SNL Should Have Suspended the Writer Who Planned the Obama Song, Not the Writer Who Made Fun of Barron Trump

At least try to be funny.

Public Domain

Saturday Night Light has suspended one of its writers for making a joke about Barron Trump on Twitter. Katie Rich's suspension is "indefinite," meaning it's not clear whether she will actually return to the show.

Rich had speculated that Barron—President Trumps 10-year-old son—would be the nation's "first homeschool shooter." Outraged citizens demanded that NBC fire her, and even launched a petition to that effect.

Subsequently, Rich apologized.

"I sincerely apologize for the insensitive tweet," Rich wrote on Twitter. "I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable & I'm so sorry."

Are politicians' kids off-limits? Many people seem to think so, and that makes some sense. Barron's just a kid. He didn't ask for this.

But then again, isn't an SNL writer's job to, um, make up jokes? Not to avoid offending the rich and powerful, and their offspring?

Anyway, while we're on the subject of which SNL writers should lose their jobs, whose bright idea was it to glorify President Obama on his way out? Yes, that's right, Hillary Clinton singing "Hallelujah" wasn't enough: SNL had to find a way to outdo its previous obeisance to the Democratic Party.

"Once was enough—too much even," Slate's Mathhew Dessem wrote, referring to the Clinton and Obama tributes. "This is just, and I'm saying this because I care about you, kind of embarrassing for everyone."

I agree. Maybe instead of punishing the writer who was at least taking a stab at being funny (albeit inadvisably), SNL should fire the writer who thought fading to "Thank You President Obama" was a good idea.

Remember that one time SNL was funny?

Comments

[Lee Genes]

I've never liked it when politicians used their (young) kids as props. As far as I can tell, Trump has not been bad in this regard, particularly not when compared to someone like Cruz. The kids are just kids. They're going to bear some emotional scars from the whole experience anyway, it seems in poor taste to make it worse for them.

[John]

I have never seen Barron Trump in any public event except very rare ones like election night or the Inauguration when it is kind of a celebration. Trump never had him on the stage during campaign rallies or put him in commercials. In fairness, Obama never did that with his daughters either and that is why I never had a problem with the press leaving them alone. Same thing here. The kid is ten. Its not his fault his father decided to run for President. And he has never been used as a political prop. People should leave him alone. The writer who tweeted that deserved to get slammed.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I agree, John. Making fun of kids is not cool. Also, why is SNL still around? They haven't been funny since Norm McDonald left.

[John]

Once they went full left and stopped even trying to make fun of Democrats, they are just a much less funny version of the pre John Oliver Daily show.

[Mongo]

Their election night skit where HRC voters and Chappelle and Chris Rock watch the results on TV was brilliant and funny.

[John]

It was. And the funny thing was it was black people making fun of white people losing their minds. That has been my experience as well. I assume the black people I know and interact with didn't vote for Trump but none of them seemed particularly upset about the election or at least were not upset enough to say so. Every person I know who is losing their minds over the election, and I know a lot of them, is white.

Somehow Trump is supposed to be a white nationalist and the most racist President ever according to my liberal white friends and black people haven't noticed.

[Lee Genes]

If you look at most of the major black politicians and organizers, it's not surprising at all that they aren't perturbed by Trump's style and rhetoric.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Trump has a pretty thick slice of Al Sharpton in his message style.

[prolefeed]

Dunno what black friends you have -- my GF and I were trying to talk politics yesterday about "the Orange Nightmare TM" (her words) and she's still afraid that we're one possible terrorist incident away from internment camps.

The rest of her family are less weirded out to some degree. Her brothers seem to be handling it better than the women in the family. But none of them is particularly complacent about the Racist in Chief.

My GF and I reinstated our moratorium on talking politics when things got personal about an hour in.

[WTF]

But none of them is particularly complacent about the Racist in Chief.

Has anybody ever actually specified what Trump has done that's so racist?

[Lee Genes]

Has anybody ever actually specified what Trump has done that's so racist?

Disagreed with the arbiters of all things fair.

[UnCivilServant]

Well he used to be a member of the party responsible for Jim Crow, then he became a Republican.

[prolefeed]

Trump's comments about Mexicans being rapists and whatnot sounded pretty racist to me.

I can't recall him saying something similar about black people, but if you prejudge people of even one ethnicity based on said ethnicity, that is racist.

[Bra Ket]

Didn't he retweet some chart or something about black crime levels that was too high?

He implied that most Mexican illegal immigrants were violent criminals. An even bigger statistical error and somewhat racist but not nearly the same thing as being categorically racist against Mexicans.

[mr simple]

Also Mexican isn't a race anymore than American is.

[Loss of Reason]

This is lost on a lot of people

[Akira]

It's not surprising that people equate immigration enforcement with racism (I've actually had someone tell me that conditions are bad in INS detention facilities, so they're basically the same thing as Nazi death camps).

The whole anti-racism ideology went completely off the fucking rails and crashed into the ravine of derpitude when they put out this idea that "disparate impact" is exactly the same thing as being explicitly racist.

It was crucial for them to expand the definition of racism to an absurd degree since so many lefty politicians only keep their jobs if they can gin up enough racial tension.

[cavalier973]

Why can't people argue over sex and money like normal folk?

[Cynical Asshole]

They haven't been funny since Norm McDonald left.

They haven't been funny since Phil Hartman's psycho wife killed him... too soon?

[Libertarian]

It will always be too soon for Phil Hartman.

[mr simple]

Yes, she did kill him too soon.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

"They haven't been funny since Norm McDonald left."

If ever.

[Episteme]

It's the same with his college-aged daughter Tiffany. Trump involves his three adult children in campaigning because they've been involved in his business operations and such, but has done a good job of keeping his younger children out of the limelight.

[John]

I didn't even know he had a college age daughter. The only ones I can name are his son, the daughter who is married to the Jewish guy who was accosted by the crazy gay guy on the plane and this kid. The college age daughter really is out of the spot light.

[BigFire]

To be fair, she's more low profile than her older sibling. I believe she's going to go to Wharton at UPenn like them.

[Scottzilla]

Sorry, but he is still a white male, and therefore everything is his fault.

[John Titor]

Subsequently, Rich apologized.

"I sincerely apologize for the insensitive tweet," Rich wrote on Twitter. "I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable & I'm so sorry."

If you aren't willing to stand up for your bad joke, perhaps you shouldn't have made it in the first place? These social media struggle sessions are just pathetic. Of course the writer is only apologizing because it's had a detrimental effect on her, so why should I treat this apology as anything but irrelevant?

You made a stupid, unfunny joke, own it.

In terms of the nature of the actual joke, it's generally poor because it's just shitty partisan insults. If Barron was caught torturing rats or something, hey, the joke kind of works, it's just poory written. But at current time it's just "HAHA TRUMP'S KID IS SHITTY AND/OR POSSIBLY AUTISTIC."

[John Titor]

poory written

DAMN YOU IRONY!

[Swiss Servator]

You may damn irony, but it will always find you, John.

[rudehost]

I agree with the article. That humor doesn't really play to my sensibilities so I don't appreciate it but if I was a progtard i would find it funny. Nobody should be fired over hypersensitive butt hurt.

[Rufus The Monocled]

They get a taste of their own medicine?

[Rufus The Monocled]

I agree by the way.

[rudehost]

Every dark cloud has a silver lining.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

SNL writers are paid to walk a line. They're supposed to be "edgy", without actually pissing off enough people to scare the sponsors. This writer blew that last part.

