A.M. Links: Trump Vows to Scrap Trans-Pacific Trade Deal on First Day in Office, Kanye West Hospitalized, Tsunami Hits Japan

• 

  Gage Skidmore / Flickr.com

  Donald Trump says he will withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in the White House.

• The Trump administration will not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton.
• "At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."
• Tsunami waves, caused by a 6.9-magnitude earthquake, have struck Japan.
• "The US State Department issued a travel alert Monday urging US nationals to exercise caution at holiday festivals, events and outdoor markets in Europe in the coming weeks, a day after French security services thwarted an ISIS-linked plot."
• Kanye West has reportedly been hospitalized.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Trump administration will not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton.

First promise BROKEN

[(((Renegade)))]

You escaped the clutches of the squirrels!

[Rich]

It will, however, nominate her for Secretary of State.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Frankly, I would not be surprised.

[MarkLastname]

Maybe he'll make her the new director of the FBI.

[Swiss Servator]

Maybe he is just lulling her into a false sense of security?

[(((Renegade)))]

It's part of his fiendish plan.

[Rich]

*** narrows gaze ***

[Zero Sum Game]

Sword of Damocles.

He's got good leverage against the Clintons. Why give that up and expend political capital at the same time?

[BigW]

Yep. They should have said, the Trump administration will not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton....at this time.

[Zero Sum Game]

In 2018 Chelsea gets elected to the House of Representatives and tries to start some shit.

Trump: Cut the crap, or your mom goes to prison.
Chelsea: You wouldn't!
Trump: You don't know me very well, do you?

Fuck political dynasties.

[spqr2008]

I would enjoy that, because I'm a mean person, who thinks that Chelsea and her hedge fund manager husband deserve whatever bad things happen to them because she took advantage of her parents' name and influence to become wealthy, and he takes advantage of Bill's policies all the time to make his money.

[CatoTheChipper]

The Clintons probably have as much leverage against Trump. Both Bill and The Donald were buddies with Jeffrey Epstein, and there are all sorts of sordid stories about his Pedo Island. If half of the stories are true, Clinton's counter-accusations could be devastating to The Donald.

[I'm Wither]

People who hump 16-year-old girls are not pedophiles.

[I can't even]

He probably knows she so sick, she'll be gone long before an investigation would be completed.

[Princess Trigger]

The husk of that vessel is of no use now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't you start.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Swiss Servator]

Gr?ezi, Rufus.

[Mr Lizard]

Or just letting them pull a little more rope...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump says he will withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in the White House.

HOW CAN WE BELIEVE YOU, MR PRESIDENT?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

260) At my church on Sunday, we had a detective speak to the adult Sunday school about human trafficking in our area. The man works in the Child Exploitation unit and had a pretty interesting, even slick presentation. But man, I hate it when people exaggerate. No doubt he's doing good work, but when somebody presents some bullshit statistics and psychology it just makes me skeptical about the whole thing.

He claimed that last year his unit handled about 500 cases (my impression is these were cases actually prosecuted, not just investigations). Sounds reasonable?Fairfax County has 1.1 million people, so 500 seems plausible. But he also made the claim that the police believe they only manage to uncover 1% of all human trafficking that goes on in the area. Come on! Am I supposed to believe there were 50,000 cases of human trafficking?i.e. 1 out of every 22 people in Ffx Co. was human trafficked?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Even worse was when he attempted some armchair psychology. He was discussing the issue of consent, and how according to Virginia law it is not possible for a minor to consent to prostitution, thus sex work by anybody under 18 is automatically considered trafficking. So far, so good.

But he then made the claim that even if you are over 18, it's not *really* possible to consent to sex as a prostitute. His theory was that without an emotional connection, your brain interprets sex as traumatic, so even if you consciously say yes, you're subconsciously experiencing sex as an assault.

Man, I remember hearing the same thing in my evangelical church growing up?that sex outside of marriage was intrinsically damaging, even if you *thought* you wanted to do it. I'm sure the people saying it meant well, but that kind of uninformed theorizing was a big reason I was turned off to religion for years.

You know, child exploitation is exactly the kind of thing I want my police force working on?real crimes, not drug war bullshit. But his playing fast and loose with the statistics and psychology completely undermined the presentation for me. Makes me wonder how much of the rest of what he was telling was truth, and how much simply made up.

[Hamster of Doom]

At my church on Sunday, we had a detective speak to the adult Sunday school about human trafficking in our area.

Sales pitch. Just keep that in mind. Time-share condominiums, child sex trafficking, whatever pays the bills, man.

[The Grinch]

You have to believe in pop psychology and BS statistics for the good of the children.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Do those stats include psycho feminists who consider being with a man in a car to be trafficking?

[Tyler.C]

Well the uber driver IS driving through traffic, seems pretty cut and dry.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Tyler.C]

This is quite the honor...

[commodious gits gud]

The woman is exploiting the Uber driver since Uber doesn't provide comprehensive health insurance.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

But he then made the claim that even if you are over 18, it's not *really* possible to consent to sex as a prostitute. His theory was that without an emotional connection, your brain interprets sex as traumatic, so even if you consciously say yes, you're subconsciously experiencing sex as an assault.

This is all nonsense, of course, but IIRC NoVA actually does have one of the higher rates of sex-trafficking in the U.S. I think it has to do with all of the money, international travelers, especially people in positions of power, and so on.

[Rich]

But he then made the claim that even if you are over 18, it's not *really* possible to consent to sex as a prostitute.

Q: What's the difference between a contractor and a prostitute?

A: There are *some* things a prostitute just won't do.

[The Last American Hero]

The hooker gets the job done on time and on budget.

[Citizen X]

In both cases you're paying to get fucked, but in only one do you enjoy it.

[Lee Genes]

I think it has to do with all of the money, international travelers, especially people in positions of power, and so on. politicians.

[Tonio]

There is also a large colony of Saudis there; people who are known to practice actual slavery back home. A lot of their maids and other domestic help are effectively slaves, although that's not as lurid as trafficking for purposes of prostitution.

[Lee Genes]

+1 leather overcoat in July

[Tonio]

But he then made the claim that even if you are over 18, it's not *really* possible to consent to sex as a prostitute.

Look for Eddie to start using this line of argument in his next anti-prostitution screed.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Anyone who works for the FedGov is a trafficker or is being trafficked, so NoVa is literally like an orphan prostitution ring.

[Free Society]

I only purchase orphan prostitutes to labor in my monocle factory. They have much better developed dexterity for the precision work we do.

[TheZeitgeist]

That sounds like a lot of work. Personally, I use them for home heating - they're so cold on arrival they just scamper unbidden into the firebox.

And if coal that shovels itself isn't progress, well what is?

-KOCHTOPUSS

[Free Society]

It really is a lot of work. That's why the orphans do it. Also, orphans don't need a lot of nourishment for this kind of work, so you'll keep your feed costs down and the orphans won't grow very much even if they survive the first year or two. On the off-chance one succumbs to malnutrition or dysentery, then you just get one of the older boys to toss him in the furnace for warmth. Waste not, want not.

[John DeWitt]

Hillary Clinton and her underage sex slave parties account for a good portion of that NoVA, according to PIZZA, HOT DOGS, and WikiLeaks.

[The Fusionist]

"Man, I remember hearing the same thing in my evangelical church growing up?that sex outside of marriage was intrinsically damaging, even if you *thought* you wanted to do it."

I'm going to speculate wildly here, and guess that the evangelicals actually believe you can consent to sexual - or any other - sin. But, I also speculate, they said it was damaging.

Just as someone can consent to eat an enormous amount of unhealthy foods...it's not involuntary, but it's damaging and something which shouldn't be done.

Or am I way off base?

[Lee Genes]

Extra-marital sex = sin
Sin = moral damage

QED

[The Fusionist]

Of course there could have been a theological angle...Free Will, grace, etc.

"For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." Romans 7:15

[TheZeitgeist]

All the moral confusion of sin and souls sure explains all the sheep herding in the Bible.

[The Fusionist]

Is this some kind of Pavlovian thing?

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Church AND you live in Fairfax County?

Sir, you are the patriarchy.

[Tonio]

^This. Extra points if it's Episcopalian.

[MarkLastname]

So, does that mean all the hookers I've been with have actually been raping me AND getting paid to do it?

Anyhow, it should be remembered that psychoanalysis is basically a cult, not a science.

[AlmightyJB]

All those girls human trafficking themselves for free drinks at the bar.

[Tyler.C]

How dare you blame the victim!!!! Tacking advantage of men to get drinks does not mean men have any right to take advantage of women and actually talk to them. Men should know their place as just piles of cash to be milked.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Getting milked works for me...

*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*

[MarkLastname]

A woman needs a man like a woman needs an ATM!

[Brett L]

Child Exploitation Unit? Of 17 year olds? I see the problem. My wife heard something along the same lines somewhere. Only in our situation it was that Pinellas county, FL had the highest number of sex-trafficked children (or something like that). I pointed out that if you're a 14 year old runaway (a)finding a place where you can sleep outside year round helps and (b) [as we were driving by a shopping center] that unlike all the jobs in that shopping center, no one was going to tell that 14 year old they were too young for sex work. Next time ask that detective what a 15 year old's home life was like when he or she was 12 or 13. They may have made a rational decision to leave home and get paid and have some control over when and with whom to have sex.

[Tonio]

Well, legally they are still children even though they have some limited freedoms that younger children don't. And as long as they are legally children, look for the exploitation of that fact for lurid headlines and fundraising appeals.

[Griffin3]

[1] You make it illegal for them to work in any other job, with a combination of minimum wage being set too high for them, and Employee ID laws that they can't comply with in any way. If you make it impossible for young runaways to find legal work, would you prefer they starve?

[2] This is when you stand up in church and call bullshit on the detective's stats. Those people in the church know you better than they know this visiting jackass, it's your chance to knock an authority figure down a notch from a position of actual safety, where you really won't get a nickel ride. Worst case is, you get Sunday mornings free.

