New Jersey May Ban Cat Declawing, EEOC Filed 40 Percent Fewer Cases, Return of the 'Liberaltarian'?: A.M. Links

• 

  Gerard LACZ / VWPics/Newscom

  Donald Trump says he'll require anyone who works on his transition team or in the coming Trump administration to agree not to work in lobbying for at least five years after leaving the government.

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed almost 40 percent fewer cases in fiscal year 2016 (which ended September 30) compared with the previous four fiscal years.
• New Jersey lawmakers want to make it a crime to get your cat declawed.
• A California judge issued a tentative ruling early Wednesday in favor of Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer and his co-defendants but will hear more information from both the state and the defense.
• "Facebook has never claimed to be a free speech platform," says NPR. "The company is trying to create a safe space where, unlike Twitter, people can share without being trolled or shamed."
• A former teacher who gained notoriety in the 1990s after being fired for transitioning from male to female has confessed to three murders in Oakland, California.
• Students for Liberty and New Republic advocate "a return of the 'liberaltarian.'"
• Here is the best thing you will read about the election outside of Reason.com.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ugh. So many links.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Liberaltarianism? Marxatarianism? Join Rufustarianism!

Why not?

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

I AM NOT ABOUT TO BECOME SOME SORT OF FLAPPY-HEADED CANADIANITE PERSON, THAT'S WHY NOT.

[Citizen X]

+1 Poutine Archipelago

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Dreads? Pot smoking as a sacrament? Not getting your foot cancer treated until it's too late?

[Rufus The Monocled]

I really need to think this out.

But after I go buy some Antipasto Calabrese.

[Citizen X]

That is a really strange euphemism.

[beeaty]

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[UnCivilServant]

'Sew Many Links' sounds like a golf club quilting society.

[Rich]

BERNIE?!!

[MikeT1986]

Show me on the doll where the extra link touched you.

[Lord Rollingpin]

Nice!

[Sorta]

Larfed

[Juvenile Bluster]

Morning, Fisty.

My post-election high due to laughing at progs has worn off. It's not so much because of Trump (though I still think he's going to be awful) but because the whining has become so goddamn tiring.

[UnCivilServant]

Was this what Trump meant when he'd said we'd get tired of winning?

[Fist of Etiquette]

There's no I in quitter.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Here is the best thing you will read about the election outside of Reason.com.

My comments about it on other sites.

[Citizen X]

IT'S THE BEST BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT THERE, EUGENE.

[Juvenile Bluster]

You wouldn't cheat on us like that, would you?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

It's not cheating if we have an "agreement" with Fisty.

[UnCivilServant]

He keeps violating the terms by returning here...

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Having scanned that article, it points a lot of fingers at things our own Reason staff were guilty of.

[mad.casual]

It's out there. A little known disease that millions are suffering from. It destroys lives and can tears families apart. It can affect anyone, men and women... young and old alike. It's called TDS and the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Together, we can win the battle against TDS.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

258) Something I've found amusing in all the anti-Trump brouhaha is the pique over the money his father gave him?$500,000?for his first real estate project: rehabilitating a rundown apartment complex in Cincinnati his father had bought out of foreclosure. Good Lord, you'd think he'd done nothing but sit on that money and earn interest all this time. He didn't use the money to live in luxury?he took the money (really a modest amount for the task) and successfully turned those apartments around?the occupancy rate went from about one-third to full occupancy.

It's true he may have started off with more than most people, but he used it as a springboard. Why are people jealous over this?

The attitude seems to be, "Yeah, if I started off with $500,000, I could be a billionaire today, too." No, you couldn't. You wouldn't be willing to put in the hours and you wouldn't have the talent. Denying the success of Trump's career, or saying he just inherited his success, is really misreading the man.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Bingo.

Most would squander it or fail.

Not everyone can run a business. And most who see that kind of cash have the urge to spend it. I saw it all the time at the bank. All the time. It's almost a law of human nature.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

It's one of the more insipid criticisms of Trump that I've seen. What the fuck did they expect him to do with it, sit on it like a bum and do nothing?

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Give it all to the government so that they could redistribute it!

[Heroic Mulatto]

There have been serious suggestions for an 100 percent wealth tax.

[Heroic Mulatto]

*inheritance tax

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

A lot of people don't understand how that kind of success works. They do earnestly believe that so long as you're "rich," you're set for life. The money simply multiplies, and anyone could accomplish the same if they had money.

[Neon Bible]

For added irony, many of the people leveling this criticism actually GOT loans of hundreds of thousands of dollars... and turned them into BAs in Feminist Basket-Weaving. Nice ROI there, suckers.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

How to turn your kids into neurotic, insufferable people in one easy step!

[Rich]

Like many concerned American parents, I've had "the talk" with my kids about what happened last week.

*** facepalm ***

[Zeb]

Basically, asshole parents spent the last year frightening their children about Trump and now are desperately trying to justify themselves.

Just let your kids be blissfully ignorant of politics while they still can.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

It's funny .... my very first political experience was when Goldwater made a whistle stop in our unincorporated town. JFK's assassination did not affect me, because I barely recognized the name and had no comprehension about what a President did, or people thinking it was a communist / Soviet / Castro plot, none of that. Still knew very little when Goldwater came through. I only knew the papers had made some big deal out of it, so my sister and I begged our parents to take us. They were both socialist atheists, Goldwater was probably pretty damned scary to them, but they took us --- and I remember absolutely zero about it.

Much later in life, I wondered about my mother's politics. She was incredibly individualistic, put no rules on us, let us do whatever we wanted, but did not just ignore us, kept an eagle eye on us. I often wondered how she could square that with socialism. It made me wonder a lot about all the people who embraced the USSR in the 1930s, and reinforced my opinion that the news out of and about the USSR was so manipulated by the USSR as to be rosy beyond belief. But then the anti-USSR news was manipulated just as much, in the same manner as the current anti-Trump news, so who was one to believe? I think it came down to believing the foreign news simply because their mendacity was unknown, while the domestic stuff was well known for its bias.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

So I want to thank ENB for that link. It sums up a lot of my opinion of the media and their intense predilection to say whatever they want regardless of validity, truthiness, or anything but getting click bait.

[AlmightyJB]

Or send them to public school

[Citizen X]

It's anecdotal, but my kid reports that all of her middle school classmates are too burned out on election rhetoric to care anymore. This strikes me as the healthy response.

[Lee Genes]

My niece, half Asian, was told by some other kids that she was going to be deported along with them.

[Rich]

Oh, FFS! HATE CRIME!!

[Crusty Juggler]

"Further immerse the youth into a world they will not understand!"

-Big Pharma

[mad.casual]

Broodling No. 2: "Why are they crying because Hillary Clinton lost? Is it like the Cubs because there hasn't ever been a woman President?"

Mrs. Casual: "No, it's more like their team got stuck with Jay Cutler."

Mr. Casual: "Broodling No. 2, how about you and your brothers go outside and play? Your mother and I need to catch up on some of our shows on Netflix upstairs."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump says he'll require anyone who works on his transition team or in the coming Trump administration to agree not to work in lobbying for at least five years after leaving the government.

Why would he want such bad negotiators on his team?

[Fist of Etiquette]

New Jersey lawmakers want to make it a crime to get your cat declawed.

The dog lobby is underfunded.

[Pope Jimbo]

I give them two years before they are overrun with Baltimore Orioles. At least the cats kept that pest population in check when they had claws.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

I had to declaw the first cat I had (front claws only); he was just plain neurotic and ripped up everything he could reach. He once unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper, put it in the bathtub, and shredded it.

But he could still catch mice. I never quite understood how--I assumed he needed his front claws. But I watched him catch mice, play with them, eventually kill them. He was quite a good mouser.

[Mock-star]

I used to have a 2 legged cat. He was hit by a car, and the shelter decided to save him, and I ended up adopting him. That cat killed everything within a mile radius of our home.

[Citizen X]

You probably shouldn't have replaced his missing limbs with guns.

[Get To Da Chippah]

The baseball team?

[Swiss Servator]

Yeah, I assume a few inside fastballs would keep them away?

[Voros McCracken]

And once Chris Davis starts sleeping on your couch, it's nearly impossible to get him to leave.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Right!? You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get Earl Weaver crap off your car.

[Robert]

They complain about cats' killing birds, but they also complain about this measure that can be taken to prevent cats' killing birds. Keeping animals inside is cruel & destructive; letting them outside is cruel & dangerous. Spaying & neutering is cruel; not spaying or neutering is cruel. Can't win.

[SimonD]

I think they want to ban pets.

(you know, because nothing says 'cruelty' than providing a warm, safe place to sleep and food without struggle).

[Nunya]

Every fucking thing you just said is sadly accurate.

Going to my crying post.....again.

[CE]

San Francisco is already working on that.

[mad.casual]

Can't win.

Loudly and irritatedly get up off the couch and get the gun. Shoot the cat. Pointedly look into the eyes of everyone in the room. Put the gun away. Sit back down on the couch. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win.

[Tom Bombadil]

Here's how I see that legislative process:

Hey guys, let's pass some laws.
Ok, how about cats.
What about cats?
They have claws but they need claws.
Ok, compromise: flip a coin.. heads = declawing is illegal... tails = declawing is compulsory.
Heads it is... Yay! we're legislating!