We aren't talking about some independent speaker; we're talking about a hireling. Regardless of all whining, if you embarrass your employer with your writing, you are likely to get canned. Freedom of speech means freedom to speak. Nobody promised you a podium or an audience....or a job writing for SNL.

All of which is rendered largely moot by the fact that the writers for SNL have consistently failed to be even a little bit funny for some year now. It isn't even a case of Garry Trudeau syndrome (taking oneself dreadfully seriously); they just aren't very good.

[Lord Humungus]

I enjoyed seeing Barron up there - he had this "oh look, my dad is becoming president - who cares?" attitude that was a great counterpoint to the "solemn" occasion.

[John Titor]

Barron Trump, Libertarian Candidate for President 2048.

[rudehost]

I think to myself "who cares" at every inauguration. I think he is on to something.

[John]

I agree. He seems to be a nice kid. I generally have sympathy for children of any President. I think living in that environment would be pretty lousy for a kid. The only kids I never had any sympathy for were the Bush twins. They were hot, rich white girls and lived in a fantasy land. I don't begrudge that but lets not kid ourselves about them having it hard. But the Obama kids and this kid and Chelsea Clinton, I wouldn't want to walk a mile in their shoes.

[Libertymike]

Wouldn't you like to be paid 600 large by NBC to report a handful of stories with your producer doing all of the work?

[UnCivilServant]

I'd need a bit more to pay off my dignity.

[Swiss Servator]

*elbows UCS out of the way*

HERE!

[John Titor]

Pfft, you're a 40k nerd, you don't have that much dignity.

[UnCivilServant]

If I'm going to voice leftist claptrap, I need enough cash to paper over the void.

[invisible furry hand]

You're so cheap. Everyone else would demand the void be filled with tightly packed hundred dollar bills, but you're satisfied with fancy wallpapering

[John Titor]

Ah, so you can buy more plastic crack to fill the hole. The cycle makes sense now.

[Mr Lizard]

Come on man, slut it up a little. My dignity is worth half that...and I am entitled to call down limited orbital bombardments

[Lee Genes]

Chelsea was fair game when she made it to adulthood and decided to cash in on the family business.

[John]

She is now, but she wasn't when she was a sad looking teenager in the White House.

[Lee Genes]

I agree.

[Bill Dalasio]

I agree. At the time, the jokes were simply flinging shit at her father.

[John]

What a hard life. The only reason I have sympathy for Chelsea is that she is homely. And I wouldn't wish being a homely teenage girl who is thrown into the public eye on anyone. It had to have been a tough life for her. And that isn't even mentioning the fact that her mother is likely a lesbian and her father is one of the most famous and public philanderers in history.

The Bush twins in contrast were hot white girls who basically had the world handed to them on a platter. There is nothing wrong with that and good for them. But, there isn't any reason to have any sympathy for them or pretend their plight was anything other than what it was.

[Libertymike]

Actually, I had sympathy for Chelsea when she was a kid for the same reasons, John. It wasn't her fault and she did not ask to have a sociopathic lezzy mother and a father who wanted to tag every piece of trailer park trash he fancied.

As an adult, with all that has gone down.....not so much.

[John]

As an adult, she owns her actions. She should have gone out and got her own life like the Reagan kids did and stayed the hell out of the family business.

[invisible furry hand]

Hey, she suffered from having those parents as a kid, so she might as well make bank from the connection now, and if people are daft enough to subsidise or listen to her her for no reason other than her surname, then more fool them

[Choadintheroad]

Normally, I don't agree with John much, but dealing with a life in the spotlight as a teenager is much different than doing so as an adult. The popularity of their parents runs both ways, I would imagine (some people love them for it, some hate them for it,) but it's certainly a level of pressure that most of us had to deal with when we were going to school.

[Bill Dalasio]

I also had no sympathy for them because the jokes were about their own behavior.

[Mickey Rat]

He is ten, up past midnight and had to stand on stage wearing a suit, of course he he did not look thrilled to be there.

[dantheserene]

I'd have been cranky as hell under those circumstances.

[Libertarian]

Me too. And I'm in my fifties.

[robc]

Apparently he likes wearing suits.

[robc]

That is 100% of what I know about him too.

[Mickey Rat]

Then he is strange boy.

I never enjoyed wearing a suit, they are uncomfortable.

[Noodlez]

To be sure, it is the job of an SNL writer to make up jokes. To be sure, SNL has the right to suspend any writer they want. To be sure.

[Lee Genes]

Are you sure?

[Swiss Servator]

Sure.

[UnCivilServant]

How about all of them, they've been failing at their jobs for forty some-odd years.

[commodious is fated to prete]

Do any of them have kids we can mock?

[AddictionMyth]

Trump genuinely believes in alcoholism (his brother Fred) and autism (his son) - and I find that extremely telling and ironic. I mean, I don't even know where to begin.

[Tyler.C]

In the end it's just us telling people what jokes they should make and shouldn't.

[Volren]

I don't think there's really anything wrong with saying a joke is in poor taste and unfunny, so long as you're not trying to seriously censor people who make them.

I don't agree with her getting fired or even suspended or anything over it, but she deserved to be called out for her shitty humor if nothing else. If you're gonna go after the kid at least make it funny.

[Rebel Scum]

"Thank You President Obama"

I find your fawning adoration of politicians disturbing.

[Charles Easterly]

Nicely done.

[AddictionMyth]

In fact, autism is a primary cause of mass shootings. To be more precise, the autism diagnosis causes them: "You're a good kid but your brain makes you do bad things. Don't worry we have extensive treatments to help you if your disease is caught early. Now take this pill and let us know if you start having bad thoughts."

So even though the joke was unacceptable, at least it will make parents think twice before stigmatizing their own children with this self-fulfilling curse.

[Lee Genes]

Please take your ignorant ramblings somewhere else.

[AddictionMyth]

I almost kinda feel sad for you too.

[AddictionMyth]

So to put it differently - Trump is sacrificing his own precious child upon the altar of mass hysteria and destruction. Meaning, his demonization of Islam is probably not so much a cynical ploy to gain power and control as much as an attempt to compensate for his own shortcomings and divert attention from his own failures. Meaning, I almost kinda feel sad for him.

[Pat (PM)]

I'm extremely outraged by what you've said. I have given you my attention and I think you are very important. Your opinions are meaningful and people care about what you have to say.

You may have one of these affirmations per day.

[Lord Rollingpin]

It's Tulpa you're talking to! Just kick him and carry on your way.

[sarcasmic]

Who?

[UnCivilServant]

SNaiL, I think they're a parcel service.

[John]

The song to Obama was a low point even for SNL. I would love to hear the writers explanation of it. What was supposed to be the joke? It was just sad and not in the normal way of being unhappy.

[John Titor]

What was supposed to be the joke?

SNL's irrelevancy.

[John]

The only way it is a joke is that it was making fun of that generation's love of Obama. Is SNL the victim of those people being beyond satire?

[CE]

I don't think they were using crayons 8 years ago either.

[CampingInYourPark]

After 8 years I can't tell you the names of Obama's daughters, but this Barron kid is already famous for...

[UnCivilServant]

I would think they're also be named "Obama".

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[spqr2008]

The only reason I know their names is because I have a friend named Sasha, and a cousin named Maila.

[Swiss Servator]

ISN'T "SASHA" RUSSIAN???????????????????

*head explodes*

[Sour Kraut]

Michelle's uterus was hacked!!11!

[Cynical Asshole]

Kinky...

[Pat (PM)]

I haven't seen their birth certificates, just sayin'.

[Fist of Etiquette]

SNL got Dubya elected. They've been paying penance ever since.