[Lord Humungus]

This is your STEVE SMITH Winter Warning

[Rich]

Good Lord.

[Citizen X]

That's it, Hit'n'Run is over. Everybody go home and think about your life. We'll try again in a couple months.

[Swiss Servator]

STEVE SMITH COME VISIT AND GIVE YOU "SPECIAL HUG"!

[Citizen X]

D-:

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I am totally judging that book by its cover. And I judge it worthy.

[Swiss Servator]

STEVE SMITH COME OVER AND "AUTOGRAPH" COPY FOR YOU!

[commodious gits gud]

Steve Smith's autograph is a humongous mushroom-shaped contusion on one's forehead, isn't it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Kanye West has reportedly been hospitalized.

It ain't yeezy being a Trump supporter.

[Rich]

"Ima let you be finished."

[Swiss Servator]

*slow clap*

[Hamster of Doom]

Kanye West has reportedly been hospitalized.

You could've just said exhaustion, we already knew it was gonna be exhaustion.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Makes sense, he seems pretty exhausting to be around, I can't imagine actually being him.

[l0b0t]

Fun Fact - Several years ago, I was working on a music video shoot at the Chelsea Hotel. It was for some British group I had never heard of but featured Kanye. This was not too long after the South Park fish sticks episode aired and the crew couldn't get enough of mocking that wee fellow. When the producer had me serve actual fish sticks as part of my craft service setup, Kanye threw a fit and commenced to sulking in his trailer until his scence was shot, then he left in a huff. Good times with thin-skinned celebrities.

[Michael Ejercito]

So these Democrats want the election to be thrown into the House?

[Chipwooder]

Yes, because they think they can get John Kasich or Mitt Romney that way

[Princess Trigger]

They didn't think that far ahead. Have some sympathy for them. They are working through the 18 stages of greif/losing/shitting-the-bed-with-the-lights-on.

I think the next step is looking for a majic negro.

[MarkLastname]

Cory Booker 2020

[Shirley Knott]

Kanye is in the hospital? Nothing trivial I hope.

[Zombie Jimbo]

If he comes out transgender, can we just call Kris Jenner and her spawn the most evil women in history?
Bruce Jenner
Lamar Odom
Kayne West

[Pope Jimbo]

Don't forget Kris Humphries, but he was an asshole before those gals got hold of him, so I guess leave him off the list.

[commodious gits gud]

There's nothing about that douche that isn't trivial.

[Mainer2]

Shirley you can't be serious

[Mainer2]

Shirley you can't be serious

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

"At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."

They're so right. A few hundred people shouldn't get to decide who gets to be president; the state of California should.

[Lachowsky]

I don't think they would like the outcome if they were successful. Delegitimizing the presidential election may sound great to them, but I suspect the chaos from Trump supporters rioting will be a lot worse than what happens when the lefties do it.

[Chipwooder]

I don't think rioting begins to describe what would happen. I think you're looking at an actual civil insurrection at that point.

[thom]

I don't even think it would be limited to Trump supporters. It would essentially be a Coup d'Etat.

[Mr Lizard]

"Trump supporters rioting"

You misspelled hipster hunting

[Swiss Servator]

And your bagging-and-adding-to-the-freezer crews following behind, eh?

[John DeWitt]

Gotta make use of that big ass Yeti I just bought...

[Mr Lizard]

The more cold storage the better. Your Future Reptilian Overlords appreciate your dedication to preserving good meat.

[commodious gits gud]

Anything that fits in skinny jeans can't qualify as good meat.

[Lachowsky]

As I understand it, the reason wild hog meat is so gamey is that wild hogs eat quite a bit of meat. A way around this is to trap the hogs, remove them, and then feed them a grain only diet for a month or so before slaughter.

For vegan hipsters, the above need not apply. For all others, I think it's a sound solution.

[Mr Lizard]

Ya pretty much. Although your species appears to have forestalled the inevitable for a while longer. However I now have a to pay a cancellation fee for all those refrigerated trucks.

[CatoTheChipper]

I'm indifferent to whether the president is elected by an electoral college or popular vote, but I wish the Democrats the best of success in their efforts to turn GOP electors. Seriously.

And, I hope that their efforts would cause people to reflect on how antiquated the whole electoral college idea is for a nation-state of over 300 million. Maybe, just maybe, the recognition that the electoral college is an absurd way to select a president of 300 million would lead to the recognition that the popular vote would be no less absurd. The scope of the modern federal government and the powers exercised by the modern presidency are such that nobody is qualified to be the US president. Only a delusional or sociopathic person would think himself or herself qualified to be the US president. If the American people were to recognize this simple fact, it could create a movement for the devolution of power to state and local governments or even a secession movement. One can hope.

[The Grinch]

It's meaningless signaling and they know it won't happen. If there were actual consequences, meaning the blood in the streets that would result in a successful bid to deny Trump the presidency, they'd be singing a different tune.

[Tyler.C]

Bbbbbbut electoral college is bad!

Seriously progs on one hand will decry the institution, and at the same time talk about using it to undermine 'democracy'

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I do believe that is a typo in the Constitution. It was supposed to be electoral collage.

[John DeWitt]

If politicians weren't consistently hypocritical they wouldn't be consistent at all.

[Juice]

Here's Slate in 2012:
In Defense of the Electoral College

And here's Slate in 2016:
The Electoral College Is an Instrument of White Supremacy?and Sexism

[Joe M]

Two totally different people.

[TheZeitgeist]

I thought lefties turned colleges into safespaces. WTF happened!?

[BYODB]

How can the party that uses super delegates claim that the Electoral College is unfair? You decide. My opinion? These retards don't understand how their own party functions let alone the Federal Government or Electoral College.

[Lord Rollingpin]

Good call!

[Fist of Etiquette]

...a day after French security services thwarted an ISIS-linked plot.

Because, as Americans, you know it's only a matter of time before the white flags come back out.

[Crusty Juggler]

Sacrebleu!

[Lord Humungus]

C-SPAN's Trump Tower Elevatorcam, and the Meaning of Life

In comparing the palatial estates of Donald Trump and Saddam Hussein, what better place to start than magnificent stairways. Every demagogue needs one; it's part of the essential decor package, imperative for Making an Entrance, issuing grand pronouncements, or in the inevitable Hollywood biopic, raining indiscriminate hellfire down upon disloyal minions from a gold-plated AK-47, staving off a palace coup.

On the top: The "foyer" of the Donald's former manse in Greenwich, Connecticut.

On the bottom: A "double-revolution staircase," constructed of white marble with a mother-of-pearl overlay, in one of the three reception palaces at Saddam Hussein's presidential compound in his hometown of Tikrit. (Note the third, uppermost staircase, which is the architectural equivalent of Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel explaining that his guitar amplifiers are superior, because "these go to 11.")

[Hamster of Doom]

Every demagogue needs one...

You know, I don't recall staircases anywhere in the definition of demagoguery.

[Free Society]

And I think the staircase itself predates any purported demagoguery. He must have figured "well I've already got the staircase, might as well run a populist campaign for president."

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

My God, Hamster. It's like you don't even hate Trump like all the cool kids are doing.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Demo-gougery morelike, eh?

[Lachowsky]

a gold-plated AK-47,

Nah, Trump is no commie. He's old school american. I'm thinking a gold plated m14 is more his style.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

America is a nation of immigrants. AK-47s are welcome here.

[Pope Jimbo]

7.62mm, 9mm and 2 liter bottles are the only inroads the metric system has made in the US.

[SugarFree]

You forgot kilos and grams in cocaine.

[MikeP2]

Um, no actually.
Ak-47s are banned from import. Meaning the normal select-fire.
Semi-auto variants (like the AR-15 to M16 difference) are allowed, but only to licensed dealers. Even then the import from certain countries, like China, is prohibited.

[Mr Lizard]

Actually I assume a gold desert eagle. He is very pro Jerusalem after all.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Golden eagles are so much cooler than bald eagles.

[Lee Genes]

Small hands. Ruger LCP.

[Mr Lizard]

Those little 380s hurt regardless of your hand size.

[Lee Genes]

I have a Star 380. Personally, I hate the thing. Inaccurate, prone to tombstoning and jamming unless using quality FMJs. It's a novelty, nothing more.

[MikeP2]

nonsense.
It's the grip size/angle and mismatch to hand that causes the hurt. A good fit = no hurt.

most newer 380s are made for women and far smaller hands.

Older 380s were the early carry gun, designed for sport coat pockets and shoulder holsters, and fit male hands quite well.

[Citizen X]

One of my brother's army friends when he was in Iraq actually managed to get one of Saddam's gold-plated AK-47s. It got confiscated before he could figure out how to sneak it back to the States, though.

[Zeb]

As I recall, the White House is pretty fancy too. I bet it even has staircases.

[John DeWitt]

Yes, but Trump built his tower with illegal slave labor. The White House was built with legal slave labor. There's a difference.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

It definitely has its share of demagogues.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."

Umm, when the election gets thrown to the House and he's elected there, it will mean a double mandate--Trump will have been elected both by the people of the states and by their representatives.. This will backfire, and for the dumbest, most useful form of protest possible.

[Hamster of Doom]

Sometimes freedom means letting people have just enough rope to hang themselves.

[WTF]

Aren't the Democrat electors already pledged to Hillary? How does this make any difference?

[Free Society]

It's like you don't even socially signal, brah.

[robc]

That was my question. I dont think they quite understand it.

[DenverJ]

They are and it won't

[DenverJ]

Oh, and i forgot "we have to destroy democracy to save democracy".
Shameless power bid, and they should all hang.