[Robert]

Darn, you stopped rhyming after line 4 & lost the meter too.

Hey you guys, let's pass some laws.
Pass some laws? We need a cause.
OK, how about the cats?
Cats have claws, but they need claws.
Compromise and get the prize.
Flip for it, let's hear the ayes!
Heads says leave alone their paws,
Tails says you must cut off claws.
Motion carries, let 'er rip!
Heads seem to have won the flip.
Let's take credit for deciding
Cat claws will now be abiding.

[Rich]

Trump says he'll require anyone who works on his transition team or in the coming Trump administration to agree not to work in lobbying for at least five years after leaving the government.

And if they do, he'll throw them in prison, right? RIGHT?!

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

New Jersey lawmakers want to make it a crime to get your cat declawed.

If all declawing is outlawed, only outlaws will have declaws.

[Rich]

And the police will be outclawed!!

[DJF]

This is so it will be safe to grab pussy's.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze at the lot of ye*

[OneOut]

grab pussy's what ?

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

"Facebook has never claimed to be a free speech platform," says NPR. "The company is trying to create a safe space where, unlike Twitter, people can share without being trolled or shamed."

At the rate this society is infantilizing itself, we will be conquered by an army of ducks.

[straffinrun]

Or non declawed cats.

[Suthenboy]

That's the point

[sloopyinTEXAS]

we will be conquered by an army of ducks.

Not today, motherfuckers!
-me, at Jerryworld on Jan 12, 2015

[EDG reppin LBC]

Go Bucks!

[John DeWitt]

I, for one, welcome our...oh, fuck it

[Nunya]

Duck it.

[Cyto]

Just to remind everyone....

Facebook got its start as a college rating board at Harvard where students were rated "Hot or Not" based on their photo.

So, let's not get on our high-horses about how wonderfully PC we are, m'kay?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"New Jersey lawmakers want to make it a crime to get your cat declawed."

I started trimming the claws of one of our cats--he was destroying furniture. Very effective. And although he was not a fan at first, after a few times he started to acquiesce. By the time he was an older cat, he actually seemed to enjoy getting his claws trimmed.

[Rich]

Because he knew he had you trained.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Oh, we had him trained. He would even give us facerubs with his paws at five in the morning.

[Rich]

Me-OW!!

[Juice]

Right after he covered the shit he just took in the litter box, no doubt.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Attempted to murder you in your sleep, you mean!

[Certified Public Asshat]

Our cat is declawed. I guess I feel bad when I start to think about it, but then when she is in my face an hour before I actually wake up to feed her and my furniture isn't destroyed, I get over it.

[Juice]

It's a horrible practice. If you're so concerned with your furniture then don't get a cat. Or have scratching posts.

[Nunya]

Boy that logic seems so easy. How did the application work?

Wife= I have cats.
Scratching post= ignored by cats, carpet and fabric apparently more appealing.
Manually clipping cats nails=lots of band aids for me
Throw cats outside=breaking laws
Abandon cats=mad wife,bad person

Declaw equaled compromise.

[SFC B]

I've had cats clawed and declawed. At this point I prefer to not declaw them, but I'm not going to get all sanctimonious at someone who chooses differently. Honestly, if the difference between someone adopting a cat or not adopting on and it being left to rot or be put down is if the cat is declawed, then declaw them.

[Juice]

False dilemma, but whatever.

[SFC B]

It's an animal. Lighten up Francis.

[Michael S. Langston]

It's not a false dilemma, it's a choice a cat owner may have to make. Let's say they cannot get their cat to stop destroying furniture, even though they've tried scratching posts and what not, but as they aren't fabulously wealthy and cannot continue to fix cat destruction, they must either hand the cat over to the pound or declaw it.

Now what percentage of animals placed at a shelter are killed versus adopted? Enough so that real people with real pets do face the very real binary choice of kill or declaw.

[Pope Jimbo]

Our old cat was declawed, forced to wear a bell on his collar and he still came home with birds and chipmunks all the time.

He also came home once with two wounds where an owl must have tried to get him.

That cat was dumb as hell, but tough as nails and a stone cold killer. We really didn't own him, he just sort of flopped at our house during the day while he rested up.

[Certified Public Asshat]

A cat always owns you, not the other way around.

[Brett L]

Those are my favorites. I had one like that. When my wife moved in, he moved out. I guess I violated the roommate agreement somehow. I'm sure he was fine.

[Lord Humungus]

My current cat is declawed. Because my previous cat - they lived together for a few years - came declawed and I thought it was unfair that one would have such a huge advantage over another. That and saving my fuckin' expensive furniture is another reason.

The local no-kill cat shelter declaws all of their cats under the assumption that more people will be willing to adopt an animal that won't tear up the house.

[Juice]

Jesus. That's terrible.

[Zeb]

Trimming seems like a much better option than declawing.

If cats don't scratch, the claws will get too long. Which is probably why they like the trimming more as they get older.

[Citizen X]

Declawing is pretty brutal - in addition to the claw, the vet removes part of the toe bone that it's connected to. It leaves the cat unable to climb or fight if it needs to. Apparently, though, there's a new method that uses a laser to burn away just the claw, and then it doesn't regrow.

[Juice]

Removing the claws at all is cruel and unnecessary. Claws play a big role in a cat's life. Although they can technically live without them, the shouldn't have to. It's like cutting off a human's thumbs or something.

[Citizen X]

My cats still have their claws. I make sure they have a new scratching post every month or two and they're fine.

[Holger da Dane]

Cats are very adept at hiding pain, but a lot of declawed cats still show signs of chronic pain in their paws.

As someone who has been involved with cat rescues, this is all the evidence I need that declawing is in fact brutal, and unnecessary. Trimming gets the job done.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"The company is trying to create a safe space where, unlike Twitter, people can share without being trolled or shamed."

The race to online utopia is on.

[straffinrun]

Start Twatter.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I think, in the nature of the new world we live in, it should be called "Grab'er".

[Tom Bombadil]

In the same way facebook overtook myspace, I reckon a new company name "blither" will supplant twitter.

[Hamster of Doom]

Donald Trump says he'll require anyone who works on his transition team or in the coming Trump administration to agree not to work in lobbying for at least five years after leaving the government.

Next thing you know, he'll tell them they have to stop taking bribes and voting to exclude themselves from the laws they enact.

Worst. President. Ever.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

He's absolutely no fun. Yuge dis-appointment.

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

Donald Trump says he'll require anyone who works on his transition team or in the coming Trump administration to agree not to work in lobbying for at least five years after leaving the government.

Every asshole in Washington hardest hit.

[Brett L]

If true, this would do more to strike a blow against corporatism than anything else he could do.

[straffinrun]

KO'd Street.

[Hamster of Doom]

New Jersey lawmakers want to make it a crime to get your cat declawed.

New Jersey's going to have the full set of laws criminalizing every possible thing that can happen before California or Illinois do, if they don't hurry up.

[XenoZooValentine]

My home state, ladies and gentlemen!

And people wonder why I'm like this...

[Pope Jimbo]

Helpful tip. Winter is coming, make sure to maintain your woodchipper so you won't get stuck out in the cold working on it.

[Rich]

[Content warning: hate crimes, Trump, racism]

I stopped reading at that point.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, there have been racist hate crimes committed against Trump supporters of late.

Oh, that's probably not what they mean.

[Hail Rataxes]

So you're saying you appreciate trigger warnings.

[Rich]

Oh, I appreciate them, alright.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Sucks to be you rich because it was a good read.

[Zero Sum Game]

Is it possible that the comment was specifically used to get insane SJWs to go away? They may take that stuff literally, and considering that he's concerned that they'll invade his comments section, it might have some small mitigating effect.

It's likely to have about the same real effect as sprinkling a line of salt to ward off evil. Either way, the line of salt certainly won't hurt you (unless you're evil and that really does work :D).

[Unreconstructed (Sans Flag)]

Surprisingly enough, that was the *worst* part of the article. I powered through it, and found decent insight and honest reporting of facts. I was kinda shocked.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A former teacher who gained notoriety in the 1990s after being fired for transitioning from male to female has confessed to three murders in Oakland, California.

Sounds like they should have fired this person for transitioning from not murdered to murderer.

[mad.casual]

You can't just impose your social constructs on people like that!

[Lord Humungus]

2 South Texas believers say they saw Bigfoot

Galvan, who runs the Facebook group Bee County Bigfoot Research, said he first saw Bigfoot in 2014 while working at a ranch about 10 miles north of Beeville. He described the creature as a black figure that stood on two legs and ran into the woods after a few seconds.

"I was baffled. In my mind I knew what it was, but I didn't want to believe it," Galvan said. "The only thing we could smell was this really musky smell, like a wet dog and rotten eggs."

Galvan started asking about Bigfoot sightings. His inquiries led him to Richard Rabe.

Rabe, a real estate agent, said he saw the creature around 2006, walking under a bridge. He described Bigfoot as 8 feet tall. Rabe said he only saw its head and shoulders as he drove past it.

[Citizen X]

"The only thing we could smell was this really musky smell, like a wet dog and rotten eggs."