[mtopper]

Whether you like him or not (I DO NOT) - Obama was the President and saying good bye is not unreasonable. There is way too much sensitivity around too many issues these days. Wishing a president good luck on the way out should not be one of them.

[John Titor]

saying good bye is not unreasonable. There is way too much sensitivity around too many issues these days. Wishing a president good luck on the way out should not be one of them.

"Yeah guys being sycophantic worshippers of a President when you're supposed to be comedy writers is totally American."

[chemjeff]

They are "supposed to be" whatever the hell they feel like being.

[WTF]

Yeah, that's how it works at everyone's job.

[John Titor]

So they feel like being incompetent comedy writers who are bad at their jobs?

[John]

There is nothing wrong with saying goodbye to him. There is nothing wrong with still liking him. There is however something very wrong with saying goodbye by singing "To Sir With Love".

[WTF]

That was so creepy it would have made Dear Leader Kim Jong Un blush.

[Bill Dalasio]

You know, I had the same thought. If I were Barack Obama, I'd seriously be thinking about getting a restraining order against those girls.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Saying goodbye is not unreasonable.

A song that would have Kim Jong Un thinking it went over the top when it comes to being a sycophant, however, is unreasonable.

[Jerryskids]

There's nothing wrong with saying goodbye to Obama or singing "To Sir With Love" - as long as at the end you have an Alfred E. Neuman-esque Obama appearing and saying "Who, me? I'm not going anywhere, I've got a pretty good scam going here and who the hell would be crazy enough to go back to Chicago? You seen how many black dudes get shot there?" and then he fires up a fatty as the camera pulls back and you see he's sprawled on a couch in a Hugh Hefner robe with a tumbler of brandy in his hand and Madonna and Lena Dunham and Rachel Maddow in skimpy negligees kneeling at his feet.

Or maybe, after the song ends the cast stands there for a minute and then one of them nervously says, "Is that it, you think he's tuned out, he's not watching this any more?" and the others look at each other and nod in agreement - and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" breaks out, confetti and balloons fall from the ceiling, a giant Trump poster unfurls on the back wall, and the cast starts whooping and hollering and dancing with joy.

See, that would be an attempt at humor instead of signaling that the end of Obama's Presidency being A Serious Matter About Which We May Not Joke Because There's Nothing Funny About It. I mean, these fuckers found a way to make a couple of nervous little jokes about 9/11 and you can't joke about Obama?

[John]

The problem with the skit was it didn't have a punch line. You kept waiting for it thinking "they can't be serious, where is the joke" and the joke never came. They seemed to have actually meant it.

[dantheserene]

"... he's sprawled on a couch in a Hugh Hefner robe with a tumbler of brandy in his hand and Madonna and Lena Dunham and Rachel Maddow in skimpy negligees kneeling at his feet."

Talk about a foretaste of Hell.

[Swiss Servator]

REPENT! IT IS NOT TOO LATE!

[Libertarian]

"Or maybe, after the song ends the cast stands there for a minute and then one of them nervously says, "Is that it, you think he's tuned out, he's not watching this any more?" and the others look at each other and nod in agreement - and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" breaks out, confetti and balloons fall from the ceiling, a giant Trump poster unfurls on the back wall, and the cast starts whooping and hollering and dancing with joy."

If my name were Lorne Michaels, you'd be receiving a phone call for a job offer later this morning.

[Rufus The Monocled]

They never did that before and it was retarded. It was a disgusting piece of sycophancy and they can go fuck themselves for doing it.

[Slocum]

This is how comedy writers should bid Obama goodbye:

http://www.theonion.com/articl.....ne-f-55100

[invisible furry hand]

"where it paused to look back one last time at its old master before flying off toward a Yemeni tribal wedding."

Superb.

[Charles Easterly]

Brilliance.

[Cynical Asshole]

That's gold.

[Mickey Rat]

The choice of song says a lot about how they view their relationship to the presidency, as a child to a teacher, not as a peer we have delegated the administration of the government.

That is why it is creepy.

[Libertarian]

It certainly was a lulu.

[Certified Public Asshat]

But then again, isn't an SNL writer's job to, um, make up jokes? Not to avoid offending the rich and powerful, and their offspring?

Yes, and this was a bad joke. If you make enough bad jokes, you are not good at your job and deserve the consequences.

[Cyto]

It isn't that bad as a joke. The construct is nice.... homeschool shooter, get it? 'Cause Trump is daddy so he'd be shooting Trump. Funny!

[cavalier973]

I thought it was mildly amusing, myself.

On another note, has anyone else seen the gif-meme of Melania smiling widely at Donald, but the assumes a look of quiet despair when he turns around?

[DrZaius]

Wasn't some conservative writer fired for saying something snarky about the Obama girls in the last few years?

[John]

Yes. A Congressional staffer was fired for that. I can't remember what she said.

[Just Say'n]

She said that the Obama girls should not have worn sandals to a formal event. She said that it was low-class.

I don't think it is too much to ask people to show some degree of respect when discussing children and spouses.

[John]

That wasn't even that bad. That was really more of a shot at their parents. That is not even close to calling this kid a future serial killer.

[UnCivilServant]

Technically school shooters are spree killers.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

Spree is a great candy.

[Swiss Servator]

^KILLER!!!!^

[SugarFree]

Spree is a great candy.

What's it like to be so wrong? Does it hurt?

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

If you mean a candy that exposes and lifts weak cavital fillings isn't great, then I am more wrong than present day Hillary Clinton working a becondomed cucumber whilst wearing a halter top.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

*vomits gratuitously*

If you want cavity lifting, have some of this saltwater taffy. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I realized it wasn't supposed to be crunchy.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

cavity filling*

[robc]

Jolly Rancher is the King of the filling removers.

[SugarFree]

The very first time I ate a gummi bear, I jerked out a filling and then bit back down on it. And in front of a girl who had me in the friendzone. It was a bad day.

[robc]

You were already in the friend zone, you had nothing to lose.

[SugarFree]

You were already in the friend zone, you had nothing to lose.

Our parents were friends; I was doomed. And then in high school she started dating this really tall, good looking guy and he turned out to be the nicest person ever. It was really frustrating.

[bacon-magic]

And thus porn/horror fiction was conceived. God/Reason/SpaghettiMonster save us all.

[Cynical Asshole]

You weren't getting out of the friendzone anyway.

"Once you start down the dark friendzone path, forever will it dominate your destiny."

[invisible furry hand]

I jerked out a filling

Some sort of euphemism, presumably

[Libertymike]

Is a grown man fair game for wearing flip-flops to a rehearsal dinner?

[UnCivilServant]

If you're not standing on sand, you should be mocked for wearing flip-flops.

[Lee Genes]

Don't ever move to Arlington

[EDG reppin LBC]

Remy is a national treasure.

[Idle Hands]

Hey that's my hood.

[Muzzled Woodchipper]

Yes. Flip flops are an abomination.

[x'); DROP USER Tony;]

Go fuck yourself. I hunt wild hogs in flip flops, because I'm A Man!

[AddictionMyth]

Autism is not a disease - it's a troll by the child's own mother to create a boyfriend-for-life. They basically tell their own son: "You are socially defective so don't try to make friends with people. I'll always be here for you, and hey look on the bright side - I understand that because of your disease I can't hold you responsible for your behavior." This is the case for Adam Lanza, Elliot Rodger, Dylan Klebold, and many other mass shooters. Which also explains why autism is more common for older mothers - they are lonelier and desperate for companionship. Watch any show about autism and you will see a perfectly normal adult playing a part (taught by their own parents). It's pretty darn funny actually. And yes, all of this applies to Barron too, and it's hilarious and telling that Trump actually fell for it.