[MikeP2]

The progs are trying to convert "republican electors" away from trump. They have had 6 or so "democrat electors" sign onto the effort to help pressure their republican peers. The wording is sloppy.
There have been deaththreats against republican electors already, and it will likely get worse over the next month before they vote. If an elector actually gets attacked, all hell will break loose.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Doesn't the state party choose its electors, though? Seems kind of pointless in states that Trump won just because the Republican party in those states will send its own electors to cast the vote.

[Lord Humungus]

Aliens 'use our planet like a supermarket', claimed former CIA employee

The reason aliens are coming to our planet isn't to insert alarmingly large probes into people's bums ? it's to pick up the groceries.

Or at least that's what one former CIA contractor once claimed ? saying that aliens use our planet 'like a supermarket', according to UFO site Collective Evolution.

So does that mean they come in peace ? and leave with frozen peas?

The late Ingo Swann claimed he was taken from an academic job at Stanford ? and asked to use his mind to 'sense' what UFOs were up to.

In one incident, he described watching a mysterious craft hoover up water out of a lake ? and realising that the aliens were just here to pick up some water.

Maybe we can send them a bill...

[Rich]

HAHAHAHAAAA!!!

[UnCivilServant]

He's trolling them.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I hope they're not shopping at Whole Foods--their alien credits won't go very far there.

[Swiss Servator]

*Paging Mr. Lizard. Mr. Lizard to the Red Courtesy Phone, please."

[Citizen X]

He's at Harris Teeter. Can you hang on?

[Mr Lizard]

I was getting fru-fru coffee and a pork roll sandwhich. What the fuck do you mammals want???!!!!!

[Chipper Morning Wood]

We want poikilothermy and we want it now!
Just kidding. Being able to maintain your own body temperature is pretty sweet.

[Mr Lizard]

Ya for that I'm forced to crawl on tree branch or a hot rock to maintain my activities.

[Suthenboy]

That is dumber than shit. The universe is full of water sources where you don't have to worry about getting shot at. Also, water is easy to make.

[Tonio]

^This

[robc]

Maybe they wanted organic water.

[SRVolunteer]

Not according to this documentary I watched when I was a kid:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Whole Foods or Trader Joes? Cause I totally seen some aliens at Trader Joes.

[commodious gits gud]

Whole Foods can suck it. They charge fifty cents more for a bag of riced cauliflower that mostly is never in stock, and their clientele looks like they reek of smug.

[I'll have the fish]

I'd say Trader Joe's.

Aliens are known for stretching their food dollar.

[db]

Yes, it completely makes sense that aliens have to come to Earth to obtain a substance that is made up of the #1 and #3 most common elements in the universe, which readily react with each other under almost any conditions to form it.

[Lord Humungus]

Maybe they like Artisanal water, you othering cis shitlord.

[(((Renegade)))]

Florida (((man)))?

[UnCivilServant]

From the headline, I'm inclined to say it's justified.

[Brett L]

I think attempting to circumcise a 20 year old man against his will is a violation of the NAP, yes?

[Juice]

Well....

According to a police report, Fultz's father was asleep on a sofa in his bedroom when Fultz, armed with a knife, entered and stabbed his father in the neck.

[Brett L]

Its a Florida article, so 50/50 on which one was a paranoid schizophrenic.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Fultz has been diagnosed as schizophrenic, bipolar and autistic.

I thought that was pretty well covered in the headline.

Florida.

Man.

[Lord Humungus]

Britain to Trump: 'No vacancy' for Farage as ambassador

"Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!" Trump said on Twitter.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who congratulated Trump on his victory, was swift to reject such an undiplomatic proposal.

"There is no vacancy," a Downing Street spokesman said when asked about Trump's remark on Tuesday. "We already have an excellent ambassador to the US."

It is highly unusual in the modern era for leaders to publicly suggest to foreign nations whom they would like to see as ambassador, though during strained relations they sometimes reject or expel envoys.

[Rufus The Monocled]

The Donald should just troll the world and appoint the cast of Sesame Street to his staff.

Imagine that world!

[Tyler.C]

Would they take the job? Who am i kidding of course they would, just like every other idiot who critisizes their opponents and the join their administrations. (Im looking at you Romney)

[MarkLastname]

Frankly, Romney is an asshole if he doesn't take the job. Just by keeping Bolton and Giuliani away from the state dept he'd be doing a public service. The election is over, no point in fighting it anymore.

[I can't even]

Can Farage be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN? That would be a fun Fuck-you.

[Mainer2]

It is highly unusual in the modern era for leaders to publicly suggest to foreign nations whom they would like to see as ambassador

HARUMPH !

[Crusty Juggler]

How Russia Pulled Off the Biggest Election Hack in U.S. History

Their nerds are pretty good.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Is this some of that "fake news" I keep hearing about?

[Crusty Juggler]

It's real news because it is at a well-respect website.

[UnCivilServant]

I don't respect it. It's just 'esquire'.

[Free Society]

How Russia Pulled Off the Biggest Election Hack in U.S. History

Their nerds are pretty good.

The left is really putting in overtime to steer US public opinion towards starting a war with Russia.

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

Well, we have to go to war with somebody - it is known - and Russians, unlike ISIS or Saudi Arabians, are white.

[Free Society]

Well, white people are the real enemy anyhow. ISIS and the Saudis just want to share their culture with us, and for them we'll share our money and weaponry. It's a win-win.

[SRVolunteer]

Bigger than the hack of 1816?

[The Late P Brooks]

Kanye West has reportedly been hospitalized.

For his own good?

[Swiss Servator]

For all of our good, Brooksie. For all of us.

[Brett L]

His family heard he lost $30M by cancelling the concert and had him committed for their good.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

?The Trump administration will not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton.

I still think he (or Barry) needs to pardon her. Her political career is over, but we all know she won't go to jail no matter what happens. What better way to permanently link her crimes in people's minds than having the presidential pardon over her?

[Tyler.C]

Can you be pardoned if, you know the FBI hasn't recommend charges?

[Lee Genes]

Yes. See Nixon.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Yes, the pardon-power is pretty broadly set out in the Constitution (and predates the FBI).

[Free Society]

Well I think he means to ask "can you be pardoned for that which you have not been charged".

[DenverJ]

And the answer is still "yes". Obama could, if he wanted, issue a blanket pardon along the lines of "I hereby pardon Hillary Clinton for any crimes she may have committed between (whatever date she became SoS) and November 22, 2016."

[Brett L]

Note that it would essentially require her to plead no contest. You can't be pardoned for something you're innocent of AND not convicted of.

[Tyler.C]

Exactly.

[Tom Bombadil]

"The Trump administration will not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton"

This is misdirection.
The DOJ doesn't need the President's permission or impetus to prosecute crime.
In fact, it is inappropriate for the President to have any influence on the decision either way.

[westernsloper]

"In fact, it is inappropriate for the President to have any influence on the decision either way."

I think that ship has sailed.

I do hope you are right and it is misdirection though.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Transdimensional transphobic Chess.

[Lord Humungus]

Vox + Cato = ??

Donald Trump's feud with the cast of Hamilton, explained

Trump rode to office, in part, as a crusader against political correctness who wasn't afraid to tell harsh truths and offend people. But Donald Trump himself has been known to take criticism poorly.

To his fans, this isn't a contradiction: Trump, especially now that he's president-elect, really does deserve deference in the name of patriotism. It's a phenomenon that Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute has labeled "patriotic correctness": a brand of right-wing hypersensitivity that gets just as offended by insults to American pride and patriotism (like protests against the president-elect or "The Star-Spangled Banner") as any college activist gets over insults to diversity.

Unsurprisingly, participants in "patriotic correctness" tend to have a lot of ideas about how American history ought to be taught, and are greatly sensitive to attempts to change traditional American-greatness curricula to emphasize the participation of marginalized groups, or to portray the Founding Fathers as anything less than one-dimensional heroes. Hamilton, by race-bending the Founding Fathers and having them speak in an idiom associated with the streets, is the kind of cultural remix they don't appreciate.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Ok, serious question. Is Hamilton actually good, or is it more like Cats? I mean, I hear "hip-hop musical based on the most statist of our founding fathers," and it doesn't scream quality to me.

[Crusty Juggler]

I mean, I hear "hip-hop musical based on the most statist of our founding fathers," and it doesn't scream quality to me.

Racist!!!!!! It is a hip-hop musical, so if you don't like hip-hop - or don't pretend to like hip-hop like all the old dorks attending - then I doubt it is enjoyable.

I have a friend who is a theatre critic/geek, and he did not like it because he hates the hippity hop.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I've heard a few numbers from Broadway recording and found it bewildering how anyone could pretend to enjoy it.

Hip hop and musical theater don't mix.

[Zeb]

Musical theater has an amazing ability to take any genre of music and make it annoying and boring.

[Free Society]

I've heard a few numbers from Broadway recording and found it bewildering how anyone could pretend to enjoy it.

Yeah, but think of how cool and hip you'd look for acting like you get it. Also, are kids still referring to things as cool and/or hip? God I hope so, because I refuse to change.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

//I refuse to change//

I'm hip

[Heroic Mulatto]

I have a friend who is a theatre critic/geek,

You are dead to me, by association.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Don't take it to heart, HM. I knew he was lying when he said "I have a friend..."

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

The best part is that it's supposed to be a "YAAASSS IMMIGRANTS!!" interpretation of American history--but Hamilton did not support mass immigration because he felt people from shitty countries would transport the cultural and social dysfunction of their homeland to the US, and was one of the leading supporters of the 1790 Immigration Act that limited immigration to the US to white people only.

[Lee Genes]

This. Hamilton was an unrepentant elitist. I don't understand the fascination from the SJW crowd at all.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Hamilton was an unrepentant elitist. I don't understand the fascination from the SJW crowd at all.

You answered your own question.

[DenverJ]

Well, kinda depends on your definition of "immigrant". All those black people were just here on visitor visas, I guess.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Miranda has explained that Hamilton's "immigrant" status was the primary motivation for creating the musical.

