a third of the drivers I see are on their phones.

[DrZaius]

Last Friday I saw not one, but two cars at a light fail to notice that it had turned green and sat through the whole cycle. The other mind boggling part of this was there were five more cars stacked up behind them and only one had the sense to meekly honk at some point. A total of zero cars made it through the light. Not only that these cars were all stacked up in the left lane of the two northbound lanes while the right lane was empty.

That should of been seven revoked drivers licenses right there.

[Zeb]

I always honk my horn at those people. Also people who stop unnecessarily when entering a rotary.

[Zeb]

And people who fail to move into the right lane when there is a passing lane on a hill.

The horn is there to communicate. Use it.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

The horn and the finger; I only do it because I'm concerned for your safety.

[SQWRLZ: Deplorable Woodchipper]

My truck is manual, so I like to fuck with people at lights by putting it in N with the brake off. No break lights as a cue for them. I look in the mirror at the next light and laaaugh...

Also, the lampreys that get on your quarter panel in the passing lane to guide them by peripheral vision while they text. I again put it in N and just coast to a crawl. They get so mad!

[Crusty Juggler]

The Times have a story today about how tech is being blamed for the rise in traffic deaths. Duh and/or hello.

I was rear-ended last year by a pretty young lady who was texting while going fifty in the pouring rain on a rural road. The front end of her car folded up like an accordion, and she was lucky she was not hurt.

[Citizen X]

Crusty Juggler pulled her from the wreckage, performed CPR, and by the time the paramedics arrive they were gettin' mad rutty.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

?Rudy Giuliani: "I won't be attorney general." But Giuliani is reportedly the top contender to be Donald Trump's secretary of state.

I still expect that position to go to Chris Christie. However, given Trump's track record of making Christie his bitch, I'm wondering whether he'll make Christie just a regular secretary.

[(((Renegade)))]

Christie will now be known as Mr. Slave. "Jesus christ!"

[Injun, as in from India]

Christie is Trump's biotch. See this cartoon.

[gimmeasammich]

"Put this banana is your butt, Slave!"

[straffinrun]

Reminds me a fantastic line from last night's Walking Dead:

"In case you missed it, I just slide my cock down your throat and you said 'Thank You'".

[(((Renegade)))]

When I slide my cock down my wife's throat, all she can say is, "Mgggrrrggghhhh."

[straffinrun]

You disenvoweled her.

[(((Renegade)))]

Swiss Servator needed on Aisle 6!

[Griffin3]

No, no, that worked on several levels. I almost laughsnorted my breakfast pie.

[Chipwooder]

*slow clap*

I'm even more impressed that you're married, yet you still slide the cock down her throat. You found a gem!

[(((Renegade)))]

You have no idea. She's also a libertarian, a remarkably skilled user of handguns and rifles, AND spent an evening with SugarFree. And lived to tell the tale.

[SugarFree]

Lived to tell the tale...psh. We got on like a house a fire. She wanted to adopt me.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Everything's negotiable, Chip. As the argument was presented to me, "If I wanted to suffocate you with my genitals as often as you wanted that for me, we'd have no issue."

Women, amirite?

[Ken Shultz]

Chris Christie is due to appear in court on November 23rd.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/19/.....ridgegate/

And God only knows what else would come wiggling out of the woodwork if Christie's influence were no longer feared in New Jersey.

I bet Trump thinks Chris Christie should use the Thanksgiving holiday--and the rest of his life--to spend more time with his family.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I dunno. Trump clearly enjoys making Christie his bitch, but I think Trump owes him something. Christie's endorsement actually played a major role in the perception of Trump during the primaries, in my mind. As the field was starting to narrow, Rubio and Cruz were starting to sink to Trump's level, tossing around juvenile insults, comments about the size of Trump's hands, etc.

How does Trump respond? Not by hurling insults back, but by rolling out a major endorsement by a respected (apparently) establishment Republican, one whom many had expected to win the election himself. It was brilliant. It was at that moment that I realized Trump was serious and might actually win.

[Ken Shultz]

No doubt, Trump would be repaying Christie's loyalty with a crap sandwich, but that's life in politics!

If it isn't in Trump's or the country's best interests to make Christie anything more than the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, then that's what Trump should do.

[Ken Shultz]

If Giuliani is Secretary of Stare rather than Bolton, that's good.

If Sessions is Attorney General rather than Giuliani, that's bad.

"Sessions is against legalizing cannabis for either recreation or medicine. "I'm a big fan of the DEA", he said during a hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee.[45] Sessions was "heartbroken" and found "it beyond comprehension" when President Obama claimed that cannabis is not as dangerous as alcohol.[46]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Jeff_Sessions#Social_issues

There are things to like about Sessions; unfortunately, none of themseem to have anything to do with being Attorney General.

Why think that Sessions might be the pick for AG?

I'm using my own brain. There's only one person qualified to be Attorney General that is also close enough to Trump that he could elbow Giuliani out of the way. . . . and that person is Jeff Sessions.

[Ken Shultz]

P.S. If Trump is President rather than Hillary, it may be the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine.

Leonard Bernstein!