[Lee Genes]

I guess you should know something about trolling, and you probably have some mommy issues to boot.

[AddictionMyth]

Please take your ignorant ramblings somewhere else.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

His mommy did not hug him enough.

[John Titor]

Stop feeding it Lee, ignore it.

[Lee Genes]

The shithead running it doxxed Pat (PM) on its blog. I'd like to see them banned.

[AddictionMyth]

Oh, honey.

[John Titor]

Then report them and email the webmaster here with the link, don't keep validating it.

[Lee Genes]

Fair enough

[Tonio]

Screenshots. Always take screenshots.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

Learn the Art of Hihn.

[Lee Genes]

Learn the Art of Hihn.

I'm not quite ready to sit around the house in my underwear and compose rants on practical libertarianism.

[bacon-magic]

BULLIES DESERVE IT! *cackles maniacally while eating deep dish pizza sprinkled with lithium and rat turds

[Swiss Servator]

DON'T SAY THE NAME!!!

Speake thee the name of Beelzebub, and hee shall appeare

[invisible furry hand]

"Swiss Servator, Swiss Servator, Swi-"

[Charles Easterly]

Wow.

I was typing "Hastur! Hastur! Hast-"

but deleted my post. Then I refreshed and saw your contribution.

[UnCivilServant]

I was typing "Hastur! Hastur! Hast-"

You rang?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You really wanna be known around here as Hastur's avatar?

[UnCivilServant]

I don't like that.

But then again, some of you think I don't like anything.

[Swiss Servator]

*appears in a cloud of Gruyere particles*

[bacon-magic]

Cheesy entrance.

[Pat (PM)]

Lol. If by "doxxed" you mean "posted a random IP address from a public east coast server when I live in fucking NEVADA and have even mentioned in casual conversations here what town I'm from", then yeah.

[Swiss Servator]

Shriek is nae so bright as he fancies himself.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

AddictionMyth at the computer

[Pat (PM)]

Trolling is a art

[bacon-magic]

^That is funny.

[sarcasmic]

Been binge watching Bates Motel on Netflix?

[AddictionMyth]

No but I saw a few episodes and yes - the mother created a monster. Why this is not more widely recognized I have no idea.

[OneOut]

It's because not enough people recognize your brilliance.

[John]

If the writer should not have been at least shamed, then is Robby saying it is okay for adults to make fun of 10 year old kids? I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Robby was likely not the coolest tool in the shed when he was 10 or 15 or 25 for that. Given that fact, it strikes me as a bit odd he would think it is okay for adults to be cruel to children in public.

[commodious is fated to prete]

Well, from the most recent Reason podcast we learned that Soave was brought up in Catholic schools, so... take that for what it's worth.

[Bill Dalasio]

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Robby was likely not the coolest tool in the shed when he was 10

Look at the kid's hair. And his father's. Robby knows that he must be smited now before Barron's hair becomes more powerful than his.

[Just Say'n]

They want to see how many more races Democrats can still lose?

Remember when everyone was predicting that the Republicans would go the way of the Whigs during the general election? It never made any sense considering that Republicans controlled most states and were certain to maintain the House of Representatives. But, now it really does appear that the Democrats could become merely a regional party in this country. And celebrity condescension toward the rest of America and their slavish hero worship of Democratic politicians is not going to help them.

[John]

http://www.washingtonexaminer......le/2612688

Fauxchohontus not a sure thing for re-election in 2018. Yeah, it is one poll and it is way early. But indulge yourself in the pleasure of imaging the heartbreak and butthurt that would ensue from Warren losing re-election in Massachusetts. If that happens, Gary Johnson should declare himself a Democrat and run for the nomination in 2020. Who the hell else would they have?

[Rufus The Monocled]

There's one idiot I'm going to watch fall to the ground.

[Libertarian]

And we shall call her Broken Arrow.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Warren has always struck me as someone who is so unpleasant and so incredibly smug and condescending that even people inclined to agree with her don't actually like her.

She's a darling of the white collar professional progressives who post on social media and left-wing news sites but I can't imagine working class MA Dems having much affection for her. Not crazy to see a moderate Northeast Republican winning if they can credibly promote a humble background.

[John]

She beat Scott Brown during a Presidential year when Democrats turned out for Obama. Understand also, Scott Brown was a total empty suit who got elected to stop Obamacare in the Senate and did nothing at all after he failed to do that. In 2018 she will be running in a midterm election when Democrats don't generally turn out and be facing a local sports hero who will run a Trump like outsider campaign.

I am not saying she will lose but it is not out of the realm of possibility. Warren is a truly unpleasant woman. It is entirely possible she could pull a Cokely when faced with a likable candidate in a midterm election.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

Scott Brown was a total empty suit who got elected to stop Obamacare in the Senate and did nothing at all after he failed to do that.

I would contend that he was elected since he didn't have a personality akin to chewing on steel wool.

[John]

What put him over the top was when people thought electing him would allow the Republicans to filibuster and stop Obamacare. Otherwise, Cokely probably wins.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

In 2018 she will be running in a midterm election when Democrats don't generally turn out and be facing a local sports hero who will run a Trump like outsider campaign.

I'm not up to date on this, who are you describing?

[John]

Curt Shilling. He is apparently going to run as a Republican for Senate. That sounds insane until you remember Donald Trump is President. So don't discount him.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Curt Schilling running for Senator and winning would be hilarious just for the number of heads that would explode. Deadspin's writers might commit mass suicide.

[Sour Kraut]

"Vote for me so you can LOL when heads explode." That might work. It probably explains a fair chunk of the Trump vote and as someone who loathes govt. I think it's a pretty decent reason to vote for someone.

[Rufus The Monocled]

There's footage of her refusing to shake De Vos's hand during the hearing.

She lacks class.

[commodious is fated to prete]

No, she didn't shake De Vos' hand because she was giving her a Cherokee hand gesture. It just happened to look, when taken in context of her dismissive scowl and the flippant haste, like she was snubbing De Vos.

[Free Society]

It is entirely possible she could pull a Cokely when faced with a likable candidate in a midterm election.

Rolling Stone headline: "A Gang Rape at the Ballot Box"

[tarran]

She's not going to lose her next election:

She is a left wing populist. The non democrats in the commonwealth tend to be populists.

The Boston Brahmins love her for her Hahvahd pedigree. The proggies adore her vagina, her beautiful hair, and her hatred of all the mean people in the world who said "no" to their desires. And her claims that wall street is sticking it to the man will resonate with people who don't understand why it's so hard to make ends meet here.

[Lee Genes]

Don't forget her high cheekbones

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Not saying it's likely but after Trump nothing seems all that impossible. Clearly the white working class is a fickle enough lot to turn on the Democrats. Might all depend on if people perceive Trumpism has having worked for them.

[John]

Here is how she can lose. All politics is to some degree local. If she spends the next two years running for President and paying no attention to Massachusetts, she can lose. Republicans do win statewide elections up there. The governor is a Republican.

The Brahmans do not decide elections. The people who decide elections are people like my Boston mother in law who vote Democrat because she thinks they care. Mass elections are not decided in Cambridge and Newton. They are decided in Saugus and Danberry and places like that. And those people will on occasion vote R if the Democratic candidate is loathsome enough and the Republican is acceptable. Also, don't count out the Red Sox factor. The typical Mass voter is just dumb enough to vote for anyone associated with the Red Sox.