[DenverJ]

Mandatory

[DenverJ]

Wow, I should watch the video before I link. That's a very incomplete and bad version.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I hear "hip-hop musical based on the most statist of our founding fathers," and it doesn't scream quality to me.

That has been my reaction, as well. Is it actually good, or is this all just social-signaling among goodthinkers.

Come to think of it, I don't actually know anyone who has even seen Hamilton. The only time I hear about it is through gushing articles.

Related - Statist though he may have been during the 1790s, Hamilton is a fascinating and complex guy with a riveting life story, and his influence on the U.S., especially the financial system, cannot be understated. I would definitely recommend Ron Chernow's biography about him. (I think it's the one that the musical was based on, actually.)

[Crusty Juggler]

Related - Statist though he may have been during the 1790s, Hamilton is a fascinating and complex guy with a riveting life story, and his influence on the U.S., especially the financial system, cannot be understated. I would definitely recommend Ron Chernow's biography about him.

I agree completely even though agreeing further soils my libertarian purity.

[Zeb]

I'm sure it's good in the sense that the people who wrote and perform it are talented professionals who are good at what they do.

But from what I've heard of it, it's just another musical that takes a genre of popular music and makes it extra annoying and gay (NTTAWWT).

[DenverJ]

Isn't that what "the Theatre" has always been?

[DenverJ]

Also, when are Republicans going to learn that the theatre is not safe for them?

[(((Renegade)))]

Much better than Cats. See it again and again.

[Juice]

lol
oldie but goodie

[Don Mynack]

The cast did a number from the show on the Tonys. I think. It seemed like a high school production and I was laughing at it.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

No, it's the equivalent of a minstrel show for white liberals.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

It's good. It may even qualify as a brilliant work by Lin Manuel Miranda. The first half veers too much into hagiography, but the second half is a lot more fun when Jefferson joins.

That said, all the best songs are those without Hamilton in them. George III's commentaries, Jefferson's return to the US, Aaron Burr's need to be in "the room where it happens."

Still, it's just a goddamn piece of musical theater. It's not cultural Jesus, nor is the music Mozart.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Still, it's just a goddamn piece of musical theater. It's not cultural Jesus, nor is the music Mozart.

That's what we have Kanye for.

[Rufus The Monocled]

The guy who spoke on stage - Brandon Victor Dixon is it? - is some kind of piece of work.

Funny how no one seemed to check out his background. So imma gonna chalk this under 'smug douchebags with false sense of self-righteousness'.

I'm tired of all this crap. Yeah, it's free speech but there's also something to be said of common decency. That is, we always knew it was d?class? to talk politics in certain social settings. All of a sudden it's fair game now to accost someone in public. Why not at the bank? Or Tim Hortons? Or Little League games? Or anywhere else people don't generally expect to talk politics - or worse be lectured?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

What the fuck is Tim Hortons?

[UnCivilServant]

A Canukistani rash (that extends into the northern US)

[Pope Jimbo]

There is now a blister of Tim Horton's in the Mall of America, so that rash is spreading to our prize jewels.

[Lord Humungus]

Canadian doughnuts - made from poutine, maple syrup, blood on the ice, and the tears of ill-dressed Canucks.

[Zeb]

And moose cock.

[Lord Humungus]

You gave away the secret ingredient!

[Swiss Servator]

Tim Horton's is the glorious source of Timbits!

[Zombie Jimbo]

And coffee that is so hot, they have no risk of lawsuits. If you spill it in your lap, you'll just realize your life is over and kill yourself.

[I'll have the fish]

-- If you spill it in your lap, you'll just realize your life is over and kill yourself.

*wipes projectile snot off iPad screen*

I larfed. Hard.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

In seriousness, though, I completely agree with you. Yes, it is "free speech" and no one is (or should be) claiming that the actor shouldn't be allowed to harangue Pence in public or whatever, but what the hell happened to being polite to people, for science's sake?

I was taught that it was rude to discuss politics in most social settings. That rule has completely disappeared in the past decade or so, much to the detriment of society.

(For one thing, it leads to people with unpopular opinions to keep their mouths shut to avoid fighting/getting attacked by rabid proggies, thereby blindsiding coastal elites with a Trump victory.)

[Lord Humungus]

I see it at our neighborhood parties - people (usually lefties) will start popping off about politics - perhaps social signaling (I'm a good-thinking person!) and also to see if you agree with them (to make sure you're on the right side).

I usually just try to steer the conversation away.

Related: I still see a lot of Clinton signs on people's lawns - every other political sign has been removed, but - social signaling - not the ones for Her(tm).

[Free Society]

My brother had a party the other night. And at the party were two immigrant lefties that alternated between exploding on people that they suspected of being Trump supporters (white males) and bluntly asking married white women if they'd like some brown dick. I shit you not, it was like they were acting out caricatures drawn up by the klan.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Did your brother do the sensible thing and pull out a noose as a warning?

[Free Society]

They were gently asked to leave for being drunk assholes.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

I think what he did was both rude and unprofessional. I also believe that sucking unwilling third parties into your political protest is chickenshit. When I protest, I don't suck my employers into it. As an occasional performing singer, I don't use the venue that is letting me use its stage as my personal soapbox.

All that said, Trump ought to just let it go. Keeping the controversy alive only gives it more importance than it deserves.

[Lee Genes]

Bingo. Trump's overreaction is just making it worse.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

It's also confirming what a bunch of smug, elitist douchebags liberals are. Most of their comments about the silly #BoycottHamilton hashtag amount to the "LOL they can't even afford to buy tickets LOL" variety.

[Lee Genes]

I'll explain it. It's the result of infantilized ninnies being colocated with a thin-skinned ego-maniac.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

YEAH!

What he said!

Uhh, psst. which side are we talking about?

[Zero Sum Game]

Huh, kinda like that little press meeting. That won't cease being funny for quite a while.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Christ, there's an "explainer" for this?

Fucking Vox.

[Fist of Etiquette]

At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority...

I wonder how that would go over if it was the other way around.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Democratic electors

These really are not the electors you should be pursuing...

[Juice]

But they'll vote harder than the Republican ones, you see.

[Rich]

'Meteorite' burning across sky following Japanese earthquake

Next up: Godzilla!

[UnCivilServant]

no, the UFO shopping trip went awry

[Rich]

LOL

[Just a thought not a sermon]

history shows again and again how nature points up the folly of man

[Brett L]

The Apocalypse is always descending on America and landing on Japan.

[commodious gits gud]

Eh, 2011 did it better.

[Lee Genes]

Next time your proggie Derpbook friend threatens to unfriend you, send them this.

Do not purge your followers of all your white friends who espouse #AllLivesMatter, your family who shout about black-on-black crime, and your former colleagues who are adamant they are victims of reverse racism.

At least, not yet.

Let's say you're at the point where you're sharing articles about white privilege, and Uncle Bob (who usually only shares about his favorite Nascar driver and wishes you a happy birthday once a year) leads with, "I never lived a privileged day of my life. Your aunt and I work like dogs for everything we got. White privilege, my ass. Some bullshit liberals cooked up. Makes me sick."

There's a natural urge to jump down his throat with your awesomely fiery typing skills. Or simply unfriend him.

Or you can try something different.

[UnCivilServant]

Or you can try something different.

You could try listening to what he says and realizing that the privledge narrative is unmitigated bullshit.

Oh wait, that's not what the author was going to say next.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Respecting the fact that your Uncle Bob and Aunt actually did work hard every day to earn what they've gotten?

[Lee Genes]

It's mostly about how to be a patronizing asshole. And if that fails, unfriend them anyway.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

The important point? If you're Uncle Bob(arian), you unfriend the little bastard first.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Why don't you just read psychiatric papers in some journal? At least you get some medical knowledge out if it. Not sure what you get out of Everyday Feminism other than reading people who have a platform to reveal their own internal misery and anger.

[Lee Genes]

Dude, I come here and expose my psyche to Tony, amsoc, Tulpa, shriek, etc... What's the diff?

[Rufus The Monocled]

I know, I know. Carry on.

[Free Society]

Why don't you just read psychiatric papers in some journal?

So just read some other leftist bullshit written by someone with PhD after their name?

[Juice]

saying that you're not privileged = bigot

[Griffin3]

From article link, "7 Stages of White People Getting Woke" -- Stage 3: Feel.
Nope, ain't gonna do it. I'm the lucky recipient of 6,000 years of rational thought, and I'm using it. Feels are for poets and infants.

[I'll have the fish]

"Feels are for poets and infants."

A-fucking-men

-fish

[B.P.]

"Let's say you're at the point where you're sharing articles about white privilege, and Uncle Bob (who usually only shares about his favorite Nascar driver and wishes you a happy birthday once a year)..."

How many times a year am I supposed to be wishing someone happy birthday?

[Crusty Juggler]

Here's What Your Part Of America Eats On Thanksgiving

What the frick is with you salad eaters? I'm very disappointed with you, Wyoming.

[Rich]

Another way to ditch the party early: leave after dinner to hang out with high school friends.

Or take a nap.

[Citizen X]

Ew. "Yeah, i peaked at 17 and i'd really like to relive that."

[Swiss Servator]

+1 Uncle Rico

[Citizen X]

After Thanksgiving dinner is over, you can find me sittin' in a hot tub with my soulmate.

[AlmightyJB]

While I will happily eat cherry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream; pumpkin, pecan, and apple (in that order) all seem to be more popular in Ohio than cherry based on countless pot lucks and holiday parties.

[Nephilium]

I would put Apple and Sweet Potato above pecan. I don't think I've ever seen a pecan pie brought into a potluck in Ohio.

[Hamster of Doom]

I saw one of those "Healthy Approach to Thanksgiving Dinner" articles that float around this time of year. Wtf, people. It's a frickin' holiday feast, can we just stuff our faces with gravy and pie and marshmallow sweet potatoes once a year?