[Not a Libertarian]

Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly beans, boom!

[Not a Libertarian]

Also, Skeeter Davis or GTFO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbZ9ILRYQ2o

[LynchPin1477]

Dammit Ken

[Ken Shultz]

It helps if you keep reminding yourself that we could be looking at President Hillary.

We could be looking at President Hillary.

[LynchPin1477]

It's a different type of dammit.

The was I was going to not be disappointed in the election was if Johnson got more than 5%. So sucks to be me. Except not really because while I'm interested in politics I don't let it define me, and life is actually pretty awesome by most metrics. It's important to keep this in mind.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

while I'm interested in politics I don't let it define me, and life is actually pretty awesome by most metrics. It's important to keep this in mind.

More people should take this to heart.

[PurityDiluting]

Having the new AG refuse to continue Obama's 10A blind eye towards pot legalization would be a disconcerting turn of events.

[Ken Shultz]

Obama wasn't always that way himself. He used to raid medical marijuana dispensaries with abandon.

Nevada and Colorado are swing states, and maybe that will help.

If it were just California, Washington, Oregon, and Massachusetts that had legalized recreational marijuana, there might not be much of a downside to raiding recreational establishments.

I think it's a big issue with swing voters in numerous states--even where recreational isn't legal, swing voters may frown on that.

Also, they can only raid retail establishments. In Nevada and California, you can grow your own. If they managed to take away the retail, they're still not going to have state and local police harassing average citizens anymore.

It's just that Sessions isn't my pick for AG.

[Ken Shultz]

Just for the record . . .

"During Obama's first term as president, his administration oversaw 270 dispensary raids on medical marijuana dispensaries."

https://www.greenrushdaily.com/2016/02/24/ dispensary-raids-rise-obama-regime/

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the when Obama stopped the DEA from conducting raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, so long as they were complying with state law, I thought it was by executive order.

Whether the federal government has the right to ignore state referendums would be doubtful, but if the feds' justification is interstate commerce, then we may have a problem for all the retarded precedent there is on that.

Both California's and Nevada's laws specifically state that carrying it across state lines still isn't protected by the law--so maybe that's enough of a concession. Considering Filburn, however, I doubt it.

[PurityDiluting]

I don't live in one of those states, so my memory is fuzzy and might be flawed, but I thought that Obama raided the medical dispensaries that were making it a little too easy for non-medical folks to get weed. I don't recall him raiding 100% of the dispensaries in a region.

[PurityDiluting]

(didn't see your 9:50AM post until after I submitted mine. I don't have Fist's combination of a fast internet connection coupled with lightening quick hands on the keyboard)

[Ken Shultz]

That's everywhere in California.

Theoretically, I suppose it's possible to get denied in California, but if you saw a list of symptoms, it's amazing if somebody doesn't legitimately have one of them sometimes.

Have you ever had diarrhea, nausea, pain, or nightmares?

They're all on the list.

https://www.marijuanadoctors.com/ content/ailments/index

[0x90]

"The Frogurt is also cursed."

[Lord Humungus]

Instead Of Gloating, Have Empathy For The Liberals Mourning Trump's Win

You know what happened? Many liberal friends agreed with me, understanding that people voted for Trump for many reasons other than misogyny and racism, despite my friends' inability to accept that his misogyny and racism itself didn't disqualify him. You know what else happened? I got called out on the irony of my anger at Republicans being treated as a monolithic group, while addressing my writings to all liberals as a monolith.

They are not a monolith. Not everyone upset at this election is a spoiled elitist millennial. Not everyone having a cry-in session or giving out free hugs is weak. Not everyone furious at this election is a hypocrite who does not understand how democracy works. In fact, most are not.

It's just as not everyone against gay marriage is a bigot. Not everyone without a college degree is an uneducated hick. Not everyone against abortion hates women. In fact, most are not.

We always scoff at liberals for not expanding their bubbles. We say they control mainstream media, education, and live in ivory towers. We laugh at the story of the New York woman in shock over Reagan's landslide election, who said she knew not one person who had voted for him. But we can be just as guilty.

[Juvenile Bluster]

We always hear the loudest voices. And the spoiled elitist millennials are the loudest right now. And they're going to be responded to because of it.

[Citizen X]

Not everyone having a cry-in session or giving out free hugs is weak.

[citation needed] on that one.

[Lord Humungus]

*hugs Citizen X*

in a brotherly sort of way (the perverts have really brought the tone of this place down)

[straffinrun]

*Get in line outside the bathroom stall*

[Lord Humungus]

"not you again!"

[straffinrun]

Here for the toilet this time. Really knocked something loose last time.

[(((Renegade)))]

(the perverts have really brought the tone of this place down)

Why, whoever could you possibly mean?

[Tonio]

Nope. Gloating.

[Injun, as in from India]

I'm trying to remember if the Left was not gloating after it sent Christian bakers to prison.

[Tonio]

I believe they were fined, Injun. Don't go all Eddie on us.

[robc]

And if they refused to pay the fine?

[paranoid android]

Then it probably gets garnished when they file their taxes. But even if it were something worse, unless you can cite an instance of someone actually refusing such a fine and being incarcerated for it, it's still untrue for Injun to claim "the Left...sent Christian bakers to prison".