LOOK, STEVE SMITH HAVE BODY CONDITION. DOCTOR WILL VERIFY.

BY "VERIFY," STEVE SMITH MEAN "GET RAPED."

[Swiss Servator]

YOU TRY KEEP GAS DOWN AFTER 14 BREAKFAST BURRITOS!

[Citizen X]

YOU CAN PROBABLY GUESS WHAT STEVE SMITH MEAN WHEN SAY "BREAKFAST BURRITOS."

[Pope Jimbo]

HEY ANAL RAPE NOT A PRETTY BUSINESS, BUT SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT! STINK MEANS YOU ARE DOING ANAL RAPE RIGHT

[Mr Lizard]

STEVE SMITH MAKE BELIEVER OF ANYONE

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Beeville? Bee County? Not only is Bigfoot made up, so are these place names.

[Hamster of Doom]

It's real. Their Wal-Mart blows.

[Citizen X]

WHY THINK STEVE SMITH GO THERE?

[Brett L]

We already had Dirtville and Mesquite. There are only so many features in S. Texas. Also, that is a picture of a work glove buried in the dirt.

[Crusty Juggler]

"Just a trim, slave. Just a trim."

[Rich]

Monet Painting Sells for Record $81.4 Million at Christie's

"Only an eye, but what an eye!"

[UnCivilServant]

Whatever influence the man had on art, his work isn't particularly attractive to look at.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Nothing says "Freshman Girl Dorm Room" like a Monet painting.

[Rich]

"Wagner is better than he sounds."

[Hamster of Doom]

A California judge issued a tentative ruling early Wednesday in favor of Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer and his co-defendants but will hear more information from both the state and the defense.

.. to ask them why an action was brought that was known to be legal as stated in applicable law, and decide upon the proper punishment for manipulating the courts for personal ends?

I bet that's it.

[Lee Genes]

Word Salad of the Day

For me, feminism, and my process in learning and growing as a feminist, has offered me multiple frameworks to renegotiate my own practices of self-care and unpack my tense relationships around food, fitness, and my body.

There's some part of me that believes that if I look thinner, then I'll look more "queer." In these ways, sometimes my curves feel like further betrayals and erasures.

Feminism has given me a way to realize my own internalization of stereotypes and cultural norms around race, gender, and sexuality and helped me push back and unpack my perceptions around my body as not being "small enough."

[Rich]

Good Lord. What dreck.

[Hamster of Doom]

How does one "look queer"?

[UnCivilServant]

"You know, funny looking"

[Hamster of Doom]

+1 Mr Roper pinkie twinkle

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Oh yah?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"my tense relationships around food, fitness, and my body"

When you have tense relationships with everyday self-care activities, something has gone really wrong in your life.

[Citizen X]

Ever wonder why some people don't just give up? I mean, i'm not advocating anything, but if your life is that fraught with turmoil, Jesus.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

I always say, these people's lives sound exhausting.

[Atanarjuat]

Just a guess, that person is a neurotic mess.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Its from 'Everydayfeminism', where everyone is a neurotic mess, unless they're actually a psychotic mess.

[straffinrun]

You know where you can pack those perceptions?

[Swiss Servator]

In an old kit bag and smile, smile, smile?

[Douchey defeats Trumpman, Jr.]

How can this answer...it doesn't even fit...fuck. The rules are the rules.

Hitler?

[Heroic Mulatto]

That was a lot of words to just express this.

[Crusty Juggler]

Or, you can have an actual salad every once in awhile.

[UnCivilServant]

Word salad has fewer calories.

[Citizen X]

It's too bad that angst seems to burn so few calories.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Classic "First World Problems". This sounds like someone who has never faced any real challenge or hardship and thus have to create some sort of drama for their lives.

I mean, realizing this is anecdotal, but every woman I know who laughs at nonsense like this is a woman who has had real struggles in her life and has conquered them with her own intelligence and strength.

[Rufus The Monocled]

In other words, you're still lost and understand fuck all.

[Kevin47]

"Seven years ago, I started tracking my calories. I also started adjusting my time around my food intake and work-out schedule ? a series of complicated mathematical calculations around calories burned and consumed."

Subtract calories burned from calories consumed. Why on Earth would that require a series of mathematical calculations?

Also, who doesn't adjust their time around eating? Has this chick never taken a lunch break? Made a restaurant reservation? How is it in any way remarkable, much less problematic, to adjust your time around meals?

[mad.casual]

Subtract calories burned from calories consumed. Why on Earth would that require a series of mathematical calculations?

It's actually a complex differential equation of heat and mass transfer that literally no one completely understands but, you're probably right that she got to the third minus sign in whatever whimsical equation she chose to use and was completely exhausted, both mentally and physically.

[Kevin47]

I feel confident complex differential equations of heat and mass transfer are beyond her ken.

[XenoZooValentine]

[quote]There's some part of me that believes that if I look thinner, then I'll look more "queer."[/quote]

+1 narrowed gays?

[Sorta]

God,

Thank you for making me the shallow, emotionless buffoon I am.

Sorta

[CE]

Translation: I can eat a whole box of donuts now and not feel bad until the next day.

[Jordan]

Since there were a disturbing number of people defending Rudy Giuliani here yesterday, here's Radley Balko's rundown of just how horrible the man is.

tl;dr: when you think of a stereotypical, corrupt, bullying New York politician, think of Giuliani.

[UnCivilServant]

tl;dr: when you think of a stereotypical, corrupt, bullying New York politician, think of Giuliani.

Sorry, Andy Cuomo comes to mind first. We have a surplus of that archetype.

[Chipwooder]

Are there any NY politicians who AREN'T corrupt and bullying?

[SimonD]

Are there any NY politicians who AREN'T corrupt and bullying?

Fixed it.

[Marty Comanche]

RAWNPAWL!

[Suthenboy]

Oh, I have plenty of problems with Giuliani, but that dreck Balko wrote complaining about Reason was nothing more than trying to shame them because they didn't cosmo signal hard enough. Fuckin' progs.

Giuliani = stop and frisk / zero tolerance = woodchipper

He traded liberty for security. Aside from that he's a swell guy.

[Lord Humungus]

Meanwhile in Australia:

Bloke takes FLAMETHROWER to his garden after discovering infestation of deadly spiders

The clip shows the bloke walking around his backyard looking for places the creepy-crawlies could be hiding.

"I don't know how many times I've told mummy, do not leave your gardening gloves on the ground in our backyard.

"There's a very good chance they're gonna have spiders in them ? let me sort this out.

"I've got the perfect thing to look for spiders in these gloves, watch this."

...

The redback spider, also known as the black widow, is a venomous species indigenous to Australia capable of breeding in vast numbers.

They are one of the few species of spider capable of being harmful to humans, although since an anti-venom was developed in 1956, there have been no recorded deaths directly linked to the redback.

[Rich]

I'll just leave this here.

Crusty?

[Citizen X]

This is the correct response to any encounter with Australian wildlife.

[Brett L]

I feel this is a reasonable and measured response.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"Meanwhile in Australia:

Bloke takes FLAMETHROWER to his garden after discovering infestation of deadly spiders"

Wait, Australia?? AUSTRALIA?? If anything, going after spiders, especially MULTIPLE spiders, with a flamethrower is going in with too little firepower. It's a whole INFESTATION of AUSTRALIAN SPIDERS. Call in the military!!

[Lord Humungus]

Excited Russians Want to Rename a Street after Donald Trump And 'Make Their City Great Again'

Residents of the small Russian city of Ryazan have started a petition seeking to rename its "Bezbozhnaya Street" to "Street of Donald Trump".

"Recently elected U.S. President Donald Trump is a big friend of Russia and is a supporter of traditional values," explains the petition launched on change.org.

The name "Bezbozhnaya" Street which translates into "Godless" is also seen as offensive by the authors of the petition.

"In itself the name 'Godless' contradicts Russian values and is offensive to the feelings of religious people."

The petition for a Trump Street has turned out to be quite popular. It's gathered enough signatures to be officially reviewed by the authorities.

Traditional values like pussy grabbing!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

It's an old Russian tradition in many villages, celebrated on April 22nd. It's a day of feasting, gift exchange, and the part that everybody looks forward to all year: the ceremonial pussy-grab, usually conducted on the town square.

[SimonD]

It's a cat adoption seminar. What did you think I was talking about? Cretin. Boor. Dirty Old Man.

[Lord Humungus]

I forgot to add: You know who else got the Russians excited...

[Atanarjuat]

Lenin?

[Citizen X]

Aleksandr Nevsky?

[Swiss Servator]

The Ruriks?

[John DeWitt]

Katarina Witt?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Levi Strauss?

[bacon-magic]

Lennon? McCartney?

[XenoZooValentine]

Ronald Reagan on an open mic?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Breshnev?

[jack sprat]

Sidney Reilly?

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Man, if any of you were paying attention to what Russian people and Russian media and Russian politicians were saying this election, it's no wonder they are this excited for Trump. They all had no illusions about how hard Clinton's war-boner at the thought of armed conflict with Russia was. DIAMONDS.

[Aloysious]

This.