[tarran]

Those are all good points. The brahmins adored Martha Coakley, and she lost two statewide elections.

And certainly, Curt Schilling, despite all his troubles, has a better shot than most at unseating her.

And the paying attention to MA thing is absolutely spot on. Scott Brown drove around in his pickup truck and visited pretty much every town in MA in a low key campaign. It went totally under the radar, and by the time Coakley's handlers realized that he was competitive, it was too late.

And, to add to your case, the proggies are scary up here. This march has been like Kristalnacht where they are drunk with a feeling of unstoppable power and saying nasty things about those who didn't join them. I can see a massive backlash of people cowed into silence casting a protest vote in the voting booth.

Nonetheless, the news media here is all in on Warren. They paint her as the second coming of FDR.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Coakley. Her spot in The Inferno is reserved.

[Free Society]

Fauxchohontus not a sure thing for re-election in 2018. Yeah, it is one poll and it is way early.

That particular Senate seat is a strange one. It goes from Chapaquitic Kennedy, to Playgirl posterboy Scott Walker then to Fauxahontas "Social Justice" Warren, and in 2018 I assume it will go to Bruce Jenner.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Tick tock, Reason.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Feels like a Soave morning.

[Juvenile Bluster]

If it's the morning it's ENB's fault. We forgive her more readily than we do Robby. For some reason.

[John Titor]

Female privilege. Also boobs.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

It's not just because she is a girl. ENB is just so damn hard to criticize for some reason.

[John Titor]

Well, late links aside, she's usually pretty good at her job. Article's are well researched, none of Robby's annoying rhetoric tics. Only time she's really open for criticism is some of her 'feminism and some social justice concepts are totes libertarian guys' articles and some of her older work (as Gilmore pointed out) .

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Yep, yep. The girl can write.

[Chipwooder]

I criticize her all the time for her unimaginably stupid assertion that "the goals of "social justice are noble."

[Free Society]

She ought to be criticized more, if for no other reason than to smooth the rough edges. I try to bear in mind, that as evidenced by her not-long-ago writings, she is a very recent convert to libertarianism that doesn't always have a firm grasp on the fundamentals. Not that such a person should be writing for reason, I also try to bear in mind that at least she isn't Robby and the next hire at Reason.com could probably manage to be even worse than Robby.

[Steve G]

Her engagement?

[Just Say'n]

She just got engaged according to Twitter, so maybe she's busy

[John Titor]

It's a good thing he doesn't have a real job.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Ooh, that burn was so sick it singed the Hair.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

which, of course, made the Hair look even more glorious.

[UnCivilServant]

"'Repent, Harlequin,' said the Tick-Tock Man"?

[Lord Humungus]

Maybe Reason will fire the person who is always late with the AM Links.

Ha! Just kidding.

[UnCivilServant]

They'd run out of staff and have to buy more outsourced progressive articles.

[Domestic Dissident]

ROFLMAO.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

You're doing something right, UCS.

[Sumio Mondo, Jr.]

The links were always on time under Obama!

[UnCivilServant]

Uh, I seem to recall there being days where they didn't show up at all.

[Domestic Dissident]

They never happen on federal holidays like Christmas and Barack Obama's birthday.

[UnCivilServant]

If I'm at work, it's not a federal holiday.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

They never happen on federal holidays like Fixedpass and Block Insane Yomomma's birthday.

[Tonio]

Junior was making a little joke, UCS. I'm assuming a riff on the boarding house women from Cabaret: "I miss the Kaiser....Then there was order."

[Lord Humungus]

Rolling out of bed, ENB grabbed her cellphone. She scrolled past the fifty-eight text messages from SugarFree before noticing the time.

"Shit!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to miss the View".

[Lee Genes]

lol

[Juvenile Bluster]

I would've figured the text messages would be from FoE.

[Slammer]

Maybe she can't find the phone because it's under the pink wool hat from the weekend

[Domestic Dissident]

ROFLMAO!!

[UnCivilServant]

Check around you for a nitrous oxide leak.

[Slammer]

Barron playfully stole the lynx

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Cis Species Lord of Feces]

He said "lynx", not "links". Golf is unrelated.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

*claps loudly like a rifle*

[Lachowsky]

*reports trshmnstr*
also like a rifle

[AddictionMyth]

So to put it differently - Barron is perfectly healthy and fine, he just needs a little discipline to make him aware (and ashamed) of his behavior. But of course Trump cannot enforce it - his own rise is a testament to the to success that can be achieved by a complete failure of discipline. What a bind he is in. It's really funny.

[Pat (PM)]

Worst AM Links ever.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...SNL should fire the writer who thought fading to "Thank You President Obama" was a good idea.

Might as well interpret it as thank you, Obama, for Trump.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Why the writer? Doesn't Lorne still okays or nixes what goes on?

"But then again, isn't an SNL writer's job to, um, make up jokes? Not to avoid offending the rich and powerful, and their offspring?

Yes it is but here's the thing Robby, WOULD THEY EVER HAVE DARED DO IT UNDER OBAMA?

Shit, Obama song confirmed the liberal bias.

Yeah, SNL is soooo fucken edgy. Oooo.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

In an uncharacteristically chipper departure from vitriol and bile, I have to say that Kids in the Hall caricature of Lorne Michaels in Brain Candy was dine-o-mite.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Here's the other part. I don't think I hear a 'redneck' comedian go after Obama's kids in eight years. Meanwhile here, before he even got elected all we heard were progs saying how 'creepy' Barron is and how 'strange the family' is and all that culminating into this joke; and you know damn well the progs love it.

The irony? They're supposed to be the most PC group out there sensitive to every god damn fucken group that identifies as a victim but 10 year-old autistic kids are fair game. How are we not to think this is anything but hypocrisy?

[Tonio]

Rufus, Rufus, Rufus. It's always different when they do it. You see, they are virtuous and their opponents are not. And young Master Barron Trump probably has a significant net worth, so therefore a bad person.

But all kidding aside, you are right. "Redneck" comedians left Obama's kids alone because rednecks understand the value of family. They also realize that kids are just kids and are not fair game.

[spqr2008]

And they also understand the Obama kids will provide comedic fodder in 10-15 years, when they begin to run for office. It's a career investment.

[Tonio]

They will no longer be kids, they will be adults. I wish there was a less clinical term than offspring to describe that - "children" is too ambiguous.

The rules of engagement used to be that if a politician's family member stayed out of the spotlight and didn't express political opinions then they were off-limits. That also applied to minor children.

But once they start expressing political opinions in public they are fair game.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

I suggest we avoid kidult

[Ken Shultz]

It's inappropriate for politicians to go after their opponent's children--unless their opponent makes the claim that he's a better candidate because he's a better parent. In other words, if and when a candidate tuns his or her own parenting skills into an election issue, then his or her parenting skills (or lack thereof) become a legitimate target.

SNL should fire anyone on their staff for any reason they like, and alienating advertisers or their intended audience is as good a reason as any. If Reason ever fired a writer because he or she were costing the publication subscriptions and donations because his or her writing was alienating their subscribers and donors, then that would be perfectly appropriate.

That's an excellent reason to fire somebody.

[John]

The writer should be fired for being stupid if nothing else. Here we have a veritable cornucopia of targets of humor relating to Trump, all of which are acceptable and will be praised in the circles the writer runs in. And she decides the right target is a ten year old boy, the one target associated with Trump that could possibly get her in trouble. What a dope.

[Ken Shultz]

The need to other and hate is buried deep in the progressive psyche, and they're always surprised when it costs them something.

They never seem to figure out where the line is until they step over it and suffer the consequences--and then it's a surprise to them that there's a line there.