[Injun, as in from India]

You guys are right. I thought there was someone who went to jail other. Not Kim Davis - no, I don't sympathize with her. I thought there was a private sector person. I guess I'm wrong.

[Rufus The Monocled]

True...but...IT'S SO MUCH FUN watching the fake liberals react like this in their name.

Maybe if true liberal thinkers (I don't even know who the are anymore because it's all progressive bull shot now) came out and rebutted or rebuked this crap the lunatics wouldn't be running the asylum.

It's like Gotham.

[The Fusionist]

To the extent the progs I know are nice people, it's because they're able to avoid the SJW butthurt stuff.

If they indulge in it, I just let them grieve, while posting here to express my actual views.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm surrounded by lefty neighbors - but outside of politics they are actually nice people. I just don't talk about the election, or steer the conversation somewhere else if it comes up.

[Echo Chamber]

I'm with Fusionist and LH. I only post about the election here.
I have some friends who are overcome with grief about the election results, so I'm giving them space as I'd like to keep them as friends. Maybe I should be feeling as horrible as they are, but I'm used to elections not going my way.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Bet the barbecue is weak, though.

[PurityDiluting]

Squeaky wheels get the attention.
Although I voted for Gary and don't want Trump to be president, the media and the Dems have earned this righteous indignation hate train.

[Free Society]

They are not a monolith. Not everyone upset at this election is a spoiled elitist millennial.

Some are spoiled elitist baby boomers, whose irreversible Marxist programming was instilled in them was well over 30 years ago.

[Zeb]

I do some of both. I do have some sympathy for these people who have themselves convinced that Trump is the end of the world. At least the ones I like. Come on, people, you aren't meant to take the campaign idiocy so seriously.

Of course, any attempt to express this is seen as condescension.

[Not a Libertarian]

Acknowledging that US political parties are not like British parties; there is no one real "head" of a party in a movement sense other than the President. And our federal system is obviously not the same as the unitary system of the UK.

Who is the American "Jeremy Corbyn" that could take the Democrats into the Promised Land (of electoral irrelevance)?

[UnCivilServant]

I bet it's still Obama - he's too self-important to fade away with dignity. (not to mention lacking in dignity to begin with)

[LynchPin1477]

I could see him becoming a Bill Clinton-like figure, i.e. someone who is still out there speaking, but more as a celebrity than an agenda setter.

[Not a Libertarian]

LINKS DONT JUST GOLF THEMSELVES

[LynchPin1477]

It would be pretty funny if Trump gave Obama a lifetime pass to all of his golf courses.

[spqr2008]

From Trump's perspective, it might make sense. Since Obama still gets Secret Service Protection for life, Obama's detail can pioneer all the necessary changes to those Trump properties, thus smoothing Trump's visits to said properties.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Barry is going to publically comment from the sidelines on everything Trump or Congress does. Whenever a Dem is back in office, he's going to go for a cushy prestigious job like SCOTUS or SecGen of the U.N.

He will not quietly retire and let his successor try to govern in peace, as GWB did.

[LynchPin1477]

Sanders or Warren. No one else comes to mind.

[Citizen X]

Psh. White people.

[Injun, as in from India]

Lincoln Chafee.

[Injun, as in from India]

Lincoln Chafee.

The Dems will be so electorally irrelevant you will need to switch to metric units to measure their irrelevance.

[Crusty Juggler]

His name is Kanye West.

Yeezy 2020!

[Injun, as in from India]

I wouldn't bet against our idiocracy electing Kanye in 2020.

[Not a Libertarian]

Get down girl go head get down
Get down girl go head get down

[Crusty Juggler]

Look to reality tv for the future.

Prediction: Yeezy vs Chisley in 2020, with someone from Duck Dynasty heading the LP ticket.

[Chipwooder]

Let's get nuts - McAfee 2020!!

[BakedPenguin]

Could be. I think we'll definitely see a swing from the 'pragmatist' to the 'doctrinal' sides of the LP in 2020.

[PurityDiluting]

Keith Ellison is raising his hand for the job

[Injun, as in from India]

Never put the words "hand" and "job" in one sentence.

[The Late P Brooks]

"I don't see this as a Second Amendment issue," she said. "I see this as a community lifestyle issue."

Of course. MY rights are nothing but a fashion accessory.

[Citizen X]

Believing that there can be such a thing as a "community lifestyle" means that one will always be either a tyrant or tyrannized. Have fun with that!

[Rich]

If you don't like guns, don't own one.

[Injun, as in from India]

I wonder if Westchester residents would say the same thing about a Planned Parenthood clinic in their midst.

[Ship of Theseus]

So... no good news?

[UnCivilServant]

Good news does not bring the pageviews.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

For normal articles, sure, but for AM/PM links they could do nothing but link to current happenings in the Kardashians and the commentariat would still show up for the comments section.