[Suthenboy]

^Bingo

[Lee Genes]

It's the End of the World as We Know It

"We've survived worse," some tell you in a failed attempt to comfort you. But you know better. You know many of your ancestors didn't survive European colonialism. Or (neo)imperialism. Or conquest. Or slavery. Or genocide. Or the U.S. backed coups that made your uncle go missing, that wiped all traces of him from this earth, that now counts him among the thousands of desaparecidos. You know your people are still suffering and they are still dying. Who will survive in Amerikka?

[Brett L]

The fact that you're here indicates that yes, you and your direct progenitors did survive everything that came before.

[MikeT1986]

I love how myopic the list is.

To be human is to be awful to other humans. It's what we fucking do.

[Rufus The Monocled]

You should see the stories about how girls treat each other at school according to my daughter.

Nasty.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Or the U.S. backed coups that made your uncle go missing, "

If you live in America now, it's pretty likely that, in fact, your family moved here because it was on the pro-U.S. side in that coup, and the coup didn't work out.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Or the U.S. backed coups that made your uncle go missing, that wiped all traces of him from this earth, that now counts him among the thousands of desaparecidos.

So I take it she immigrated to the US to seek revenge? ::Deport Now::

[SimonD]

You know many of your ancestors didn't survive European colonialism. Or (neo)imperialism. Or conquest. Or slavery. Or genocide.

Umm. How many of your 18th and 19th century ancestors did you EXPECT to survive?

My ancestors were oppressed too. In fact, I'd bet everyone has ancestors who've been oppressed.

May I offer you (and I mean this most sincerely) a hearty 'FUCK OFF!'

[CE]

My ancestors were Vikings.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"'We've survived worse,' some tell you in a failed attempt to comfort you. But you know better. You know many of your ancestors didn't survive European colonialism."

Bitch my ancestors survived Stalin. AND Hitler. And they even survived Churchill considering their proximity to Dresden at the time of the firebombing. Loud Orange Man is peanuts in comparison.

[Citizen X]

You know better! You know your ancestors were all killed, and that YOU DON'T EVEN EXIST!

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Oh shit, you're right!!

*zero sums*

[Free Society]

*EBS fades away like Marty McFly*

[Chipwooder]

My mom's family is Irish. Several of our ancestors were allowed to starve to death in the man-made famine known as the Potato Famine, but you don't see us blubbering about the British.

[Brett L]

Well... I think its really only in the last 20 years that's true.

[Glide]

Last I checked the death rate under both parties and all presidents is still 100%.

[Crusty Juggler]

We need stronger lawn mower control: Lawn mower blamed for fire that destroyed Montgomery home

A lawn mower that set leaves on fire is being blamed for triggering a four-alarm blaze that burned a house in the Town of Montgomery to the ground Sunday, just days after the home had been listed for sale.

[UnCivilServant]

I don't want to read the article because I have a mental image of a sentient lawnmower deliberately lighting a pile of leaves on fire.

[Crusty Juggler]

That is exactly what happened. Maximum Overdrive was a warning that has gone unheeded by the masses more interested in their Twitters and video games.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Samsung is making lawnmowers?

[Sorta]

Samsung makes damn near everything these says. Best washer & dryer we've ever had.

[Hamster of Doom]

Avoid sharing in places where this will attract the wrong kind of attention, as per your best judgment.

Elizabeth! Does this mean you don't think of us as the wrong kind of attention?

She likes us, guys. She as much as admitted it. SHE LIKES US.

[XenoZooValentine]

Maybe we're just the right amount of wrong?

Raise your glass if you are wrong, in all the right ways....

[Juvenile Bluster]

San Francisco DA who dared to question the SFPD is a candidate to replace Kamala Harris as California Attorney General. As you could guess, the LAPD and SFPD are not happy about this

[Lord Humungus]

Giant hissing cockroaches can grow bigger testicles to impress a mate OR horns to battle rivals: Researchers say terrifying creatures 'adapt to be lovers or fighters'

For Madagascar's giant hissing cockroaches, securing a female mate means specializing in one of two strategies: they must be either a lover or a fighter.

And no matter which path they take, size really does matter.

Researchers have found that these cockroaches face a tradeoff when it comes to their mating tactics, growing long horns to fight off other males or growing bigger testicles to improve the odds of fertilization.

...

With short horns and low-aggression, the researchers found that the Flat-horned cockroach, A. insignis, have 'significantly larger testes.'

This indicates they invest more in features for post-copulatory sperm competition rather than in physical weaponry, leaving them better suited to 'sneak mates' behind the backs of other males than to fight.

[Swiss Servator]

Wartyroaches?

[SugarFree]

They are both almost impossible to kill.

[Swiss Servator]

Almost?

[Brett L]

Sometimes you get lucky and a direct meteor strike happens. Like in the Yucatan 65M years ago.

[straffinrun]

post-copulatory sperm competition.

Slut shaming.

[robc]

Return?

I have never met a real liberaltarian in the wild.

[MikeT1986]

blah blah conservitarian, blah equivalence.

No true scotsman etc.

[Lord Humungus]

Chinese Company Forces Employees to Eat Live Worms for Not Meeting Sales Target

Chinese companies have been known to subject their employees to some of the most unusual and degrading punishments imaginable, but this latest one takes the cake. According to recent new reports, a company Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, decided to punish who failed to meet their sales targets by feeding them a disgusting cocktail of baijou liquor and live mealworms.

The degrading punishment was reportedly carried out in in a plaza in downtown Hanzhong, where 60 company employees were summoned for an outdoor meeting. Witnesses took to the internet to report that the group of young workers was approached by a a man carrying bags of live mealworms, who proceeded to pick various numbers of them with chopsticks and drop them in plastic cups full of baijou. Employees who had failed to reach their sales quota were asked to step forward and drink the gag-inducing cocktail.

Five or six poor-performing employees were reportedly asked to drink the worm-infested baijou in front of their colleagues. One of the employees, who chose to remain anonymous, later told the Huashang Daily newspaper that each of the "offending" workers had to swallow four worms for every client they lost.

[Rich]

Bellwether for the stocks.

[UnCivilServant]

That sort of treatment would make me inclined to arrainge for the assassination of whatever managers agreed to it and extra special pain for the one who thought it up.

[Lee Genes]

This is the country that gave us the "struggle session" after all.

[Citizen X]

Look, East Asian cultures have different traditions about what constitutes "food." Don't judge.

[UnCivilServant]

"Stuff they once ate to stave off starvation" leaves cultural scars, got it.

[Brett L]

See: Irish love affair with potatoes.

[UnCivilServant]

Sous Vide Potatos

Take 4 small red potatos, wash, cut into pieces.

Place potato pieces in vacuum bag with minced garlic. Roll top of bag, shake to distribute garlic. Vacuum seal.

Set immersion circulator to 185 for three to four hours.

When potatos can be crushed without opening bag, remove and place in bowl. Mash potatos, serve.

[Brett L]

Will try.

[Hamster of Doom]

Hot tip from a friend: You learned the wrong lesson from Dan Quayle Quayle's It Up: 1992.

[UnCivilServant]

I haven't tried cooking Quail.

[Citizen X]

It's delicious, so you'd probably hate it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Once ate? Dude, that stuff is bar food in Thailand. Along with deep fried duck bill, it was evidence that anything deep fried enough and salted tastes pretty good with beer.

[UnCivilServant]

Every time I get reminded of Thailand, the more I wonder if there's something odd in their water.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Nothing odd. Just rotting corpses.

[Lord Humungus]

and lots of hookers and lady boys (or so I've been told).

[Brett L]

Had some kind of duck feet in China. Thought they were squash, but curiously not round. Kind of like the curiously cylindrical "chicken" nuggets we had.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I will eat entire bowls of chicken/duck/hell, even turkey feet with no apology.

[straffinrun]

Absolutely. I'm chawing on dried squid right now.

[Brett L]

The duck feet were waay different from the crispy pigeon(?) claws we had elsewhere. But both were tasty.

[Chipwooder]

When I was in Thailand, I bought some kind of spicy meatballs from a street vendor. Came in a paper cone and you ate them with a big toothpick. They were tasty, but I'm very happy that I don't, and will never, know what kind of meat that was.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Was the word haam spoken?

[Citizen X]

My friend's brother lived in Thailand for a while and said the street food was cheap and wonderful, but you had to be careful because it had bugs in it. Then he clarified: "I don't mean 'bugs got in the food,' i mean 'bugs with spices.'"

[SimonD]

I remember having tacos in Mexico one time. They were good, but whatever animal the meat came from never mooed a single time in it's life.

The funny part if the first creature we saw upon leaving the building was a three-legged cat (honest to God).

Gato tacos was a running joke for years.

[Citizen X]

"This cat woke up my family when the house was on fire, so we were all able to escape. He is an excellent mouser, and he never kills birds."

"Why's he only got three legs?"

"Well, senor, you do not eat a cat like that all at once."

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

We had some delicious tacos from a street vendor in Rosarito that I think turned out to be goat.

The Spanish speaker in our bunch could never figure out what the vendor was saying, but it came on a spit like gyro meat.

[Brett L]

Cabra al pastor. What I have heard is that a bunch of Lebanese people came over in the middle of the 20th century and basically mashed up goat on a stick levantine with cabrito mexicano and al pastor is the result.