/ffs

[Pope Jimbo]

Please take Minnesoda out of that group and label us correctly with "Hotdish". Uffda, what the fuck is a casserole?

[AlmightyJB]

Also, I think it goes without saying that rolls are far superior to biscuits.

[Citizen X]

It does go without saying.

Because no one says it.

Because it is not true.

[AlmightyJB]

I'll take my soft, warm, moist butter laden pillow of wonderfulness, and you can keep your dry, crumbly, flavorless puck.

[Swiss Servator]

Man, that is some euphemism!

[robc]

If your biscuits are flavorless, your grandmother failed at life.

[EDG reppin LBC]

Wow. Harsh, but true.

[Zero Sum Game]

Just because you personally have never had a good biscuit does not imply that there are no good biscuits.

[Free Society]

JB, you are one righteous dude.

[Citizen X]

Look, i will gobble the fuck out of some rolls, but biscuits are on another level. I'm sorry your life has sucked so bad that you've never had a real biscuit. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Years ago in CA I went to a local diner for breakfast. On the menu was biscuits and gravy. Having been away from Dixie for quite a while, that pressed my comfort food button. Order up and I get this sweetish, bisquicky thing covered with a watery SOS substance. I couldn't finish the thing.

Moral of the story, lots of(or most?) folks have never had a good biscuit.

[Zero Sum Game]

You were the victim of a hate crime.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Costco croissants in my family.

Perfect for mopping up gravy and bits of turkey.

[Brett L]

I guess my Yankee heritage shows through. We'll be having squash casserole.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Indeed. We invented the holiday.

Everyone else is wrong.

[Zeb]

Word.

[robc]

There were mulatto's at the first Thanksgiving?

[Heroic Mulatto]

It's quite possible. From the 17th to 19th Century, the mixed-race sailor in the British Navy or merchant marine (to say nothing of YAAAAR, Pirates!) was so common as to be cliche.

[Citizen X]

False. The first Thanksgiving was held at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia nearly a year before the Pilgrims even boarded the Mayflower.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Get outta here with that revisionism!

Though, I wouldn't mind sitting down to a plate of oysters.

[Citizen X]

You said it. My stepmom does a mean oyster stuffing. Beats the shit out of the eel pie that the Pilgrims probably ate at the second Thanksgiving.

[Lee Genes]

I haven't been there in a while. Now I'm thinking about it.

[Brett L]

Still, after dessert, the nation unites around that most American of traditions: buying shit.

"Buying shit" sounds so edgy, I guess. But just say stuff. When I am God-Emperor, there will be a copyeditor mandate for all sites that have a circulation of me.

[Zeb]

Isn't Friday the day when everyone buys their load of manure so it can age a bit over the winter?

[Citizen X]

No, Election Day was a couple weeks ago.

[Zeb]

Huh. All I did on election day was work and then stack firewood.

[commodious gits gud]

What, green chile cranberry chutney was too particular to list?

[Nikkodemus]

"EXcuse me, I think you brought me the food that my food eats."

[Chipwooder]

I guess it's a given that everyone serves stuffing and mashed potatoes? Because, otherwise, that's the first side dish I think of.

No broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole makes me sad. I love the mashed turnips, too, but at this point only my mom and I eat them so she only makes a small bit for us.

[I'll have the fish]

-- No broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole makes me sad.

This.

[Lord Humungus]

The Rape of Sudan?

Japanese peacekeepers arrive in South Sudan with new mandate

Dressed in green camouflage uniform, Squad leader Yoshino Tanaka stepped off the plane at the head of the Japanese group. He was greeted and shook hands with Japan's ambassador to South Sudan, Masahiko Kiya.

The 350 Self-Defense Forces will replace a previous contingent of Japanese peacekeepers who served in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, but did not have mandate to use force. The new troops will be tasked with engineering and construction in the capital, Juba.

For the first time since the end of World War II, these peacekeepers will have the ability to use force to protect civilians, U.N. staff and themselves. Japan's constitution, drafted under U.S. direction after the war, forbids the use of force in settling international disputes but the government has reinterpreted the constitution to allow Japanese troops to use force in some situations.

[Citizen X]

I think you mean "The Tentacle Rape of Sudan."

[Swiss Servator]

*applause*

[AlmightyJB]

*Joins in*

[Rufus The Monocled]

Japanese peacekeeper teaching how to put together a Mazda: THIS IS HOW YOU PREPARE AN AUTOMOBILE ASSEMBLY LINE. Not sure what those guys are doing.

/gestures over to the Chinese.

[Pope Jimbo]

So straffin will be commenting from a new time zone?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

?Kanye West has reportedly been hospitalized.

Ima let you finish but Prince had the best hospitalization for "exhaustion" of all time!

[Lord Humungus]

David Brooks: Fellow Trump Critics, Maybe Try a Little Listening

I've been thinking a lot about the best imaginable Trump voter. This is the Trump supporter who wasn't motivated by racism or bigotry. This is the one who cringed every time Donald Trump did something cruel, vulgar or misogynistic.

But this voter needed somebody to change the systems that are failing her. She needed somebody to change the public school system that serves the suburban children of professors, journalists and lawyers but has left her kids under-skilled and underpaid. She needed some way to protect herself from the tech executives who give exciting speeches about disruption but don't know anything about the people actually being disrupted.

She is one of those people whom Joan C. Williams writes about in The Harvard Business Review who admires rich people but disdains professionals ? the teachers who condescend to her, the doctors who don't make time for her, the activists whose definition of social justice never seems to include the suffering people like her experience.

This voter wants leaders tough enough to crack through the reigning dysfunction, and sure enough, Trump's appointments so far represent the densest concentration of hyper-macho belligerence outside a drill sergeant retirement home.

[Chipwooder]

But what about the pants crease?

[Rufus The Monocled]

This sort of writing only angers me more about people like Brooks. All this 'what did we get wrong?' talk is all bull shit. It was plain for all who cared to see if they'd paid attention and did their bleeping jobs. But they didn't want that. They wanted to believe Trump fit their narratives they set up and did everything they could to jam it in. Then, like a stupid child, they finally realized that triangle won't fit into the square and suddenly pretend to care about people again.

Go fuck yourself Brooks. You played that game and you lost your credibility in my eyes. You and your lousy colleagues who shilled for arguably one of the most contemptible candidates I've seen in our times.

[Rufus The Monocled]

candidate - as in Hillary. Fuh. Ugh.

[Pope Jimbo]

Rufus you are going to have to be a better follower if we are ever going to let you join our country.

I don't know if America has a leadership problem; it certainly has a followership problem. Vast majorities of Americans don't trust their institutions. That's not mostly because our institutions perform much worse than they did in 1925 and 1955, when they were widely trusted. It's mostly because more people are cynical and like to pretend that they are better than everything else around them. Vanity has more to do with rising distrust than anything else.

,,,

To have good leaders you have to have good followers ? able to recognize just authority, admire it, be grateful for it and emulate it.

[Lee Genes]

Why did you have to remind me of that goosestepper essay?

[Chipwooder]

Shorter Brooks - know your role, peasant, shut up and fall in line behind the glorious pants crease.

[UnCivilServant]

Once again, the Times has causation backwards. Good leaders attract followers. Sheep do not make good followers. Rotting institutions have lost trust and will not be followed because of the rot.

[Rufus The Monocled]

He's a disgusting fucking idiot.

Conservative my ass.

He's prog all the way.

[I'll have the fish]

Far as The Times goes, he & Douhat ARE conservative.

But yeah, in general, nuh uh

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

To have good leaders you have to have good followers ? able to recognize just authority, admire it, be grateful for it and emulate it.

IF I'M EMULATING LEADERSHIP THEN I'M NOT FOLLOWING VERY WELL AM I MOTHERFUCKER

[commodious gits gud]

That's not mostly because our institutions perform much worse than they did in 1925 and 1955, when they were widely trusted. It's mostly because more people are cynical and like to pretend that they are better than everything else around them.

Right, it has nothing to do with these institutions becoming much more expensive, much less productive, and terribly self-serving.

[Suthenboy]

Keep it up motherfuckers. Keep it up. Keep throwing punches at the Trump voters in your head.

I predict they will really get their asses handed to them in 2020 and they still won't know why.

[Brett L]

It won't take much for the Senate to go to 60 R in the midterms if these idiots keep preaching to their fundraiser and campaignworker choirs. Keep telling white moms who are worried that their parents are being laid off without enough for retirement and their kids can't get jobs that they are bigots and sexists. If these people are afraid of white men, they've never met the women we have to sleep next to.

[Brett L]

BTW, next time someone harangues a white woman about not voting Democrat, I hope she says, "look how well that's worked for black women.

[Citizen X]

My pro-Hillary sister-in-law tried that with my wife. There were no winners on that day, i can tell you.

[Crusty Juggler]

Acknowledging domestic terror threat, Pentagon says troops, recruiters can carry concealed guns

U.S. military personnel can now request to carry concealed handguns for protection at government facilities, according to new Defense Department directive issued last week in response to a series of deadly shootings over the last seven years.

While service members already were authorized to carry weapons as part of specific job responsibilities, the new policy allows them to apply to carry their privately owned firearms "for personal protection not associated with the performance of official duties," the directive says.

[AlmightyJB]

Not like Obama's going to stop them now.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Gun Free Zones? My one weakness!

[Lord Humungus]

Group accused of using frozen meatballs, slingshot in Cleveland vandalism spree

The spree started June 1 when the group smashed the window a bridal store on West 14th Street, according to court records.

Seven businesses, including Tremont Laundry, Ohio City Furniture and Tower City Motors, were struck over the next 11 days, as well as three homes, records say.

The group also shattered windows at several Greater Cleveland RTA bus shelters during the same period, records say.

The men used slingshots, BBs, marbles and frozen meatballs to carry out the vandalism, which police said caused thousands of dollars in damage, according to the indictment.