[EdWuncler]

I posted Greenwald's article about the Left cheerleading the Obama Administrations Executive overreaches and here was one my acquaintances responses:

The only chance democrats had to do reign in the powers of the Executive was right after his election in 2008 through the midterms in 2010. Even then, the Republicans blocked Obama from closing Guantanamo and the Federal prisons he was trying to move detainees. Checks and balances only work if the opposing party actually wants to do so. The powers were signed and sealed by the Republicans during Bush and they have refused to debate any of the war-related actions of the Executive throughout Obama's presidency. Are Democrats going to limit their own power if there is no guidance from the Congress? The only evidence cited in this piece is another editorial that makes the generalization that Obama just put a nice face on the practices of Bush/Cheney.

[EdWuncler]

Continued:

The truth is, it is the Congress and the Constitution that limits Executive authority. Some Supreme court decisions have aided the Executive to legally continue some of the Bush/Cheney practices, and some of the practices cannot be evaluated because of the secrecy used under the guise of national security. From what I can tell, Executive power has not been greatly curtailed under Obama. I will fully admit that. But Congress has refused to debate war authorizations at all or the limits of Executive authority, or to enable the actions the President would like to take himself to limit his authority. Some left leaning people probably did not see the same threat as they saw with Bush, who expanded his power to wage war that has undermined stability in the region to an unprecedented level. Restraining executive power at this point when democrats try to clean up the Bush mess was a lower priority. With the Trump election that does become more stark. But the democrats are not to blame, it is the Congress at large for refusing to limit Executive authority during the Bush and Obama administrations, and I would argue that Republicans are to blame for enabling Bush overreach and then blocking Obama's attempts to reign in authority and for not correcting hte overreach during his tenure (let alone voting for any of the military action that has occurred.

[(((Renegade)))]

Some left leaning people probably did not see the same threat as they saw with Bush, who expanded his power to wage war that has undermined stability in the region to an unprecedented level. Restraining executive power at this point when democrats try to clean up the Bush mess was a lower priority.

The sure sign of a Team Blue hack. "Obama couldn't help himself, he HAD to bomb seven different countries! Bush made him!"

[EdWuncler]

I told him this in a much more polite manner. The guy is a Team Blue partisan hack but when you call him that, he loses his shit.

The irony is that this guy posted a comment about how he's scared for our civil liberties since Trump will now be President. I asked him where has the fuck he's been for the last 8 years?

[(((Renegade)))]

I told him this in a much more polite manner.

The title of my upcoming book is "How to Lose Friends and Not Influence People."

[straffinrun]

Stomping out Sunni insurgencies is a police action, amirite?

[Rufus The Monocled]

They have it all thought out this 'inherited mess' angle.

[Chipwooder]

Greenwald is a leftist, but he's the rarest breed of leftist - an honest one.

[Suthenboy]

Wow.

[0x90]

Republicans are to blame for [...] blocking Obama's attempts to reign in authority

I never get tired of that mistake.

[LynchPin1477]

The only chance democrats had to do reign in the powers of the Executive was right after his election in 2008 through the midterms in 2010. Even then, the Republicans blocked Obama from closing Guantanamo and the Federal prisons he was trying to move detainees.

I cannot make any sense of this statement.

[Lord Humungus]

Noam Chomsky: 'The Republican Party Has Become the Most Dangerous Organization in World History'

On Nov. 8, the most powerful country in world history, which will set its stamp on what comes next, had an election. The outcome placed total control of the government?executive, Congress, the Supreme Court?in the hands of the Republican Party, which has become the most dangerous organization in world history.

Apart from the last phrase, all of this is uncontroversial. The last phrase may seem outlandish, even outrageous. But is it? The facts suggest otherwise. The party is dedicated to racing as rapidly as possible to destruction of organized human life. There is no historical precedent for such a stand.

Is this an exaggeration? Consider what we have just been witnessing.

During the Republican primaries, every candidate denied that what is happening is happening?with the exception of the sensible moderates, like Jeb Bush, who said it's all uncertain, but we don't have to do anything because we're producing more natural gas, thanks to fracking. Or John Kasich, who agreed that global warming is taking place, but added that "we are going to burn [coal] in Ohio and we are not going to apologize for it."

yep - Communists and the Nazis were just children in comparison...

[Lee Genes]

Fuck Chomsky with a Katyusha rocket.

[Injun, as in from India]

A Katyusha rocket with the Tsar Bomba as its payload.

[UnCivilServant]

Why does anyone listen to him? He keeps speaking and proving himself a fool.

[SugarFree]

The Krugman Effect. He did some good work years ago in a completely unrelated field so it makes him an expert in everything.

[Not a Libertarian]

And now, even his linguistic theorems have been called into question.

[Injun, as in from India]

The Krugman Effect.

I LOL'd at that - pithy and true.

[Chipwooder]

Which brings to mind Tom Wolfe's quote about intellectuals, which he wrote specifically about Chomsky:

"An intellectual feeds on indignation and really can't get by without it. The perfect example is Noam Chomsky. When Chomsky was merely the most exciting and most looked-to and in many ways, the most profound linguist in this country if not the world, he was never spoken of as an American intellectual. Here was a man of intellectual achievement. He was not considered an intellectual until he denounced the war in Vietnam, which he knew nothing about. Then he became one of America's leading intellectuals. He remains one until this day, which finally has led to my definition of an intellectual: An intellectual is a person who is knowledgeable in one field but speaks out only in others."