[Lee Genes]

Cheap soju comes to mind...

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Actually this is a cultural misinterpretation, and this is a delicacy in that region of China. The employees were being publicly lauded for their good effort, not shamed.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm pretty sure the People's Daily understands Chinese culture.

[XenoZooValentine]

Well, our media doesn't even understand our culture, so....

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Coffee is for closers.

[Lord Humungus]

A gory mass of pig parts stops traffic on a Florida highway

Several carcasses fell from a truck that failed to safely secure the already dead livestock on I-75 north near Fruitville Road around 9 a.m., the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

As of 10 a.m., one lane near mile marker 209 was closed, causing a traffic slowdown as crews worked to clean up ? and hose down ? the road because the "smell is so terrible," tweeted Fox 13 News reporter Kim Kuizon. Kuizon said four carcasses fell onto the road, scattering body parts across the busy highway.

[Brett L]

The real surprise is this wasn't Alachua county. Or maybe they just know better how to secure pig carcasses up around Hogtown.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

The real surprise is that Florida Man left free pork just laying in the street.

[Lee Genes]

Which one of you is it?

After having his sexual advances rejected by a woman nearly 50 years his junior, a 78-year-old Texas man dropped trou and mooned the object of his desire, according to cops who arrested the septuagenarian for obscenity.

[Rich]

Oh, those ZANY septuagenarians!

[Crusty Juggler]

Back when America was great that move was legal. Trump will bring back the, "Boys will be boys." legal defense!

[Heroic Mulatto]

(((Renegade))), I salute you.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

She was too old for him.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I wonder how NPR feels about all them #assassinateTrump Tweets and Facebook pages. Once they settle down from their spinning maybe they can ponder the question.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Fucking idiots, do they really want PRESIDENT PENCE??

[Citizen X]

-1 gay pizza wedding

[Zombie Jimbo]

OTish: Instapundit had a link to a Wash examiner article discussing Rohrbacher as SOS, possibly due to Rand Paul's strong reaction to Rudy, or John Bolton.

http://www.washingtonexaminer......le/2607504

Any thoughts on Rohrbacher?

Not crazy about him losing to Putin in an arm wrestling match. He needs to hit the 'roids if he gets the job.

[Chipwooder]

Can't say I know much about him, but at least Rand's opposition to Bolton and Rudy is producing a different candidate.

[Lee Genes]

Rohrabacher is a vastly better choice as far as libertarians are concerned.

[Lord Humungus]

The God That Failed

The Emerging Democratic Majority debate increasingly became an almost theological one, whose fundamental theories became nearly impossible to falsify. As it became clear that the 2010 elections were going to go poorly for Andrew Jackson's party, we were reminded that elections were all about the economy, even as Barack Obama's party suffered the worst loss in a midterm since 1938. This, while economy-based models were predicting that Democrats would keep the House.

....

But after the 2016 elections, this god is dead. While I still believe that the "soft" version of this theory, as originally described by Judis and Teixeira, has much to commend itself (Democrats looking for a path forward would do worse than to re-read the book) and continue to hold that the "Emerging Democratic Majority" is one of the most important books on elections of the past 20 years, the hard version of the theory has little merit.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

I guess the theory is that Mexicans stayed home to watch a donkey get fucked.

[Lord Humungus]

TNR, 10/9: "Donald Trump's Meltdown Is Nearly Complete"

11/16: "The Trump Meltdown Begins"

Link

President Barack Obama will leave office with historically high approval ratings, a low unemployment rate, incomes and wages rising across the country, and a record-low uninsurance rate, so it's perversely fitting that House Speaker Paul Ryan is heralding the transition as a "dawn of a new unified Republican government."

It is shaping up to be a dawn of some sort, but not the normal kind where things get brighter and people return to waking life.

This isn't purely a statement of ideological foreboding, though the Republican Party will in all likelihood do significant damage to progressive functions of our government. It is also a testament to the likelihood that critical measures of political health?presidential approval, corruption, transparency?are likely to collapse very quickly after Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20.

[Chipwooder]

God damn these people for making me defend Donald fucking Trump. Not that I didn't hate the left already, but now it's getting to a Corsican vendetta level.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Once they have their narrative, they really adhere to it, don't they?

[Atanarjuat]

"Well, lying about Trump didn't stop him on the campaign trail. Maybe if we do it harder things will go our way."

[Tonio]

It is also a testament to the likelihood that critical measures of political health?presidential approval, corruption, transparency?are likely to collapse...

The lack of self-awareness is both stunning and delicious. Just when you thought you were getting tired of the yummy tears, something like this comes along.

[Chipwooder]

So people are trying the liberaltarian thing again? That's adorable.

There can be individual points of convenient alliances with the left on specific issues, but there will never be any sort of large scale partnership because the left simply doesn't give a shit about liberty.

[straffinrun]

Plus the left is filled with dishonest cunts who'll plunge the knife in your back if given half the chance. Other than that they're fine.

[UnCivilServant]

To be fair, that is not their exclusive purview.

[straffinrun]

To be fair...Racist.

[MikeT1986]

Some people ID with the left primarily on social/civil liberty issues. They're not statists per-say they tend to go along with the anti-capitalism shit because they see it through an anti-corporate lens and view corporations as part an the state more than government employees.

It's a thing, I explained it poorly because I'm trying to do work. There's room for left-libertarians, and taking a step out of the darkness into the light should be celebrated. Even if it's only temporary, or they belonged to the wrong team.

I mean no one could ever transition from Marxist to libertarian or Conservatarian right?

[John]

If you just pretend that "freedom" doesn't include the right to earn a living as you choose or anything related to wicked profit seeking and that it doesn't include the right to join icky religions that don't embrace everyone no matter what they do or think (unless you are a sacred brown person of course), the Liberaltarian thing works perfectly.

[Atanarjuat]

Leftists only pretend to be liberaltarians during Republican administrations. Funny thing.

[straffinrun]

Spying on citizens, extrajudicial executions, war? Say it ain't so.

[Free Society]

My prediction, within the first term some "news" will leak about the NSA spying on American citizens, probably a new account of the same stories we already heard, and the Democrats will be up in arms marching in the streets in protest of Donald Trump hacking into their emails because they totally give a fuck about civil liberties now.

[SFC B]

At the rate it's been going they won't even wait until his first term. It could leak tomorrow that the NSA has been hoovering up everything for the past 10 years, sharing it with foreign intel services, emailing pictures to the White House that make The Fappening look tame. All of it will be due to Trump and his oppressive racism.

[Bill Dalasio]

They rarely do even that. More often its libertarians going along with the leftists in wishful thinking that maybe, this time, they'll see the light.

[Tonio]

Well-stated, Chipwooder.

[Tonio]

Well-stated, Chipwooder.

[robc]

I will accept the concept of liberaltarian when they give up socialism.

Until then, its a non-starter concept.

We can work together on other issues, but there will be no liberaltarian alliance without a denouncement of socialism.

[Tonio]

^This. But be very wary because they are known to outright lie, those promises are unenforceable and "oh, that's not real socialism."

[Lord Rollingpin]

Here is the best thing you will read about the election outside of Reason.com.

From the article:

[Content warning: hate crimes, Trump, racism. I have turned off comments to keep out bad people who might be attracted by this sort of thing. Avoid sharing in places where this will attract the wrong kind of attention, as per your best judgment. Please don't interpret anything in this article to mean that Trump is not super terrible]

Elizabeth, you are a naughty girl.

[John]

http://slatestarcodex.com/2016.....ying-wolf/

This is the best post election analysis you will read. The guy just destroys the idea that Trump is 'THE RACIST". And he is not a Trump supporter. He just hasn't lost touch with reality. Every member of the Reason staff ought to have to read this article and pass a quiz about its contents.

[Chipwooder]

The Slate Star Codex guy is awesome. He had a fantastic post a few years ago about how intolerant the left actually is despite their protestations to the contrary. He's a liberal, but an unusually honest and candid one.

[Citizen X]

Yeah, that was in the links.

[John]

Wow. I guess every once in a while it is worth coming here for the content rather than the comment board. You would have thunk it?

[Citizen X]

I mean, i'm not saying read the articles, but maybe skim them?

[John]

Only on even numbered days of the month.

[Citizen X]

If that's the best we can hope for...

[John]

If I had noticed it was ENB, I would have looked closer because odd numbered day or not, everyone loves a pretty girl.

[robc]

At least hover over the links.

[John]

I was just very excited about being done with a particularly drab project I was working on this morning and to share the link. It was youthful exuberance. Sue me.

[Crusty Juggler]

You mean the SJW feminism links?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[John]

My only pick with it is that I think he is wrong about Trump being a strange guy. I think Trump is perfectly normal. He is just a smart ass New Yorker and a guy who has spent his life doing very personal deals and negotiations. This has made him fairly sophisticated in his language. He uses things like hyperbole and sarcasm for effect. Those things translate well in person but don't always translate well in politics and in public life. It took him a while to figure that out. If you notice, he became a much more conventional candidate and a much more effective one the last month before the election. He had never run for office before and it took him a while to get the hang of how it is done.