[Rich]

"A bridal store", eh?

Sounds like a personal problem.

[widget]

I hiked across the US in my teens to meet up with my uncle who was running a bridal enterprise in California. That would wedding gowns, not horseware.

[commodious gits gud]

So the other kind of husbandry.

[Brett L]

Thus bridal and not bridle.

[Citizen X]

"Bride" and "bridle" are too close in a man's mind.

[Swiss Servator]

Maybe they were shooting at the Demogorgon?

[WTF]

I've seen stranger things, I guess.

[Michael]

Mama Mia! Dassa icy meata balla!

[Lord Humungus]

Tanzanian rats will train to sniff out trafficked pangolins

The pangolin, a scaly anteater coveted by poachers, might have a new champion: rats that will be trained to sniff out trafficked pangolin parts in shipments heading from Africa to Asia.

A pilot project to turn African giant pouched rats into conservationist sleuths is literally in its infancy ? the 10 to 15 rodents being reared in Tanzania to detect pungent pangolin remains as well as smuggled hardwood timber are just a few weeks old and most are still with their mothers.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , however, is on board with the vermin trial, which organizers hope can eventually be used to find hidden elephant ivory and rhino horn. The American agency has provided $100,000 to support what it says could be "an innovative tool in combating illegal wildlife trade."

[commodious gits gud]

And when the Tanzanian rats get out of hand they'll unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes.

[widget]

I think Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III is foil for AG.

I want ss-stuttering Tom McClintock.

[Citizen X]

I'd prefer Mike McClintock.

[Chipwooder]

As long as he shuts up about his boat

[Greg Loves His Woodchipper]

Isn't Roger Furlong the better choice here?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

?The Trump administration will not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton.

Certainly wouldn't want to start that precedent. How else will Trump justify making money for himself while in office?

[The Late P Brooks]

Or you can try something different.

Like not subjecting people to your sanctimonious moral preening?

[Lord Humungus]

For the ladies and certain gentlemen (poofters!) in our midst:

Stop What You're Doing And Look At This Calendar Of Sexy French Farmers

The French have given the world so many fantastic things and this calendar is no exception.

[Crusty Juggler]

and certain gentlemen (poofters!) in our midst

There are Hit and Run tourists?

[UnCivilServant]

The French don't farm. A French "farmer" collects EU welfare payments and destroys spanish wine.

[Citizen X]

And occasionally drives a bulldozer through a McDonald's.

[Rich]

"I'm no homo, but ...."

[Hamster of Doom]

But the French didn't give us this.

There's something about Neville Longbottom growing up to be Matthew Lewis that gives me hope for humanity.

[Lee Genes]

Who put underwear on that bear?

[Citizen X]

The tricky part is getting the underwear back off the bear.

[Citizen X]

Please note, i did not click the link, and am assuming you are referring to an actual bear, and not a hirsute gay gentleman.

[Lee Genes]

Yeah sure, ok, whatever you say.

[Crusty Juggler]

He is wearing a cardigan in the photo, so that is how you know he isn't gay.

[Tonio]

I had to go back and look again; I didn't notice the sweater the first time.

[Pope Jimbo]

I don't know, they seem friendly

[Elspeth Flashman]

Thank you. I'll be in my bunk.

[Lord Humungus]

Man Who Still Doesn't Know Who Won Election Wants To Keep It That Way

To ensure that bubble doesn't pop before he's ready, Chandler has avoided newspapers, TV and the internet.

When he goes outside, he wears headphones so he doesn't overhear any presidential news. Chandler also asks others to help him continue his ostrich-like approach to the election by wearing a sign that reads, "I don't know who won, and don't want to. PLEASE DON'T TELL ME."

"I divert my gaze from newspaper boxes ? I don't venture out very often, and when I do I wear my headphones and my sign, and people have been very respectful of my decision," Chandler told the "Today Show."

Chandler knows his blissful ignorance can't last forever.

As he told Atlanta TV station WXIA: "I'd like to make it to 2020, but I'll be lucky to make it to [tomorrow]," he said.

A great American...

[Just a thought not a sermon]

A real life "Good Bye Lenin"?

[commodious gits gud]

Well, thankfully for him nobody's making a big deal of it.

[Suthenboy]

"At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."

If they are successful the country will unravel.

[UnCivilServant]

Who has the guns again?

[The Grinch]

They won't be and they know they won't be-it's nothing but a circle jerk after which they get to brag on themselves for being brave.

[Joe M]

"At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."

When are Democrats gonna get over this wank-off fantasy? The Electoral College is going nowhere. Republican electors would be fools to revolt against Trump for so many reasons. 1) Trump and the establishment GOP have been making kissy-face with each other for weeks now. Just look at how many familiar faces he's considering for his cabinet. 2) The Electoral College benefits Republicans, and they don't want to sacrifice Trump to help the Democrats in the future. 3) Electors who go against the will of those who selected them would be banished from polite political society evermore. 4) It would probably rip the GOP in half; again, what's the appeal or benefit for GOP electors?

Dems just can't let it go. It's like an itch they can't reach.

[Lord Humungus]

There are a few NRO #nevertrumpers who are touting Hillary's popular vote lead... saw it yesterday. And yes, agree with your points.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Treating Hillary's popular vote victory as a sign that she should have won the election is like complaining that your football team should have won because, even though they score fewer points, they caught and ran for more yards. Yes, more yards usually results in winning, but that's not the game we were playing, and if it were, then our focus would have been on getting more yardage. If the goals were a higher popular vote count, Trump's team likely would have focused on ginning up turnout in deep red states like Alabama and Texas, rather than pursuing the less certain risks of Ohio and Michigan.

[Joe M]

Ha, I used that exact same analogy a couple weeks ago. My alternate was saying you should make the playoffs with a 6-10 record because in one game you scored 100 points.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Yep. Since the World Series was still in the news, I enjoyed asking what if the Indians scored more runs than the Cubs, but still only won 3 of 7 games?

[commodious gits gud]

Who? I've only seen them taking the piss out of idiots who tout Hillary's popular lead.

[Rufus The Monocled]

"The Electoral College benefits Republicans,"

Hate statements like this. Reminds me about the 'demographics favor Democrats' line. Things shift and it can reverse itself.

[Joe M]

Currently, and for the foreseeable future, it benefits Republicans. And all four times there has been a split between the popular and electoral votes, it has benefited Republicans. That goes back to 1876.

[robc]

In 1824 it benefited the Democrat.

Over the Democrat. And the Democrat. And the 4th Democrat.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I know but it's not cemented in stone. One day the Steelers are a dynasty the next the Patriots. Nothing stays forever. Except maybe diamonds.

[Suthenboy]

"Dems just can't let it go"

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It was her turn goddamnit. I have heard numerous douchebags even say that the presidency was owed to her. Many of them are in denial.

Cults creep me the fuck out.

[Crusty Juggler]

There is a statue of Columbo in Budapest.

[UnCivilServant]

He looks lost.

And I appreciate them remembering the dog.

[Citizen X]

"What the hell am i doing in Budapest?"

[UnCivilServant]

There is one perpetrator on that show who most definately got away with it, despite the best efforts of the scriptwriter.

During one of the early seasons, Leonard Nimoy played a surgeon. Even when presented with the key piece of evidence, he did not confess or otherwise lose composure. And given how and where the evidence in question was found, any halfway competent lawyer could either get it thrown out, or savage the credibility to utter uselessness at trial (the surgeon had slipped it in Columbo's pocket to get it past the search, as as they have no record of him putting it there, the cross examination gets quite vivid "Your pocket, Lieutenant?")

[Crusty Juggler]

Whoa, we have found something UnCivil likes, and that something is a detective show from the 70s.

[UnCivilServant]

I believe they produced the last episode in the 90s. So it's from several decades.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm a huge Kojak fan... and those gritty movies from the 60s and 70s.

btw - I highly recommend Night Moves (1975) with Gene Hackman.

Bonus: 18yo Melanie Griffith has a hard time keeping her clothes on.

[Crusty Juggler]

Melanie was a pretty lady. Here is a screenshot of when she randomly flashed her bewbz in Nobody's Fool. NSFW for those of you with real jobs.

Of course now she looks like a hideous monster. I'm warning you - don't click that.

[Suthenboy]

It is sad what narcissism does to people.

For fuck's sake grow old with dignity. I am proud of my wrinkles and grey hair. Every bit of it was gotten honestly.

[commodious gits gud]

GAH!

[Chipwooder]

I just watched Night Moves for the first time recently, and yeah, it was pretty surprising how often Melanie Griffith ran around naked. The '70s were definitely a different time. Don't think you could make a major studio film these days with a teenager prancing around in the nude repeatedly.

Was Harris Yulin ever NOT old?

[Lord Humungus]

Some people are just born old - like Angela Lansbury or Burgess Meredith.

[Chipwooder]

Kojak was huge in Brazil.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Now this is a link.

[Ken Shultz]

"At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."

Looks like they're all from states that voted for Hillary. To deny Trump the presidency, they'd need electors from states that voted for Trump. They aren't undermining the legitimacy of the institution. They're making fools of themselves.

[Ken Shultz]

Meanwhile, you know who's putting a lot of faith in Trump's promises to deregulate? The markets, that's who.

"Small companies, among the market's biggest winners since Election Day, led a cascade of records for U.S. stock indexes Monday.

Investors betting that Donald Trump will roll back regulations and taxes while pumping money into infrastructure projects drove the Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks to a record with its 12th straight session of gains, its longest winning streak since June 2003. The index has risen 11% since Election Day, outpacing the S&P 500's 2.7% climb."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/in.....1479724205

One way to interpret this is that at any point over the last four years, Barack Obama could have made the markets rally by simply rescinding his own growth killing, executive orders . . . at least, that's what the markets are saying.