Hating on the white, blue collar, middle class alienates white, blue collar, middle class voters in Michigan, and Wisconsin? Who knew? I thought all that white trash was on our side!

In this case, they probably went over the line because their whole philosophy disregards agency as an ethical consideration.

Being progressive is about eschewing respect for individual rights and wanting the government to force people to make sacrifices for the common good. When you have that mentality, I guess it's surprising to realize that you're supposed to give kids special treatment, an ethical obligation which almost certainly has something to do with their apparent lack of agency.

You can't make fun of retards for being retarded in good taste either. Make fun of normal people for making retarded choices, okay.

[Lee Genes]

Full-tilt crazy

"Mad King Donald" is an aggressive narcissist with extreme Dunning-Kruger syndrome: a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability as much higher than it really is. This combination has created the calamity of a human being who is now in charge of America, her international relations - and her nuclear arsenal.

Realizing who and what they had in the bag must have sent Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Dugin into an orgasmic rapture. They could not have obtained a better stooge if they had designed him themselves in a Manchurian mental hospital. Bagging Trump was probably the key to making Dugin's plan for disrupting the USA work.

Aleksandr Dugin is known as "Putin's brain." He devised the geopolitical approach that Putin has been executing for the last decade or more. By manipulating his "useful idiot" Trump, Putin was able to put his thumb on the scales of American democracy, and so realize Dugin's vision for the USA. In this vision it doesn't matter so much who's in power so long as the end goal as described in Dugin's book "Foundations of Geopolitics" is being achieved. They had already been working on this plan for quite a while; recruiting Trump (without him even being aware that he'd been turned) was the key to its ultimate success.

[Lee Genes]

Dugin describes the technique in his geopolitical textbook (excerpted from Wiki)::
Russia should use its special forces within the borders of the United States to fuel instability and separatism, for instance, provoke "Afro-American racists". Russia should "introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements ? extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics."

In this case "special forces" are not Spetsnaz teams, but an army of hackers, trolls and provocateurs. Through them, Putin has been able to take advantage of a pre-existing and growing split in American society by driving a wedge into it, forcing it ever wider and preventing it from closing.

There is no question in my mind that Dugin's geopolitical recipe has been followed, with enormous success.

[John]

In this case "special forces" are not Spetsnaz teams, but an army of hackers, trolls and provocateurs. Through them, Putin has been able to take advantage of a pre-existing and growing split in American society by driving a wedge into it, forcing it ever wider and preventing it from closing.

It is not that we fucked up and Obama has been a disaster as a President. Nope. It is that people are being manipulated and controlled by the evil Russians. This people are fucking amazing.

[Lee Genes]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If the Russians developed Donald Fucking Trump over a period of years prior to the 2016 GOP primary when nobody knew he was going to run and even thought he had a chance, then they are the smartest motherfuckers in the room and deserve to be running the USA.

Particularly since our own intelligence services couldn't predict the downfall of our greatest nemesis when that's all they had to do.

[John]

Like I say below. Anything the Russians did during this election was for the purpose of weakening and gaining leverage over Hillary because no way in hell did the Russians think Trump was going to win.

[UnCivilServant]

Dunning-Krueger is people who write articles online pretending to be smarter than everyone else - not turning millions into billions and then getting elected to high office under unfavorable conditions.

[Pat (PM)]

That damn Wikipedia entry was probably the worst thing that ever happened to online pissing matches since Hitler.

[John Titor]

It's especially telling when the people accusing others of Dunning-Krueger in their analysis then go "BUT MUH NUCLEAR ARSENAL".

Jesus Christ people, learn U.S. nuclear policy before you open your stupid mouths.

[SugarFree]

I don't disagree with the first paragraph; the rest is pretty kooky.

[John]

The first paragraph is true but it doesn't mean what these people think it does. Remember no one thought Trump could ever win. And that includes the Russians. How would the Russians have known Trump had a chance when the entire US government and media didn't think he did? They wouldn't have. So, the Russians figured Hillary was certain to win. What then is their strategy? Their strategy is to weaken her as much as possible and make her election as illegitimate as possible. How do they do that?

First, they likely funded Jill Stein's campaign as a way to take votes from her and limit her popular mandate. Its not like the Russians haven't been funding the Greens and hard left in this country for decades or anything. If they were behind the DNC email thing, it was to embarrass Hillary and divide her coalition and make her a weak President not put Trump in office because they almost certainly didn't think that was possible. Once Trump won, the Russians now have an interest in him being a weak President with a divided coalition. How do they accomplish that? By running a disinformation campaign that they "hacked the election" and Trump is in their pocket.

The people doing the Russians bidding are the ones claiming Trump is a Russian mole who got elected thanks to the Russians. Think about it, if he really were that, the last thing the Russians would want would be for people to say so, since that would defeat the purpose.

[SugarFree]

I said the rest was kooky, John.

[John]

It just amazes me how it never occurs to anyone that if the Russian goal is to cause chaos and weaken the US, they don't have to actually interfere in the election. They just have to create the impression they have. When I see journalists claiming this stuff, I can't help but wonder whose payroll they are on.

[bacon-magic]

How DARE you answer in one sentence. You must atone by giving us a really yuuuge story on Obama's vacation plans.

[Lee Genes]

Due dates are microaggressions

Yes, that's what they're saying.

[Lord Humungus]

is everything a microaggression? Asking for a friend.

(I'll also note that Firefox recognizes the word microaggression as properly spelled)

[Lee Genes]

Obviously Brendan Eich wasn't in charge of that part of the browser.

[Slammer]

cancer

[Rufus The Monocled]

Professor (during September 5 class). You have until December 5 to complete your paper giving you ample time.
Student: How dare you? I want to hand it in when I feel like it!
Professor: But the last day of class is on the 15th and I have to grade and return them!
Student (blows into whistle): FLAGGED!

/breaks down crying.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

You're undervaluing this really amazing link.

First, the artistry is fucking hilarious. I could draw better, and I can hardly color in the lines.

Second, the list is absolutely great!
1) Due dates are microaggressions
2) Mispronouncing people's names is a microaggression
3) Selecting somebody to read an excerpt to the class is a microaggression
4) Requiring presentations to the class is a microaggression
5) Requiring students to buy the latest version of the textbook is a microaggression (I might be on board with this one)
6) Going through lecture slides too quickly is a microaggression

[Juvenile Bluster]

Worked in the bookstore back in college. Expensive textbooks are always the professor's fault. We started to ask for book orders months before the semester would start, so we'd have as many as we needed and could buy back at the end of the semester. Most of them didn't order their books until late, so we couldn't buy back books (except at wholesale price) and then we wouldn't have used books, pissing everybody off. We liked selling used books. We made more profit on those than the new ones.

And that doesn't count all the conversations I had with professors telling them that the new edition of the math book they wanted is useless because the only thing that changed is the cover, but the publishers convinced them they needed the new edition.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Most of them didn't order their books until late

That's completely inexcusable. It's the same damn class every single year. Just stick with the same edition of the same book until something in that book becomes significantly out of date. We have this thing called the internet, and we can look there to get the couple pieces of information that were added to the new edition to "justify" the $150 price differential.

My undergrad experience at Purdue was that the profs, especially the engineering profs, tended to select the 2nd to newest edition of a book, allowing us to buy most of our textbooks off of amazon for less than ten bucks. In law school at SMU, it was the opposite. Everything had to be the brand new latest edition, and outside one or two adjuncts who wanted to give us a break, each textbook cost at least $150. The annoying thing is that most of the changes between editions involved switching out one case from 1850 that taught concept X with another case from 1860 teaching the same concept.