Also, most of the Washington media is somewhere on the Aspy/Autistic scale. They are smart but also are basically nerds who don't do well picking up social cues and subtlety outside of the nerd bubble they inhabit in Washington. Time and again Trump would say something sarcastic or that was hyperbole doing it for effect and it went right over the media's heads.

[UnCivilServant]

RE: Trumps communication style. I've noticed that anything he says sounds significantly more reasonable when heard instead of read in text. So transcripts and articles easily read as unreasonable, but listening to the spoken word, the meaning becomes a lot less gibberish.

[John]

Here is the infamous Mexicans are rapist line

When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

I don't see anything objectively untrue or racist about that statement. We can disagree about the implications of it but I don't think you can see it is in anyway factually untrue or slanderous towards Mexicans. Yet, every right thinking Joe and Josephine in America will tell you that Trump hates Mexicans and all Mexicans are rapists.

[Chipwooder]

He has a rambling style of speaking which doesn't lend itself to transcription.

[straffinrun]

No offense, John, but that made me snort beer out my nose.

[John]

Happy to provide some entertainment.

[straffinrun]

I'm sleeping on the couch tonight if that makes you feel any better.

[Mr Drew]

"snort beer out of my nose"

Straff, either you live in a vastly different time zone or you are hard core rock and roll

[Brett L]

I think he's turning Japanese.

[Sorta]

He really thinks so

[tarran]

Wow!

[Hail Rataxes]

If you could pass a quiz about its contents, you would know that it only argues against the strong claims that Trump is "an open KKK supporter" or "an open white supremacist." It does not even attempt to argue that he is not racist.

[John]

Really?

Trump is going to be approximately as racist as every other American president. Maybe I'm wrong and he'll be a bit more. Maybe he'll surprise us and be a bit less. But most likely he'll be about as racist as Ronald Reagan, who employed Holocaust denier Pat Buchanan as a senior advisor. Or about as racist as George Bush with his famous Willie Horton ad. Or about as racist as Bill "superpredator" Clinton, who took a photo op in front of a group of chained black men in the birthplace of the KKK. Or about as racist as Bush "doesn't care about black people!" 43. He'll have some scandals, people who want to see them as racist will see them as racist, people who don't will dismiss them as meaningless, and nobody will end up in death camps.

I guess you could read that to mean that the author thinks Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes are racist, but that is a bit of a stretch. Saying Trump is no more or less racist than any other American President is saying he is not racist.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Saying Trump is no more or less racist than any other American President is saying he is not racist.

Eh, if one is "no more or less racist" than goddamn Woodrow Wilson, one is pretty racist.

[John]

That is true. But the President's he listed were all recent ones. I don't think he meant it to cover all Presidents. Just the recent ones.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I agree. But the abject terribleness of Wilson should be mentioned at every opportunity.

[Brett L]

Remember, the Electoral College is the product of evil racist slaveowners, but the Imperial Executive is only the product of evil racist segregationists.

[Marty Comanche]

Andrew Jackson owned slaves.

[Hail Rataxes]

You quoted a passage of assertion, not argument. Repeatedly throughout the argument Alexander notes that he is arguing against the specific strong claims that I mentioned. Repeatedly.

[John]

yes, what I quote is an assertion by the author. The author is asserting that Trump is not racist. That disproves your claim that " you would know that it only argues against the strong claims that Trump is "an open KKK supporter" or "an open white supremacist." It does not even attempt to argue that he is not racist."

He clearly does "attempt to argue that Trump is not a racist". The passage I provide shows that he does just that. You don't find his argument convincing. Well good for you. You can tell me you still think Trump is a racist. But you can't tell me the author agrees with you.

[Hail Rataxes]

You don't seem to understand the difference between "argument" and "assertion." I guess that makes sense, since you're so terrible at arguing.

[John]

I fully understand it. You don't seem to understand that the evidence presented in the rest of the article supports his assertion that Trump isn't a racist and makes it convincing. The entire article is saying that Trump isn't a white nationalist and didn't win because he appealed more to whites than other Republican candidate. It is perfectly rational for the author to conclude that given that evidence, Trump is not a racist. Indeed, the quoted passage is towards the end of the article and is his conclusions based on the evidence he presented.

Again, you don't find that convincing but you can't seem to explain why. The fact that Trump isn't a white supremacist and didn't depend on appealing to whites to win election is good evidence he is not a racist. If you have evidence he is, provide it. Otherwise, concede the point.

[Cyto]

Lest everyone forget.... Trump did worse with white males than Romney. And Trump did better with minorities than Romney.

So..... white nationalist narrative fits this exactly how?

[Lord Humungus]

As Obama's presidency runs out, the number of fawning pieces on his glorious tenure will only grow.

But what did the man (you call that a man?) really accomplish? The train wreck of Obamacare which may not be long for the world? "Steering us through the Great Recession?"

[UnCivilServant]

He made the usless chattering classes feel good about themselves and gave them a venue to virtue signal their dessicated little hearts out.

[Hamster of Doom]

The left chatters incessantly about his historic wonder and calm historic manner and his reasoned historic intelligence in this historic history-making presidential administration of history, while their audience either claps like seals or rolls their eyes and waits for the nearest opportunity to forget he existed.

[Free Society]

Agile, is that you?

[John]

Yes. the more untrue something is, the more often and more forcefully the believers need to say it.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

He was both Great Khan Nobel Laureate simultaneously. To kill without conscience, to coddle without care. Long will his name be sung in neither Valhalla nor Shangri-La.

[The Last American Hero]

His election, and more importantly re-election proved conclusively that we are not a racist country and I have been able to repeatedly remind people of that on the internet.

[Free Society]

New Jersey lawmakers want to make it a crime to get your cat declawed.

Well duh. "There oughta be a law..." is the state motto of New Jersey.

[UnCivilServant]

There uughta be a law against making laws.

[Free Society]

I view statutes as an aberration of law. Edicts beyond the scope of ones own household or patronage network is complete violation of natural law and common law. So from that perspective, there is a law against "making" laws.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Since Pan isn't here to regal us with his CBC links I shall take initiative.

/takes notes. Initiative is a core part it's part of Rufustarianism.

"Lame duck President Obama faces 'hostile takeover' of White House"

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/o.....-1.3851989

Being elected legally by the people is now hostile?

Oh, my.

[GILMORE?]

I award Elizabeth a gold-star for Shallackawhackadooford-quality-linkage

although "the best thing you'll read about the election" contains this disclaimer:

"Please don't interpret anything in this article to mean that Trump is not super terrible"... which is something that should lead people to wonder...

....If the most 'intellectually honest & brave' people we know still feel compelled to preface any of their comments with "Dear God, Please Don't Anyone Think I Differ From the Herd On the Key Issue of the Day".... that intellectual-honesty itself is in a pretty sad fucking state.

[straffinrun]

I read that as sarcasm even if she didn't want me to.

[GILMORE?]

No, scott routinely writes prefaces/disclaimers to his pieces...

my point really wasn't a ding against him - its just that they are something people seem to feel compelled in any commentary re: Trump these days, because of the intensity of the tribalism surrounding any political commentary

Eric did it yesterday in his piece about protesters, Robby does it about everything.. etc. Its a sort of "PLEASE DONT SHOOT ME" white-flag-waving which reveals that people are terrified. But of what? Being "othered"

[straffinrun]

*Scowls* I DO read the articles sometimes. Of course they do that. It's like Jack Nicholson's character in As Good As It Gets when he goes through the routine before unlocking the door. He knows it doesn't help, but he is driven to do it. So I read those disclaimers as sarcasm. Let me have that at least.

[Free Society]

Robby wants credit for being thought provoking without taking the risk that someone might take you task for the argument. He uses disclaimers as a shield, which is fine every now and then for certain topics but he takes his shield with him everywhere he goes.

[Zeb]

We can debate how productive it is. But I think that people feel the need to insert disclaimers like that because they actually do want to communicate with the people freaking the fuck out about Trump and a lot of those people will just shut down at any hint that you might be defending Trump.

Maybe it's pointless. But I think it's worth a shot. It is so difficult to even talk about politics with anyone in the "Trump is Hitler" camp at this point that some common ground being established seems necessary.

And I think that "Trump sucks, but you people need to calm down and get some perspective" seems like a fair summary of things right now.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I cut Dr. Alexander some slack as a significant number of his readership hail from the Aspie fever swamps of Yudkowsky's Less Wrong, and, as a result, don't do the whole 'nuance and implicature' thing very well.

[Chipwooder]

In a lot of ways, Trump IS terrible. They're just mundane statist kind of ways rather than the supposed racism the hysterics on the left claim.

[GILMORE?]

In a lot of ways, Trump IS terrible

Of course he is. So are almost all politicians. Is it necessary to begin statements with a reminder of that?

Imagine people wrote articles opposing the invasion of Iraq, but felt the need to say, "To be clear = I am NOT a fan of Saddam Hussein"? Don't you think people would find it a bit odd and unnecessary?

yet if he DOESNT say that before making his point here.... no one he's trying to talk to will take him seriously.

Its strange that the danger of 'taking the wrong side' seems more terrifying to people in domestic politics than it does in War.