I've always said the same thing in a different way, that, "What Barack Obama believes about what makes economies grow is dumber than creationism", but the way the markets say it, by rallying at the prospect of seeing Obama's idiotic executive orders rescinded, that's more persuasive.

[Tom Bombadil]

We've found Barry's legacy:

"Stock Market poison"

[Chipwooder]

shreek and Tony hardest hit

[Juice]

He didn't build that.

[Suthenboy]

I saw that earlier this morning. Where are all those blue bobble heads that told us the markets would crash if Trump is elected. It's almost like they have no connection to reality whatsoever. As for Obumbles economic creationism keep in mind that he was brainwashed by pinkos from birth. He really has no idea how markets work and no amount of explaining will help.

[Ken Shultz]

The idea that deregulation might lead to growth was treated like some kind of crank theory for eight years--and yet, the people who actually invest money seem to subscribe to this "crank theory". So much so, that they're willing to give today's earnings a higher multiple given a future with less regulation.

Somebody should write a book about how economic creationism became the general consensus in the political class.

[Suthenboy]

Ken, I have said this before. Wealth empowers people. The political class very much fears a country in which the average person is wealthy enough to have options. This is why we keep hearing 'learn to live with less', prepare for economic downturn' and other such nonsense primarily from the left. It is why they push crank theories and enact harmful policies. They know that a populace not dependent on them, people with options and wealth of their own will dethrone the political class.

Also, people with enough money to retire independent of the government will have time on their hands and a fair number of those people will start paying attention and be a huge pain in the ass for the political class.

Yes, I am saying that the destructive policies and crank theories are by design.

[Chipwooder]

And in the case of Krugnuts, not only would they crash, they would NEVER recover! EVER!

[westernsloper]

no no no.............it's just that quantitative easing has finally fixed it all. It was bound to happen.

Look for that one.

[The Late P Brooks]

an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."

Just don't call it a putsch.

Also- Which institution are they undermining? I think the legitimacy of the Presidency has been pretty effectively undermined over the past decade and a half.

[jack sprat]

Have we hit our Kanye West story quota yet? I'm thinking we have.
*fun fact- he grew up where I grew up. Still don't give a rat's ass about him.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Our Kanye quota will not be satisfied until the Nobel Prize committee gives him the recognition that he deserves!

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

He'll have to wait for the peace prize, when he's elected president.

[The Late P Brooks]

Have we hit our Kanye West story quota yet?

Has he weighed in on Janet Yellin's job performance, yet? What does Kanye West think about self-driving cars?

[Lee Genes]

Beyonce had the best interest rate policy of all time?

[commodious gits gud]

Beyonce's cost curves have nothing on Rihanna.

[Animal]

"Kanye West has reportedly been hospitalized."

And not a single fuck was given. Not one.

[Ken Shultz]

Someone at Politico wants to abolish the office of First Lady.

"Yes, defund the ridiculously large staff that currently earns upward of $1.5 million a year serving Michelle Obama; abolish the federally funded bully pulpit from which the presidential spouses have historically advocated for healthy eating, literacy, child welfare, anti-drug programs, mental health issues and beautification of highways. The president's spouse isn't a specimen of American royalty. By giving her a federal budget and nonstop press coverage, we endorse a pernicious kind of neo-nepotism that says, pay special attention to the person not because she's earned it or is inherently worthy of our notice but because of who she's related to by marriage."

http://www.politico.com/magazi.....ady-214471

I've said before that Melania Trump first First Lady in a long time for whom moving into the White House is a step down.

http://tinyurl.com/jsa95y5

If I were her, I'd be reluctant to assume the roll, too. She's the American version of Marie Antoinette. A blind man can see where this headed. She's going to be demonized as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. She's the trophy wife of a President who is roundly hated throughout the media. Why would she move into the White House?

[Lee Genes]

I don't have a problem with that at all.

[Chipwooder]

Nor do I. I enthusiastically support this.

However, I do find it highly amusing that NOW the Smart Set realizes how stupid all of the funding given to the first lady is.

[Tonio]

^This. But once the office is abolished, it is unlikely to be revived. And one or two of them might actually learn something.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I don't disagree, but these insights would have a lot more credibility if they ever occurred while the author's preferred political party is in office.

[Ken Shultz]

The truth, like love, isn't always on time.

[Tonio]

And speaking of trolling...the NYT is all pouty because Trump cancelled a meeting with them which they learned of from Trump's tweet.

[Lee Genes]

I look forward to treaty negotiations by Twitter.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

We might actually have a Republican presidency that recognizes the media as a hostile entity and treats it as such. Which is good because then maybe the media will do their fucking jobs instead of licking the President's ass all the time.

[Lord Rollingpin]

The media weasels only lick the arses of democrat presidents.

[Zero Sum Game]

Media Stars Agree to Off-the-Record Meeting With Trump, Break Agreement, Whine About Mistreatment

The article was duly reproachful towards the press. I do find it amusing that Greenwald criticizes the press for agreeing to an off-the-record meeting to begin with because of "how it appears." He doesn't connect the simple fact that the press has engaged in Presidential ass-kissing for eight years and never cared how it appeared before. They might have been hoping that Trump would make up and play nice, but were sorely mistaken.

[CatoTheChipper]

Journalists "pronounced themselves so profoundly "offended," crying: "This was unprecedented. Outrageous."

I'm sure Obama was much nicer to journalists than Trump, and that their treatment by Obama was unrelated to the fawning admiration that was evident in their sycophantic reportage.

There is no doubt that Trump is a vulgarian given to insult, but he is seldom the initiator of insults. Most of the time his insults are in response to his adversaries first-use of insult.

[CampingInYourPark]

Hey Sean Mcdonough, keep your political opinions to yourself during my football time!

[Nikkodemus]

And yet, they still wonder why some folks have stopped watching.

[prolefeed]

"At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution."

So their brilliant plan is to have a bunch of pledged Clinton electors vote for Sanders, those making her lose by a bigger margin?

And this will deny Trump the presidency how?

[commodious gits gud]

How would the electors voting their consciences undermine the legitimacy of the electoral college? That is literally its purpose.

[Krabappel]

Media agrees to off the record meeting with Trump and then break agreement because he was a big ol' meany pants.

Their treatment was a little different than when they agreed to an off-the-record meeting / cocktail party with Clinton's campaign last year as revealed by Podesta e-mail leak.

[Tonio]

And all of a sudden the press discovers the problem with "off the record" meetings and interviews conducted with preconditions and no-go zones. Well-deserved.

[Lee Genes]

I think they thought that the DC insider status they have worked so hard to achieve would be continued. Now they might actually do their jobs.

[Tonio]

Yes, and there jobs will be actual reporting, what used to be called shoe leather reporting, rather than hanging out in a press room waiting to be spoon-fed stories.

[Darth Squirrel]

"It seems that the incoming Trump administration is going to have to get accustomed to some norms that are in place here in Washington," insisted Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta.

bwahahahahahaha

[CatoTheChipper]

And all of a sudden Trump discovers the problem with trusting journalists to honor their commitment to keep a meeting "off the record".

Oh, wait, it seems from the reporting on this "off the record" meeting that Trump already knew that the media elites are liars.

[The Grinch]

Trump likely knew they wouldn't be able to contain themselves. This just allows him to point at their inability to keep their mouths shut as a confirmation that they are lying sacks of monkey shit.

[Tonio]

^This, too. They were so smug and confident of the Clinton victory which they helped to engineer.

[Tom Bombadil]

Epic trolling. The next 4 years are going to be so entertaining.

[Illocust]

I really wonder sometimes if he is the luckiest man in the world, or just really good at being a celebrity.

[Ken Shultz]

Well, Obviously, it couldn't have been because Hillary is a crook. There must have been some reason!

So, anyway, if it was all about heroin, then the progressives should definitely keep doing what they've been doing--hampering the economy with needless regulation and demonizing the white, blue collar, middle class for being white, blue collar, and middle class.

[Krabappel]

Talk to a white person who grew up poor, in a trailer park where they would routinely get into fights with their neighbors, whose parents spent their money on meth, barely could hold a job about the white privelege they have (not me, but I have a few friends who had a rough childhood).

The ones who get really fired up are the ones who had to work their ass off to get out that life and be successful.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Great article

[I can't even]

The details of the meeting sound impossibly delicious.

"Trump started with [CNN chief] Jeff Zucker and said, 'I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed,' " the source said.

http://nypost.com/2016/11/21/d.....ing-squad/

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

God, that meeting sounds glorious. I really should see a doctor, because the meltdown over Trump has kept this schadenboner going for much longer than four hours.

January 20, a.k.a. Trumpmageddon, will be epic.

[MikeP2]

I think peak-trumpageddon will be the day after the Electors vote (dec 19th?) when the progs see their last chance evaporate. So many actually think they can swing the Electors. The heartbreak will be epic.

[Brett L]

This is too good to check. It would only be better if he said it to Ted Turner (still alive?), and then said that he also had a wife who was hotter than Ted's wife in Barbarella.

[I can't even]

Does Turner still have anything to do with CNN? I thought he tried to pay it at least somewhat straight when he was in charge.

[Brett L]

I actually have no clue. I just assumed that Ted still owned all the basic cable channels created before FoxNews and MSNBC.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Is Vox Latin for Bullshit?

Most Ohio and Pennsylvania counties that flipped from Obama to Trump are wracked by heroin
Another potential explanation for Trump's surprising win.

[Chipwooder]

Vox is Latin for "Smug explanations for everything courtesy of overgrown children barely out of college with zero life experience"

I mean, I think that's it. It's been 20 years since my last Latin class, so I may be rusty.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I don't see why that's necessarily B.S.. To provide an anecdotal data point, over the past few years here in NH, I've personally seen the political climate shift to "LAW 'N ORDER" since junkies have started accosting people in downtown Manchester and Nashua.

[Zeb]

Yes, that does seem to have happened.

I think that the only reasonable conclusion is that opioid problems are all Trump's fault.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Thanks, Obama Trump!