[Lee Genes]

That's brutal.

I like it.

[John]

And if Wolfe's new book is to be believed, along with the pretty substantial body of research it cites, Chomsky isn't even much of a linguist. His theories of language are falling into disrepute.

[Brett L]

It wasn't a terrible theory when it was formulated, so I wouldn't say he's a bad linguist. What he isn't is a scientist. He's been rewording his theory in light of damning new evidence against it for about thirty years. And this sort of stuff just confirms it. He likes being "smart", even if it doesn't really affect the world. Which has always bugged me. What's the point of "knowing" or "explaining" something that doesn't affect the actual world we live in?

[BakedPenguin]

If you don't get it, I'm can't explain it to you

[Heroic Mulatto]

Both John and Brett are overstating the case that generativist linguistics has been thoroughly refuted. Language acquisition is still an open question with robust research programs found within both the generativist and cognitivist camps. While I lean much more toward cognitive linguistics as a framework for language acquisition, it can't be denied that Lisa Pearl's work with statistical modeling provides strong evidence for Universal Grammar.

[LurkinInaBuildin]

Tom Wolfe's take-down of Chomsky in last month's Harper's (wow that sounds pretentious but fuck it) was one of the best articles I've read in years.

[Gleep Glop]

Got a link? I'd love to read that...

[BakedPenguin]

"An intellectual is a person who is knowledgeable in one field but speaks out only in others."

Very true regarding AGW, so it's not surprising Chomsky went right there.

[Free Society]

Noam Chomsky gets all this credit for being one of the smartest men in the world, yet he sees the appeal of Marxism and says shit like this. Doesn't this genius know that fracking represents a net decrease in the carbon emissions he's so afraid of?

[Lord Humungus]

I just see a disconnected word salad - if that's "intellectualism" then we need some better intellectuals.

[Brett L]

Well, Tom Wolfe pretty much kicked him in the nuts, and then proceeded to stomp Chomsky's intellectual guts out his asshole in Wolfe's latest book. And had more fun doing it than I've seen since the 70s.

[Free Society]

Well that's good to hear.

[Not a Libertarian]

The party is dedicated to racing as rapidly as possible to destruction of organized human life.

So it's single celled organisms from here on out?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Chomsky is a selective, uber-moron. Fucking idiot.

[Zeb]

It seems odd now reading shit that he says, but I do have to credit Chomsky to some extent for turning me in the libertarian/anarchist direction. Even though most of what he says is Marxist nonsense dressed up a bit, he did help plant the ideas that people in power are not good people for the most part and that conventional wisdom about politics and government are bullshit.

[Citizen X]

Chomsky claims to be an anarchist, or sometimes, a "libertarian" (for European values of libertarianism). Of course, his definition of anarchism is "[p]rimarily... a tendency that is suspicious and skeptical of domination, authority, and hierarchy."

I guess being able to make up new definitions for words is one of the perks of being a famous linguist?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

'The Republican Party Has Become the Most Dangerous Organization in World History

The Nazis, the Russians, the Japanese during WW2, the Chinese communist party, and the Catholic Church all take offense to this claim.

[LurkinInaBuildin]

Don't forget the Jews, asshole, as long as you're bashing religions.

[Free Society]

Google is vowing to crack down on fake news.

Google News is done for.

[Injun, as in from India]

The Left is losing its influence because the MSM is slowing withering away.

So they're now going to go after the upstarts who dare put forth counter-narratives.

Because it will be done by private organizations, I doubt there is anything that can be done about it.

Also, if a censored web site sues, watch the Left go all-in on rights of private corporations and freedom of association.

[Griffin3]

Oh, there isn't any need to do anything about it. Fake news will still be passed around like candy on Facebook and the Twitters, because that is the feels of the people who use such things. All Google is doing is passing up on the opportunity to earn some sweet, sweet advertising dough off it, and the businesses involved will lose their chance to put their advertising in front of self-selected gullible people.

Google will make some noise about it, and lips will waggle, and some scammers will be out of business for as long as it takes to come up with a new scam.

[Griffin3]

And Google will tweak the rules in such a fashion that they get a bigger share of the revenue, while increasing the number of robot-driven, random-seeming, not-appealable cancellations that you can't even pay money to get a human on line to explain the whys.

[Free Society]

So they're now going to go after the upstarts who dare put forth counter-narratives.

I think you're exactly right on the money. The alternative media won Trump the election, ergo the alternative media must be destroyed, from a leftist point of view. I expect to see lots of pearl clutching about press credentials and established outlets when people have the gull to start citing alternative sources.

[Rufus The Monocled]

"Facebook's trending topics, which repeatedly promoted misinformation about the 2016 election, spurred a massive backlash after it was accused of influencing the race in Donald Trump's favor. "

I don't like where this can go.

Already based on a faulty, unsubstantiated premise.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

What? If anything those trending topics were almost exclusively negative

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

With respect to Trump. I never saw pro Trump news.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I read that blurb as FB was blamed for Trump. Hence, my comment.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

When you say that you mean FB promoted fake negative stories about Trump that resulted in backlash to support for Trump?