[Ken Shultz]

In all fairness, Trump hasn't really had a chance to be terrible yet.

Presidents are terrible because of what they do--not because of what they say.

If I judged George W. Bush based on what he said, a lot of the time, we might have thought he was a fucking libertarian.

Give Trump a chance to do something terrible, and I bet he will.

[Cyto]

Give Trump a chance to do something terrible, and I bet he will.

This is the understatement of the year. They all disappoint.

[SugarFree]

Maybe not every article on this site is written solely for your consumption, Gilly.

[GILMORE?]

don't understand what you mean.

[SugarFree]

I mean that the disclaimers aren't for you or I, but for people who might be reluctant to read it with an open mind without it.

[GILMORE?]

Of course. My point was exactly that, noting how that reluctance is so common as to be the norm among most people right now.

its remarkable in exactly how its so very un-remarked upon

[Citizen X]

This. Every article on this site is actually written for MY consumption.

[John]

The funny thing is that saying Trump isn't terrible is such an easy cheap way to feel brave. It just brings the approbation of people who have lost their minds on the subject and will likely at some point come to their senses. There is no real downside to it. And it has the benefit of being both correct and counter to popular opinion. Rarely do you get such an easy opportunity to stand up to popular opinion. Yet, so few journalists are even up to that simple task.

[tarran]

Cheap?!? Cheap!!!!

I was ostracized* for two days at work for saying that there were non-evil reasons to vote for Trump over Clinton!!!!

Saying Trump ain't so bad is like taunting cops with "oink" noises. Sooner or later you will be shown the violence inherent in the system.

* The people refuse to talk to you kind of ostracism, not the "you have 24 hours to leave town and if you show your face here after tat deadline, we execute you" kind.

[John]

It is not like they are going to shoot you or something.

[Free Society]

I'm with you there. In certain crowds I don't open my mouth on the topic, not out of fear of ostracism, but because I don't want to have yet another incoherent argument with someone infected with the derangement.

[SimonD]

Think of it as a research project. If you could harvest the outrage of Progressives, you could actually replace fossil fuels with renewable energy (since Progs seem to have an unending supply of the stuff).

[Free Society]

I'm not sure existing power grids could handle all that emotional energy.

[Brett L]

But seriously, if they could have voted you into exile for ten years, they definitely would have, right?

[SimonD]

It just brings the approbation of people who have lost their minds on the subject and will likely at some point come to their senses

...assumes facts not in evidence

I've seen nothing to indicate this hard-core Progressives are going to come to their senses any time soon.

[John]

What can I say, I am an optimist. Don't forget, sometime between now and January of 2025, Trump will leave public life and no longer be a threat to win an election. At that point, Trump will assume the role, as all successful Republican politicians do, of "reasonable Republican of the past" whose example leftists will use to concern troll Republicans who are still a threat to win office.

So, I think they will come to their senses eventually. But you are right it won't be for a while or for the right reasons.

[Brett L]

As you note, if nothing else, 2016 has seen the full restoration of GWB's character from murderous war-mongering dictator to moderate, hard-working statesman.

[Tonio]

I award Elizabeth a gold-star for Shallackawhackadooford-quality-linkage

Agreed.

And let me add a golf clap to that, I believe my first award of that to a staffer (sorry, Robby).

[Lord Rollingpin]

Robby got a participation trophy from the commentariat, so no problem.

[GILMORE?]

Here let me add my own disclaimer to my own criticism of disclaiming-in-general =

Scott's piece is terrific.

Still - what's still notable/bizarre about this sort of 'plea for sanity' sort of commentary... is how no one would dare say it *during* the actual election.

[GILMORE?]

Also !

- Scott's method of using "proxy data" to make his points is wonderful, and the sort of intellectual "sanity-checking" which no on in the media was doing all through the election

e.g. - if you can't find polling asking *exactly* what you're trying to find, what you should do is look for other similar sorts of markers, to provide a rough-guesstimate of the 'size-range' and 'direction' of a given opinion/atttiude/behavior.

He very methodically manages to point out that the actual prevalence of 'racists' in the electorate is - at best - somewhere in the low-single-digit range (*and that the actually card-carrying KKK-sympathizing types are in the 'tens of thousands' ..at best)

People will usually criticize this sort of thing with an appeal-to-ignorance, saying "we can't *really* know" what people feel in their hearts...

...but even if you take his approach with a grain of salt - its far more compelling than the people who insist that we're somehow a nation of secret-racists.

[GILMORE?]

also - i am saving this sentence for future reference =

"The logic is flawless, it's just that you're wrong about everything.""

[GILMORE?]

ALSO!!

Stop turning everything into identity politics. The only thing the media has been able to do for the last five years is shout "IDENTITY POLITICS IDENTITY POLITICS IDENTITY POLITICS IDENTITY POLITICS IDENTITY POLITICS!" at everything, and then when the right wing finally says "Um, i?den-tity?.poli-tics?" you freak out and figure that the only way they could have possibly learned that phrase is from the KKK.

[Cyto]

On the "Racists are everywhere" front... I have a lifetime of personal research.

15 years of travelling the country as an interracial couple, frequenting local dives in all-white backwater towns and all-black night clubs in inner cities and everything in between, I can report that not one time in that 15 year period did a single white person ever say an unkind word to us. Never once did we even get any funny looks. We attended mostly white churches and mostly black churches. We were always greeted warmly.

The only people in all that time who ever gave us a problem were black dudes. And mostly they just complimented my on my beautiful wife. (the one Nation of Islam guy who tried to recruit her really, really made a mistake though)

No. There is no rampant racism everywhere. You have to work very, very hard to see it in the tea leaves.

But it is really, really easy to divide people into tribes. All it takes is a little push from one group to get the other group to push back.

If you don't want to believe a US example, look at the middle east. The Islamist groups major strategy is to run around killing people in order to get the government to push back harder and get the people all pissed off at the government. It is absurd, but it works. People are intensely tribal and not all that smart in large groups.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

the actual prevalence of 'racists' in the electorate is - at best - somewhere in the low-single-digit range

Gilmore just outed himself as a racist!

How high did you hope it would be?

You're really Irish, aren't you?

[Lord Humungus]

OT: my wife is wearing a garter belt with stockings today. My inner Benny Hill is happy. Now I just need a bald man to slap on the head*

*These euphemisms!

[Heroic Mulatto]

Pics or GTFO

[Citizen X]

[rides giant tricycle, falls over]

[Citizen X]

Pics or GTFO.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Happy Thursday. Occasion?

[Lord Humungus]

She's a perv?

or more likely (sad!) reason: she hates panty hose and has to wear a suit for her job.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

I feel that. My leg hairs catch on my panty hose all the time.

[Citizen X]

Now Crusty wants pics.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Crusty already has pics.

He's made photo-shop composites of us all.

[Trigger Warning]

Liberaltarian, Manbearpig, whatever.

Libtards only pretend to like libertarians when they are out of power, and want votes. Fuck them. As soon as they retake control, all libertarians become literally Hitler.

[robc]

Exactly. I will accept the alliance if it means they vote LP.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Agreed. Though the same drum should be hit concerning self-styled 'Conservatarians' as well.

[Trigger Warning]

Agreed.

[robc]

That is a little bit more of a thing, as Paul/Amash/Massie have seemed to have found a semi-acceptable home inside the GOP.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I was talking more voters than candidates. The ones that will say they'll vote for Paul et. al but request they compromise on all the "libertarian" planks of their platform.

You know, for the good of the party. It's never the other way around. Well, I don't agree with his stance on the PATRIOT Act, but I'll vote for him anyway.

[robc]

Agreed on that.

But I figure voters dont really need a label.

[GILMORE?]

the same drum should be hit concerning self-styled 'Conservatarians' as well.

I *would* agree, but the only person I know who actually calls themselves that is Chuck Cookie, and he's just dandy in my book.

(*he could have awful views for all i know, its just that i've never actually read him say them. Am i disclaiming? Crap. RETRACTED)

[Free Society]

I wouldn't want to accept any alliance with leftists. Progressives and socialists always lie. 95% of modern liberals always lie. Their concept of human nature makes them ideologically incompatible, their moral relativism makes them wholly untrustworthy and on top of it all, their mission whether intended or not, is to destroy western civilization.

Libertarians should be working to eradicate the leftisms, not aiding them.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

"The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior 'righteous indignation' ? this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats."

-Huxley, Aldous.

[John]

Liberals love gay marriage, tranny rights and legalized pot. That is enough. It is Bill Weld and Brian Doherety's movement dude. You are just living in it.

[Longtobefree]

"New Jersey lawmakers want to make it a crime to get your cat declawed."
If the cat is owned by a woman, doesn't she have the right to choose?

[UnCivilServant]

Whoah, we're not talking a human being here, of course she doesn't get to make the descision, the all knowing all wise government makes it for her!

[UnCivilServant]

*disclaimer - I was attempting sarcasm. I may have been unclear about that

[Sevo]

"Clinton voters plan Christmas donations in the name of family members who voted Trump"
http://www.sfgate.com/politics.....618384.php

Ya lost; get over it, loser.

[Zeb]

Better than rioting. Nice how they manage to make charitable giving a spiteful activity.