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

In the grim dark forests of New Hampshire, there is only war...

[Heroic Mulatto]

You have no idea...

[John]

Funny how the left becomes the worst sort of law and order drug warriors when it suits them.

[Heroic Mulatto]

That's basically how they campaigned against Kelly Ayotte. The forced the narrative that she "failed" the state by not grabbing enough sweet FedBucks to "deal" with the heroin "crisis".

[Sevo]

It's only pork when the other guy gets it.

[I can't even]

Kelly Ayotte seemed to spend more energy running against Trump than for Senator. How did that work out?

[Mainer2]

Kelly Ayotte. Former prosecutor. Authoritarian asshole. Coincidence ?

[Brett L]

Wile. E Coyote -- Supergenius

This is pretty much what I see in my head when I read a Vox article.

[Sevo]

"Donald Trump says he will withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in the White House."

Anybody ever figure out what Obo has hidden in this thing?

[The Fusionist]

From the electoral college article:

""If it gets into the House, the controversy and the uncertainty that would immediately blow up into a political firestorm in the U.S. would cause enough people ? my hope is ? to look at the whole concept of the Electoral College," said another elector involved in the anti-Trump planning, who declined to be identified."

Well, years of Jacksonian propaganda have led some people to think that putting the election into the House would be OMG the Worst Thing Ever.

But let's get real - the procedure for a contingency House election led to John Quincy Adams getting the Presidency in 1824. And for all the "Not *My* President* hysterics the Jacksonians whipped up, helping get two terms for their guy, JQA was hardly a disaster.

Plenty of countries rely *solely* on the lower house of their national/federal legislature to select a head of government. In the U.S., the lower house only comes into the picture if the electoral college doesn't get a majority. Not the end of the world.

[Sevo]

"Most Students Don't Know When News Is Fake, Stanford Study Finds"
[...]
"Some 82% of middle-schoolers couldn't distinguish between an ad labeled "sponsored content" and a real news story on a website, according to a Stanford University study of 7,804 students from middle school through college."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mo.....1479752576

Aren't you glad your taxes pay for such wonderful education?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

In all this fake hysteria over fake news, has anyone suggested we get rid of The Daily Show or John Oliver?

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Completely Destroyed

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

New rule: if you are sitting at a desk in a jacket and tie, you may not report fake news. BOOM, problem solved.

[Chipwooder]

Of course not you big silly goose. That's the GOOD fake news.

Jim Treacher is kind of an ass, but he had Stewart pegged. Clown nose on, clown nose off.

[Sevo]

"In all this fake hysteria over fake news, has anyone suggested we get rid of The Daily Show or John Oliver?"

I tried to find the Chron story (not in the e-version) where the writer mentioned how kids are fooled by stories which show no source for claims.
I was going to link a Chron story from yesterday where they claimed 'a spike in demand for encryption software' with absolutely no source other than the heads of identity groups saying they're afraid of Trump.
Hey, the comics page is pretty good...

[Heroic Mulatto]

Aren't you glad your taxes pay for such wonderful education?

It's doing exactly what it was designed to do.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

This is that libertarian "public < private" argument I have been hearing so much about...

[commodious gits gud]

Spend money and keep useless people employed?

[Lord Humungus]

Auto boss 'called Chinese bastards'

Gaertner, driving his black Mercedes, and a Chinese driver were both trying to park in the same space in a posh suburban residential area in the capital's Shunyi District when things turned ugly.

The fracas soon escalated into a racist tirade when Gartner yelled: "I am in China one year already. The first thing I learned here is that all you Chinese are bastards," according to the Global Times.

When his remarks drew local residents and passersby to defend the Chinese driver, Gaertner attacked them with pepper spray, injuring one, the report said.

In a statement, Daimler said the incident "is a purely private issue, which has now been resolved in an amicable manner. The details of the resolution are required to remain private and confidential between the participants, and inquiries by the authorities have been closed."

You know who else made racist remarks and drove a black Mercedes...

[Heroic Mulatto]

I remember that film.

[The Late P Brooks]

On Trump and the Press:

It is going to be fascinating to watch the transition to "watchdog" mode, instead of just sitting around in the White House press room all agog and batting their eyes at the Presidential Personage.

[Lord Humungus]

I also expect a deluge of whistleblower heroes to be lauded by the press...

Maybe Snowden just had to wait a few more years?

[John]

What is also going to be interesting is watching them deal with a President who doesn't seem to care. Trump is to the media what a honey badger is to a cobra.

[commodious gits gud]

The subject of a video by the ever-irritating John Green?

[Free Society]

"He is the snake to my mongoose, or the mongoose to my snake. Either way it's bad. I don't know animals."

[Ken Shultz]

I thought what he did with his YouTube video yesterday was pretty ingenious.

He can't trust the media to do an honest interview, and even if they were fair to him in the interview, the build up and the post analysis would be all spin.

You watch the YouTube video yourself, and you don't have to subject yourself to that.

That's probably Bannon's doing. Whatever else Bannon is, he's also really fucking smart.

[Ken Shultz]

When you do a press conference or an interview, the lead off news is a five second clip of the President and six minutes of commentary.

When you do a YouTube video, the lead off news is about the YouTube video, and everybody goes and watches all two and a half minutes of it themselves.

Genius.

People even subscribe to Trump's channel. See his video before they hear about it in the news. Now they've already got an opinion before they even see it on the news.

Genius.

[MikeP2]

yes...yes it is. I usually can't stand the empty platitudes and buzzword bingo from candidates, but I got sucked into that youtube "press conference".

Clear, succinct outline of what he's going to do. Whether or not one agrees, it was brilliant to change the game like that.

[The Late P Brooks]

Maybe Snowden just had to wait a few more years?

If Trump wants to truly fuck with everybody, he should pardon Snowden on Day One, and offer him a job.

[commodious gits gud]

White Hat Czar.

[Chipwooder]

He should, but judging by who he's picking as his staff, that definitely ain't happening.

[MikeP2]

Screw Snowden. I'll never understand the saintifying of him. Yeh, he exposed something that needed to be exposed. Fine. But then he dumped tens to hundreds of thousands (depending on what source you believe) of other documents with information that was irrelevant to the "whistleblowing". WTF. There is nothing honorable in screwing with innocent people because you can. Whistleblow, yes, but he had the ability to be more selective and choose not to. That is dishonorable.

[John]

http://www.powerlineblog.com/a.....hreats.php

The left is officially insane, as if anyone paying attention didn't already know that.

[commodious gits gud]

Release their email addies and let the public respond. Fuck 'em.

[I can't even]

Yep. If we started seriously talking about hurting regular Democrats and assassinating progressive politicians, cops would be knocking on our doors in a few hours.

The leftists get a pass because everyone assumes them to be too incompetent to effectively follow-through on their threats.

[John]

Its like Iowahawk said. Most people who voted for Trump did so reluctantly. The Left's post election behavior has done nothing but make them feel better about their votes. I really think they might be in a death spiral. They just won't listen. All they know is "prog harder".

[Suthenboy]

Most failed philosophies do this. As they begin circling the drain the only people who cling to it are the real true believers and they get increasingly nutty. How long before they truly belong to the lunatic fringe?

[Free Society]

Not soon enough.

[commodious gits gud]

I think you all are failing to recognize what an asset they are to the anti-progressive movement.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Feel that Oxymoronic Clean, stain fighting power.

[John]

If they put Keith Ellison in as DNC Chair sooner than you think. Keith Ellison is Nation of Islam. A major US party might put a Nation of Islam guy in as party chair. They have completely lost their minds.

[tarran]

They haven't lost their minds, you white devil! They've gotten wise to your tricknology!

[Brett L]

Shit, now every time I see him, I'm going to have the old Damon Wayans character from In Living Color in my head.

[MikeP2]

yes....they have lost their minds.

This is the final stage of self-loathing that Progs base their world view on. Everything wrong in the world is due to white America. It can only be resolved by promoting the opposite.....i.e. Keith Ellison. They will alienate everyone who hasn't guzzled the same koolaid and destroy the DNC for a generation.

[Sevo]

"...The Left's post election behavior has done nothing but make them feel better about their votes..."

I DIDN'T vote for him, but the left is making me wish I had.

[CatoTheChipper]

^ THIS!

I have loathed Trump since the mid-1980s, but his adversaries and their antics are making me sympathetic to him. It's weird, but I think he might break the streak of every president being worse than his predecessor.

[MikeP2]

"Most people who voted for Trump did so reluctantly."

No...nowhere near "most" were reluctant. That is virtue signaling by people who don't want to be prog-targetted.

[CatoTheChipper]

If somebody even jokes about woodchippers and eternal punishment in a special part of a mythical hell as being the just reward for progressives, the US attorney for the District of Southern New York issues subpoenas.

This is literally true.

[Suthenboy]

The left has gone full cult. They have been since 2008 but now we get to see the nasty side of it. The moonies had nothing on this bunch.

[TheZeitgeist]

I'm sure Preet's on the case.

[Citizen X]

I assume you're joking, but he almost certainly is.

[Zeb]

The most amazing thing to me is that while this shit is actually happening and people are rioting about election results, lots of people on the left remain convinced that Trump supporters are running amok and beating up Muslims and transsexuals or something. They are fucking nuts. And sadly, one or two people I care about quite a bit have fallen into this foolishness (being convinced that it's the end of the world, not making death threats as far as I know).

[Free Society]

Hell, I was accosted at a party by an immigrant Indian (not Shikha) who was convinced I voted for Trump because I'm a blonde haired blue eyed heterosexual male. He was drunk and people had to pull him out of the room. But if the roles were reversed, you can bet your ass that'd be a hate crime and the Facebook version of events would depict me with a MAGA hat and a swastika tattooed on my forehead. The ONLY violence or unhinged lunacy I've seen post-election is from leftist antifa wannabes.