[UnCivilServant]

I often ran into professors who wrote or revised the books, so they required the newest edition to pad their own income.

[The Late P Brooks]

Anybody who watches SNL gets what they deserve.

[Swiss Servator]

Ah, nuts...no Mourning Lynx....there goes my excuse to have another coffee and not work.

Back the the fondue mines.

[The Late P Brooks]

Realizing who and what they had in the bag must have sent Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Dugin into an orgasmic rapture.

Sure, whatever.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Will post in the afternoon lynx, but...

Cops kill man, because that's what they do.

Prosecutor clears cops, because that's what they do.

Man's widow posts Facebook video lamenting what's happened, crying for justice, and calling the cops "pigs", because that's what they are.

And now the police, who badly need a remedial lesson on the first amendment, want to prosecute and sue her for that because she hurt their pwecious wittle feewings.

[SugarFree]

I am still allowed to find this pretty creepy, right?

[Lee Genes]

Ya got me there

[Lord Humungus]

I don't even know where to start...

[Juvenile Bluster]

Are *you* allowed to? I dunno.

But yeah, that's kind of creepy.

[SugarFree]

This entire thread has been about what sorts of jokes we are allowed--according to certain partisan gatekeepers--to make about Barron Trump. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting anyone's feelings.

[spqr2008]

Kids do weird things with Tech all the time. I probably have my picture in almost the same pose from my cousin (who was 5, and using her mom's iPhone) trying to do her best to "loom" over me and take my picture.

[SugarFree]

It's more her hands on his thighs, really. And he's ten.

[Chipwooder]

I've noticed that women who have one son and no other children tend to be VERY cuddly with their sons to a sometimes disturbing degree. Make of that what you will.

[SugarFree]

Yeah, I've noticed that too. Not with my mother, of course. She was as cuddly as a downed live electrical line.

[bacon-magic]

*takes more headshrink notes

[John Titor]

And now we get a brief look into Sugarfree's research methodology.

[Chipwooder]

Creepy? Eh, I don't know - I mean, I don't particularly care for the Louis XIV style either, but I'm not sure I'd call it creepy.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Is it bad it turned me on?

[SugarFree]

That's between you and your gods beyond the wall.

[invisible furry hand]

Yes you are. The interior decorator should be shot for their crimes against gold spray paint

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is that camera supposed to be a Polaroid?

[SugarFree]

Getty images caption: Barron Trump is using the new FUJIFILM instax mini 90 as he and Melania Trump are photographed at Trump Tower on January 6, 2016 in New York City.

[GILMORE?]

needs him slapping her in the face with the dismembered limb of one of his former nannies.

[invisible furry hand]

I was planning to post in AM Links, but...

Hit and Run Public Service Announcement
OK groovers, given that the next four years will be full of boring arguments about Trump and accusations of bad faith, TDS, and general lunacy, it seemed a good idea to get a record of how Hit 'n' Runners will mark Trump.

If you want to play, you have to set out:

(A) What Trump would have to do to be even a semi-success in your eyes

AND

(B) What Trump would have to do to be even a semi-failure in your eyes

Put your answers here, or email them to [e-mail]

Thanks to everyone who has already responded.

I'll post this message every day this week, and then collate the answers and share the doc next week. You can then use this as a way to keep track of people's positions (and your own) so we don't get to pretend we had different criteria four years down the track.

[Lord Humungus]

I'll go public here as a Trump-supporter-by-proxy (meaning I hated Hillary so much that I wanted the Donald to win).

Note: I didn't vote for anyone for president this year

I expect a whole bunch of failure from Donald Trump. Some of it will be his fault, while much of it will be from the unwieldy bureaucracy called Washington DC. This will probably lead to a bunch of deadlock - a good thing! - but not a radical change that his followers will want. The next president - probably a Democrat in 4 years - will tilt the ship back to the left and the "populist movement" that DT was part of will wither with time.

Or I could be completely wrong.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'll just be happy as long as he doesn't grab any pussy at the first few state dinners.

[cavalier973]

And I'll be happy if he does.

[Rhywun]

(A) Cut taxes and regulations as promised
(B) Not cut taxes and regulations as promised

[GILMORE?]

that is a pretty good shorthand answer

[cavalier973]

Put me down for the same as what Rhywun said.

[GILMORE?]

(A) What Trump would have to do to be even a semi-success in your eyes

AND

(B) What Trump would have to do to be even a semi-failure in your eyes

Wow, that's interesting.

I think A) =

Basically, all success requires is "marginally better than Obama"... and all that needs is 'reduce needless interventions abroad', and 'ameliorate the stupid big-government programs Obama helped enable' (e.g. the ACA and a variety of other regulatory-state seedling-programs, the CFPB, Dodd Frank, various Energy/Climate boondoggles, etc)

anything else is gravy. the bar is so low that i think it would be a major shame if he didn't get most of that in a first term.

B) if he generates any major legislation (aside from a Obamacare "fix") that creates new govt agencies/mandates. The real task he has is to kneecap the ones Obama put in place. I think there is likely to be some minor military skirmishing (the anti-jihidi stuff is going to be near perpetual for the rest of my life), but if he sticks his dick deeply into any new source of conflict, that would also be an instant fail. Also maybe add, "any Yuge scandal". Its Ok if when bannon is discovered to have a closet full of severed prostitute-parts, but if he tries funnelling like a few hundred million to a golf buddy (when Obama does it for the palestinians, its ok), well, I think that's probably not 'failure', but will hurt badly.

[Cynical Asshole]

It's starting to look like my decision, years ago, to not waste another second of my life watching SNL was a good one.

[Charles Easterly]

A.M. Links

Insane Clown Posse calling for a 'Juggalos March' to Washington, D.C. in 2017

goes acoustic

Alec Baldwin's Trump impersonations are now available with one weird trick.

[Juvenile Bluster]

If we nuke DC while the Juggalos are marching there, we can solve about 98% of this nation's issues.

[cavalier973]

....and the world's.

[Charles Easterly]

Drat.

Cthulhu goes acoustic

[Jerryskids]

I do have to wonder where the outrage over this joke was coming from, though. The leftist SJW's and their usual speech-Nazi "you can't say that" bullshit, or the Trumpalos claiming they're against that sort of PC bullshit while using that exact tactic? And then claiming that they're using it "ironically", it's acceptable to use the Left's own tactics against them even though all they know about this person is that they made a joke which might have been aimed in Trump's general direction. Automatically dismissing anybody who criticizes Trump as a butt-hurt Hillary supporter and a whiny crybaby who hates America and hates winning is not "using the Left's own tactics against them", it's just using the Left's tactics, period.

[paranoid android]

or the Trumpalos claiming they're against that sort of PC bullshit while using that exact tactic

Almost certainly this.

[Slammer]

Teacher who repeatedly sexted students then performed sex acts on them blames her strict religious Muslim upbringing for making her too repressed

Her defense lawyer, Alissa Hascup, said the Muslim woman was driven in part to commit the offences due to her orthodox upbringing, and suggested that she be treated by a therapist as oppose to serving time in prison.

[Lee Genes]

Help! Help! I'm being repressed!

*gobbles knob*

[Juvenile Bluster]

meh. Her lawyer had to come up with something. I'm impressed by the creativity of the argument.

[SugarFree]

At least she broke that streak of mildly attractive female teacher/sex predators.

[Lord Humungus]

She looked better in the pic without the hijab, but not anyone I would want to take home.

[SugarFree]

Does Islam have something against Retin-A?