Sorry was a bit confused. Because i only saw negative crap trending over and over and over about Trump

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

When you say that you mean FB promoted fake negative stories about Trump that resulted in backlash to support for Trump?

Sorry was a bit confused. Because i only saw negative crap trending over and over and over about Trump

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

When you say that you mean FB promoted fake negative stories about Trump that resulted in backlash to support for Trump?

Sorry was a bit confused. Because i only saw negative crap trending over and over and over about Trump

[Ship of Theseus]

You know who else was accused of spreading misinformation and influencing elections?

[BakedPenguin]

Huey Long?
LBJ?

[straffinrun]

Let them do this. I encourage it.

[Jerryskids]

It was my understanding that Obama was going to end his administration the same way he began it, on a world apology tour. Not for himself, of course - he did do all he could to destroy this country - but for all the Americans too stupid to know how evil they are and too dishonorable to just go kill themselves out of shame for being Americans.

[Sevo]

Think he'll give the "Peace Prize" back? Can they take it back?

[LurkinInaBuildin]

They're still trying to get ahold of Bob Dylan and let him know that he won two months ago.

[The Late P Brooks]

Are Democrats going to limit their own power if there is no guidance from the Congress?

That's some authentic frontier gibberish.

[Sevo]

Is Obo gonna implement the rest of O-care so it falls apart on its own?

[John]

With all of the talk about executive overreach, I have yet to hear anyone give a concrete example of just what Trump is going to do that constitutes executive overreach. I am sorry but undoing Obama's abuses of executive power doesn't count. You should not have to pass a law to undo an executive order or policy. So for Trump to engage in executive overreach, he is going to have use his executive power to do something not being done now that should be done by statute, not just undo a bunch of Obama's illegal actions.

It is a subtle difference but an important one. And one I don't see too many people recognizing.

[Brett L]

Well, I think that yes, anything that was done by Obama can be undone by Trump. The only real example I've seen is waterboarding and other military interrogation tactics that Obama has designated "torture". But more broadly, the fact of the matter remains that Trump has not taken any stand that those matters SHOULD be decided by statute. Only that he wants to undo a bunch. So I think it is not wrong to worry that he might decide to "do" a bunch of things.

[John]

The President is the commander and chief of the military. There are laws on the books that make the international law of war and things like torture crimes. So if Trump orders the military to ignore those laws, then yes, that would be executive overreach. There is, however, a lot of grey area. Trump can't legalize torture but he can as CnC define what is and is not torture and has a lot of discretionary power in doing that. Indeed, that is what Bush did. He just had his lawyers torture (pardon the pun) the law to define the techniques they wanted to use as not being torture under the law.

If he does that, will that be an executive overreach? Maybe, depending on how you view the statutes and how much discretion you think the President really has.

[Brett L]

I personally hope you continue your winning streak on being right, John. None of the people up for cabinet level picks are really "shrink the government" types. Maybe the fact that the EPA guy is totally at odds with current administrative rule-making gives me hope. But I don't personally think he's going to be the uh, Great White Hope, on this. I don't think he'll be "worse" than Bush or Obama either.

[John]

I think you have to be realistic about what it means to "shrink government" in today's' context. We are not going to get rid of the EPA and the Department of education in today's environment. I wish we could but it isn't going to happen. What we can do is get rid of a whole lot of those departments' power and undo a ton of the damage they are doing to the economy and freedom.

We need to put Trump in context. Other than Clinton repealing Glass Stegall, there has never been a significant rollback of the regulatory state. And even that was to benefit Wall Street and did nothing to improve the average person's freedom. It has been expanding since the original Progressives and later FDR created it. The best anyone has ever done was Reagan, who more or less stopped it for 8 years but did not reduce it in any significant way. Every other President besides Reagan from both parties have done nothing but expand the regulatory state, each in their own and very significant and usually damaging way.

So, if Trump manages to even stop its expansion, he is already in pretty good company. But if he manages to reduce it by banning the EPA from regulating CO2 and ending the impediments to fracking and rolling back the regulatory controls over insurance that came with Obamacare and reforming the worst aspects of Dodd Frank, he will have done more for economic freedom than any President since at least Reagan and probably since Coolidge.

[LurkinInaBuildin]

I think the hysterical ignorance we are seeing en masse regarding Trump's election shows that the potential harm the Department of Education can wreak, and has wrought, is impossible to overstate. Even I used to think abolishing the DoE was an extreme position, but not anymore.

Public schools are apparently not 'educating,' as much as they are indoctrinating children into a religion, plain and simple.

[Brett L]

Here we go. House Republicans start push to bring back earmarks.

They literally can't help themselves.

[Chipwooder]

Pigs are gonna be pigs. It's just the natural order of things.

[Crusty Juggler]

If the amendment is adopted by a secret-ballot vote Wednesday, lawmakers would be able to request earmarks once again as long as the sponsoring member is identified, the earmarks initiate in committee, and they don't increase spending.

Secret ballot?