[Tonio]

From the Slate Star Codex Article: But remember that 4% of Americans believe that lizardmen control all major governments.

Shoutout to Mr. Lizard! Also, is the preferred usage Lizardmen or Lizardpeople?

[robc]

When voting, it is Lizard People.

http://publicradio1.wpengine.n.....eopleb.jpg

[UnCivilServant]

Vote Lizardtarian?

[John DeWitt]

Is this the Lizardtarian Moment?

[Tonio]

Rob, does this mean that you are one of them? [rustles tinfoil]

[John]

Speaking of the Reptilians, anyone else been watching People of Earth? It is a new comedy on TBS about alien abduction. I find it to be very entertaining.

[Ken Shultz]

If Trump and the congressional Republicans manage to undo ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank, undo Obama's executive orders, etc., Obama will go down in history as a fairly insignificant President, but contrary to what someone said to me last night, the lesson there isn't that we shouldn't get so worked up in the future over reformist presidents because presidents can't really change things too dramatically.

There were two groundswells that rose up against Obama and his policies: One by the Tea Party culminating in their takeover of Congress and another led by the Trump campaign meant to bury the elitism Obama stood for. If we throw Obama's achievements on the ash heap of history, it'll be because people got so worked up about them.

It won't be due to a lack of inertia and the system's inherent resistance to change.

We're more powerful than we think we are. The things we say have more of an impact than is generally appreciated. Totalitarians universally fear what their subjects are saying to each other--perhaps more than anything else. If and when things go against us, we should remember that just because we don't have any Libertarians in high office, doesn't mean we're powerless.

ObamaCare could have turned into single payer. Dodd-Frank could have plagued us through and into the next business cycle. Gay marriage is a thing. Recreational marijuana is legal. None of that shit happened by accident.

[Free Society]

Obama will go down in history as a fairly insignificant President

The first black president will go down in history as insignificant in the same way that Lincoln went down in history as a tyrant that irreversibly expanded executive branch and Federal government power. It may be true, but the presidential myth will become more prominent than the facts.

[Glide]

Mcduck's authoritarianism warrants a return of the "liberaltarian."

I've nothing against libertarians working on issues that have Democrat support, but don't believe their lies about being in favor of liberty. We all saw the last eight years.

[Bill Dalasio]

Students for Liberty and New Republic advocate "a return of the 'liberaltarian.'"

Yeah. How about no on that?

Or more specifically, how about no "working with the Democrats to reduce Trump's power" unless they're willing to reduce presidential power, period. Otherwise, fuck off. I'm not interested in being a tool for progressives who have more in common with Donald Trump than with me.

[John]

I am sure there were a lot of sad faces around reason headquarters the day after the election. Gillespie was no doubt in a corner mubling about the youths, Welch was quietly informing the staff that Suderman was in a safe place and would be back to work in a few weeks. Mangu Ward probably brought in scones she bought at that bakery run by the transgendered Syrian refugee everyone loves to try and help people's spirits. Hopefully at some point during the day the staff realized the good news that Progressives can pretend to be their friends again.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

How much schadenfreude did you extract from your Reason fantasy, John?

[John]

Enough to fill Lake Meade.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm just glad the election is over - I've slept better the past week than I have for the previous month.

And yes it's stupid to stress over things out of my control but the little animal brain of paranoia just can't stop.

[Bill Dalasio]

Even aside from that, it's not even particularly clear to me that Trump is going to be some absolute disaster for liberty (certainly less than Clinton). Some of what he's suggested sounds promising and I see no reason not to be supportive of him on those issues. I'm certainly not going join the proglodytes in their jihad before I see any actual evidence of Trupmp being a problem.

[Free Society]

Yeah but the other night he went out to dinner with his family and didn't check in with George Stephanopopulous or other media bigwigs beforehand. LEAST TRANSPARENT ADMINISTRATION IN HISTORY. END OF THE REPUBLIC!

[Lord Rollingpin]

When I saw how badly he had treated the press, my eyes filled with tears...
of laughter.

[Brett L]

It is Taco Thursday at the L household. My wife is making my favorite pork tacos, and I will once again demonstrate for her amusement, that I am too stupid to stop at five when I am already gluttonously full, but will eat at least six and maybe seven, and then moan and writhe in the discomfort of overindulgence.

[Free Society]

Pics of the toilet bowl or it didn't happen.

[Lord Humungus]

Two tacos is enough for me...

[Mr. Dyslexic]

No room left for alcohol!

[Michael]

Question for the commentariat:

I will be spending Christmas with the wife's family this year. They are super duper ultra-prog lefty types that are absolutely losing their shit on an unprecedented level in the aftermath of this election. I have a nagging urge to show up to dinner in a MAGA cap festooned in safety pins just for shits and giggles and to lighten the mood a bit. Your thoughts?

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Get a nice spray tan. Then get a shitty spray tan over the top of that one.

[Michael]

"I thought you said you was bringing a white boy home! I don't see a white boy! I see a damn fool!"

[XenoZooValentine]

Very few plans are just crazy enough to work, but many are just crazy enough to fail hilariously.

[Free Society]

Wear this Trump shirt instead. That should trigger nicely.

[B.P.]

Uh, this is the greatest garment ever created.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Do it. And take notes and pictures and send them to us.

[Citizen X]

Pics or GTFO.

[John]

Show up with some cap that plays on and makes fun of "Make America Great Again". Something like one of these.

http://www.dailydot.com/unclick/donal.....ats-again/

[Je suis Woodchipper]

yes

[Lord Rollingpin]

Talk it over with your wife.

[The Last American Hero]

Every every every time Trump comes up, jump in and change the subject. Alternatively, place monetary bets for what will happen in the next 12 months - donated to the charity of the winner's choice, and enjoy your victory next year when nothing really changes.

[bacon-magic]

Congratulations on your divorce. Also, be glad for the invention of the butter knife.

[GILMORE?]

On the subject of "Liberaltarianism"

I know of exactly 2 outlets that might accurately described as such =

- Bleeding Heart Libertarians

and

- Center for a Stateless Society

I can't claim to have read either very much. I've maybe swallowed an one-or-two-articles-a-year from each over the last decade or so.

And my rough feeling about that sampling? is that i've never read anything from either that didn't contain at least one big nugget of horseshit.

By which i mean, even when i found myself predisposed to agree with what the author was saying, they had to throw one thing in which made me go, "NO NO NO NO NO" and end up feeling like they'd lost me.

The second feeling is that the authors - accurately or not - all *feel* like they live on college campuses, even if they're not actually academics. By which i mean.... their arguments feel like they aren't actually intended for any "real world" issues - that they're purely spitballing like its some classroom-debate. As though they are perfectly comfortable being "libertarian"... as long as this libertarian stuff is really just about intellectual-posturing, and not, you know "people being killed/jailed/endlessly circumscribed by their own government"... aka "policy".

Consequently, i write them off as entirely useless, regardless of their theoretical fellow-travelership.

Just my $0.02

[GILMORE?]

noted -

the "cover story" on both BHL and CSS are about the same potential libertarian/liberal re-unificiation

one comment made in the former that i think is worth mentioning =

They [the left] never want to upend existing power structures to liberate people from them, but rather to impose the inversion of said structures. Whether its Title iX kangaroo courts, affirmative action, high income and estate taxes, or any other progressive policy, the goal is subjugate the historically powerful, not to liberate the historically subjugated

[GILMORE?]

another good one =

Libertarianism is about people leaving each other alone. Look around and see WHO is willing to do that in America 2016.

It's not the Left. Those who in another generation called themselves "liberals" are now the most indefatigable prigs and intrusive scolds in our society. They crave the atmosphere of social crisis - which is to say, they crave and every chance they get create an atmosphere where people cannot afford to mind their own business. They conjured up ersatz religions in the form of anti-racism, feminism, progressivism, etc, and now they see blasphemy and sin everywhere they look. And they show no sense of proportion in punishing either. If someone is on their side, if someone is sanctified by the new religion, the Left doesn't give a shit what crimes he commits. They effortlessly forgive shooting, looting, arson, vandalism, censorship, etc. The most housebroken among them seem less offended by what Omar Mateen did, than they are by people crass enough to notice and say why he did it.

In short, they're crazy. And not at all content to be crazy by themselves. One way or another, the Left today is always up in someone's face. They won't leave anyone alone.

[The Fusionist]

"Students for Liberty and New Republic advocate "a return of the 'liberaltarian.'""

Come back, honey, this time I won't beat you so hard, I promise!

[Stormy Dragon]

That was certainly true in 2008, when libertarians abandoned Democrats

Let me get this straight: in 2008, the writer thinks is was the libertarians who did the abandoning?

[John]

That is an interesting claim to say the least. It is certainly news to me to hear that Libertarians got on the John McCain train.

[Invisible Finger]

From the "best thing" link:

Clinton supporters are more atomized and individualist, Trump supporters stronger believers in culture and community.

WTF??? This is exactly backwards!

Kultur War is mostly being fought by the left. The usual suspects on the right still fight it but they are dwindling in numbers whereas it seems to be the "secret password" to get into leftist cliques.

[Slumbrew]

Yeah, that was the one thing in an otherwise excellent post that had me doing a double-take.