[John DeWitt]

Super Secret Ballot

[John]

If the Congress could be trusted not to be complete crooks (yeah I know that is impossible but let me dream for a moment), earmarks are not necessarily a bad thing. Congress has the ultimate power of the purse and they can and should be able to specify how money is to be spent with as much detail as they like. I don't see how telling the Congress they can only budget amounts but can't tell the executive how the money is to be spent is in the spirit of the Constitution or necessarily wise. The executive can be just as crooked as Congress. So leaving how the money is spent entirely up to the OMB and the various cabinet departments isn't necessarily going to mean it is spent well.

I think this is a bad idea because Congress in the past has behaved so appallingly with earmarks, I don't see how they can ever be trusted with them again. That is however a very bad thing and a sign that our government isn't working very well. No one should see banning earmarks as anything other than a pretty crappy solution to an even worse situation created by the crooks we elect to Congress.

[Brett L]

Agreed. Ideally there would be some sort of BCRC or whatever they called the military base committee for things like vital infrastructure and VA hospitals that doled out the money based on specific priorities that had some formulaic underpinning to guide the committee. Its boondoggles like the Robert C. Byrd Museum for White Democratic Movements located at the Robert C Byrd Rest Stop on the Robert C Byrd Highway in Bumfuck, WV that gives this sort of thing a bad name.

[robc]

The combination of earmarks and a balanced budget amendment would be a good thing.

Without the latter, the former is a disaster.

So, basically, what you said.

[The Late P Brooks]

The party is dedicated to racing as rapidly as possible to destruction of organized human life. There is no historical precedent for such a stand.

"I saw it, I tell you. It was an enormous wolf, with teeth like sabers. I swear to god. Why won't you believe me?"

[Sevo]

They didn't put it on the e-version, so no link, but half the front page of the paper version was given over to an article headlined:
"Anti Trump Protesters Ponder Next Moves"
Hint: siddown and shuddup

" sore loser
A sore loser is someone who loses in a fair competition but whines about it on a constant basis, blaming everyone around them for their loss except themselves. Fun to taunt, but no fun to play with."
http://www.urbandictionary.com.....?term=sore loser

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Well then by that definition, they can't be "sore losers", since they lost an UNfair competition, stacked in their favor.

[DaveSs]

Snow is sexist.

Stockholm's center-left government introduced a new "gender equal" approach to clearing the roads of snow last year. The policy states that sidewalks, public transport and bicycle lanes should be cleared before turning attention to the roads.

Inmates running the asylum I suppose

[The Fusionist]

In a libertarian society, how would the roadz be maintained, you anarchist?

[The Fusionist]

But don't worry, Donald Trump will cause global warming to melt all the snow.

[Free Society]

In a libertarian society, how would the roadz be maintained, you anarchist?

You spread ground up orphan bones on the road. Cheaper than salt with tens times as much staying power.

[Zeb]

"gender equal"

Are women not allowed to drive in Sweden or something?

[Chipwooder]

Depends on where you are. I'd imagine there are quite a few women in Malmo who aren't allowed.

[commodious is retromingent]

Shouldn't their male relative chaperones be obligated to clear the snow for them?

[John]

That is what I thought Zeb. Since when are cars not gender neutral?

[Suthenboy]

Privately owned automobiles are very empowering for individuals. They must be stamped out.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"bicycle lanes"

Who the hell would think biking in icy conditions on a bicycle lane (thus adjacent to an actual lane of cars) is a good idea??

[SFC B]

Forgive my ignorance of Swedish infrastructure, but how do you clear sidewalks and bike lanes before clearing the road? And what do you do with those paths when the order of magnitude greater volume of snow on roads gets pushed into the cleared bike lane and sidewalk? You clear the road before those because when you clear the road the snow on it goes into the bike lane and sidewalk.

[DaveSs]

This is how

http://i20.photobucket.com/alb.....OWPLOW.gif

[Michael]

The election of Donald J. Trump has resulted in a public health crisis of suicide!!!

Also, give us money.

[Lord Humungus]

"I've been contemplating suicide, But it really doesn't suit my style"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsIPoRTBV44

[Free Society]

If someone is so fragile as to commit suicide because Trump won, I'd say the species is better off without them. Maybe Congress could come up with some sort of tax rebate for SJW families whose members commit suicide. Make America Sane Again in a way that only attrition can achieve.

[LurkinInaBuildin]

"Sorry to hear about your loss. Please accept our condolences as well as this voucher for $50 of complimentary food or gaming at any participating Trump Inc. resort or casino.

Sincerely,
-Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America."

[commodious is retromingent]

Kansas City health inspectors confiscate and destroy thousands of pounds of donated barbecue meat intended to feed the hungry.

The Kansas City Health Department says it had no idea these collections and donations were going on at the Royal every year until a chance inspection this week at Hope City.

Images of even the award-winning barbecue doused in bleach in a dumpster have sparked outrage among barbecue lovers and people who volunteer their efforts to feed Kansas City's needy. But health officials say it was the only option.

"All of that food was uninspected, so that makes it from an unapproved source, it can not be served to the public," Kansas City Health Department Operations Manager Joe Williamson said.

Government!

[John]

Its what we all do together.

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else had thousands of pounds of barbecued meat...

[commodious is retromingent]

I should clarify that they only destroyed the ~700lbs at this one event, but ordered ~4k pounds recalled before being distributed. TOP MEN.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

"Dear homeless. Fuck you. Pay taxes you bloodsuckers. Love, Bureaucrats 4(a)(1)(ii) through 16a(5)(B)(i)."

[Je suis Woodchipper]

Benham said more than 3,000 people will go hungry this week as a result.

Williamson countered, "3,000 people a year die of foodborne illness, so this is nothing to play with, it's very serious."

"Did someone slaughter a hog or a cow from their home property, was it done under a USDA or state inspection? We don't know," Williamson said.

too bad there's no test for foodborne bacteria and visuses.. oh right, it's not about safety. it's all theatre.

[BakedPenguin]

Where's Baylen Linnekin when you need him?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Look, if government isn't going to feed the hungry than no one will, goddamn it!

[The Late P Brooks]

"All of that food was uninspected, so that makes it from an unapproved source, it can not be served to the public," Kansas City Health Department Operations Manager Joe Williamson said.

I blame Trump.

[John]

Me too. Trump strikes me as a pork vinegar man if I have ever seen one.

[Je suis Woodchipper]

Man Pulls a Gun and Drives Through Pipeline Protesters

Witnesses say he ran over two people and fired shots in the air.

the video was in the story. guess the writer didn't have time to watch it before writing that. driver may have driven over somebody's foot but that's a risk you take when you block a road and run alongside a fucking tractor trailer. driver did have his gun drawn the whole time and occasionally pointed at protestors. could be brandishing charge. at no point were shots fired during the video.

http://www.motherjones.com/env.....protesters

[I can't even]

I was sure somebody was going to die a few weeks ago when protesters blocked the GW bridge during rush hour.

[Free Society]

Is it wrong to hope one or two protesters blocking traffic would be killed by said traffic?

[UnCivilServant]

Is it wrong to hope one or two protesters blocking traffic would be killed by said traffic?

Not in the slightest.

[I can't even]

I thought they would just be tossed over the side of the bridge by irate commuters.

[Zeb]

I'm going to say "yes". But I won't hold it against you if you have a little laugh if it happens.

[Brett L]

Turns out his name is "Reginald Denny." I wonder why he freaked out about having his truck surrounded?

[Je suis Woodchipper]

/snort

indeed

[bacon-magic]

Learn how to protest the right way. Don't be a fucking moron. Protests are part of this country, just as freedom from tyranny is.

[BigW]

Shit, you have to wonder how many billions of dollars will be flown into Iran by this freaking idiot.

[Vampire]

Soooo that means Fox, Cnn, NYT, and most newspapers will be replaced by news strictly from the Onion.

Google news brought to you by the Onion.

[LurkinInaBuildin]

"After a long day of implanting transmitters into moose vaginas, I just want to relax and read Google news."

[Not a Libertarian]

@radleybalko
3. Libertarians should be directing energy at limiting power right now. Other who fear Trump should be allies, not targets of derision.

[Not a Libertarian]

Setting aside the obvious fact that, I believe you libertarians deride the GOP as well

Is it not true that the Libertarian Apparat (such that it is, CATO, Reason, etc) is as its happiest and most febrile combating Republican Administrations (if one takes that the Trump Admin is GOP)?

Liberaltarian Mark II?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

It's dangerous to ally with proggies. They care only about power and will betray liberty the moment they catch a whiff of it.

But yes, I agree that the focus now and always should be about limiting power and protecting liberty.

[Tonio]

The same can be said of socons. Libertarians can ally with anyone over a single issue. It's the enduring alliances which are dangerous.

[Number 2]

"President Obama and his team plan to spend the next two months aggressively defending and implementing these policies, despite President-Elect Donald Trump's campaign promises to end them once he takes office."

Who cares?

Two words: "lame" and "duck."

[Lee Genes]

You can have a Yugo.

[Zeb]

I hate that shit. I dread eventually having to buy a car that was made in the last 5 years or so.

The distractions are much more of a problem than not having your hands on the wheel. I can drive with my knees pretty well for long distances. But talking to people, even people in the car is quite distracting.

[G?C]

My current vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler - 2 door with the half door option (so no electric windows. I have to zip mine out), manual transmission, and it doesn't even have the carpeting any more. It has a radio, but since I live in Florida and the top is down for half the year, most of the time it isn't even turned on as you couldn't hear it anyway. About as basic a vehicle as you can get.

I absolutely love it.

Every time I hear about driverless cars, my mind wanders to Rush's "Red Barchetta" and dreams of me evading pursuers by simply driving off road (they wouldn't be able to follow since their GPS would tell them there wasn't a road to drive on...)

[John]

I have no idea what to say to that. I got nothing. Is that real?

[commodious is retromingent]

I had the same suspicion. Like, lolwut

[Brett L]

European.

[0x90]

SEAT is from Spain, where comparatively speaking, men are still men, women are still women, and people are just generally more concerned with having a good time than getting all flustered about a load of nonsense.

[Cdr Lytton]

Buy two.