And without the hijab, she looks like one of those girls who tried to kill that other girl as an offering to Slenderman.

[Chipwooder]

I wouldn't have made that connection myself, but yeah, you nailed that one.

[John Titor]

Gah, that court photo is the ultimate "don't stick your dick in crazy" reminder.

[AlmightyJB]

Rape culture

[Fist of Etiquette]

I didn't know Kennedy was Muslim. And a teacher.

[Chipwooder]

You take that back right now!!

[bacon-magic]

You watch your mouth time-warper, ve hav vays ofz dealzing wit zour kind.

[AlmightyJB]

SNL is not funny. Maybe they should fire all of their writers.

[Dana]

This is the level of "humor" in America. It is horrid. Most of the worst of it comes from the Left. Bad jokes similar to Broadway jokes from the 40's and 50's, they aren't funny but one laughs out of politeness (read: out of agreement if you are of the Left).

Yes, she apologized. But perhaps only because she had to apologize. I suspect she does not regret hating a 10 year old child whose parents' politics differ from hers. Hate is not hate when it is correctly directed.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

Rich had speculated that Barron?President Trumps 10-year-old son?would be the nation's "first homeschool shooter."

I know that you're pointing out to more egregious things but I have to say, isn't Rick's attempt at a joke really an unfair and undeserving stab at home schoolers? Shouldn't the focus be on the horrible prejudices that these leftists harbor against people who do not kiss the State's ass?

[SugarFree]

I think it was supposed to be a remark about Barron looking like Adam Lanza, a homeschooled school shooter and autistic, not a generalized slap at homeschooling.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I disagree. I think she did try to kill two birds with one stone.

[SugarFree]

Come down here and say that to my face, maple-sucker.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Are you coming on to me?

[SugarFree]

I do have a thing for people with Vitamin D deficiency...

[Swiss Servator]

Get a room!

...at Niagara Falls.

[Lord Rollingpin]

...over Niagara Falls.

[Azathoth!!]

No.

the 'homeschool' point was an aside at assassinating trump and Melania--Barron is NOT actually homeschooled.

Something she knew--because NY lefties are also pitching a bitch about Melania staying in NY so Barron can finish out his school year.

[John C. Randolph]

I don't think "insensitive" really describes it. More like she blew right past "snotty" and went for "vicious".

-jcr

[Hamster of Doom]

It's not illegal to verbally attack kids*. No one can or should arrest the little tit for her twatty tweetering.

We can conclude that the writer in question is a boor, poorly socialized, and a low-brow coward barely above mouth-breathing. But illegal? Nah, man, she gets to be her, and we get to judge her for who she is.

* Depending on local cyberbullying laws, of course. This isn't a free country, you know.

[Hamster of Doom]

I have no idea why this went here. MOAR coffee.

Sorry, JCR.

[SugarFree]

More coffee is always the best idea. Or Diet Sunkist. Or a brandy enema. (It really is a most bracing way to start a Tuesday.)

[Swiss Servator]

I sure hope that wasn't good brandy.

Or should I have tried to riff off of...

The sailors say "Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)
"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)
"Yeah your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea"

[Suthenboy]

"...the little tit for her twatty twittering."

More like the Hamster of win.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Re: the AM links.

Not impressed.

[UnCivilServant]

Hello

[Rufus The Monocled]

Sigh.

Hello.

[Hamster of Doom]

C'mon, I laughed. UCS is getting this straight-man act down pretty well.

[SugarFree]

this straight-man act

It's a role he's been practicing his whole life.

[bacon-magic]

NTTAWWT

[AddictionMyth]

Sorry.

[AddictionMyth]

Tips for raising a spree shooter:

- Diagnose them with autism at a young age.
- Tell them their religion requires them to marry early and have children
- Especially in a country that glorifies extended childhood
- If in a business dispute, report them to FBI for 'terrorist tendencies'
- Encourage disrespectful behavior from a young age

Then sit back and wait for your close up. Remember to say, "We loved him so much and did all the right things!"

[AddictionMyth]

"Because of your disease, you will be unable to form meaningful relationships with your peers. Therefore you must live at home with me for the rest of your life. But don't worry - we'll set up the attic/basement/lake house however you like it." - Autism mother

[CampingInYourPark]

Looks like somebody's mother called them a retard too

[Swiss Servator]

He can't help he wants cake.

[The Late P Brooks]

This entire thread has been about what sorts of jokes we are allowed--according to certain partisan gatekeepers--to make about Barron Trump. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting anyone's feelings.

How are you coming on the Barron/Malia roleplay fanfic? Because I have reached the point where I just don't care. No one is off limits. Nothing is off limits. I think we all know we're Berlin in the '30s, now.

Also- since they buried J D's piece in the predawn article dump:

The howling mob who have "suddenly" found voice against the President were only weeks ago mooning about how wonderful it would be if they could wave their magic wand and disappear the 22nd Amendment, in order that their cult idol could remain Maximum Leader in Perpetuity. They despise the foul usurper while having naught but love for the Office.

[SugarFree]

I try to stay away from the underage stuff. Not out of a sense of propriety, of course, but because of the truly disturbing fan mail I get.

[Swiss Servator]

Holy Mother of God....I cannot imagine the fan mail that you would label "truly disturbing"

*shudders*

[UnCivilServant]

It's actually sweet and inoffensive, but he reacts poorly to sweetness and is disturbed.

[AddictionMyth]

A modest proposal: We'll give up universal healthcare and you give up rounding people up by the millions. What say you?

[Domestic Dissident]

I say that you should probably take your meds, Weigel.

[The Late P Brooks]

Not out of a sense of propriety, of course, but because of the truly disturbing fan mail I get.

I can accept that.

[AddictionMyth]

A modest proposal: We'll give up 'debt-free' college and you give up nuking the middle east. What say you?

[Domestic Dissident]

Your meds. Take them, Weigel. Now.

[AddictionMyth]

I love how each of you is completely convinced that I'm your own personal arch-nemesis. Yet it never occurs to you that you all share the same delusion. AddictionMyth Derangement Syndrome?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

STFU TULPA!

[bacon-magic]

I've said this before: leave the kids out of it. Fucking people, get some class.

[AddictionMyth]

A modest proposal: We'll de-fund public spending on welfare for lazy people to spend their days having sex and doing drugs and you de-fund spending on subsidizing 'intelligence' agencies for bullies to play cops & robbers all day. Whaddaya say??

[Suthenboy]

SNL hasn't been funny for 40 years. They were funny as hell when they were operating below the radar but that didn't last long. As soon as they were leashed they stopped being funny. I haven't even bothered to watch the show for decades.

[GILMORE?]

It was inexcusable

then stop apologizing.

besides, he'll get his revenge eventually. America is long overdue for a proper Caligula-type.

[Mike Laursen]

When you've lost Slate...

[C. S. P. Schofield]

OK, let's step back from Reason's reflexive "Nobody should get punished for saying anything, ever" stance and actually look at context. For one thing, there has been a clear double standard developing regarding politicians' kids, DEMOCRAT politician's kids are sacrosanct, but beginning with Sarah Palin's kids, it's been considered OK on the left to make 'lighthearted' (read snide and mean) jokes. If a bunch of people got together to tell SNL to knock that the f*ck off, good. It's happened before, and each time the Left expresses shock and surprise that anyone could POSSIBLY be offended. Please, lefty 'comedians', you knew it was going to offend somebody or you wouldn't have said it in the first place. You are exactly as believable as the schoolyard bully protesting his innocence.

Then there's the "we're offended" double standard. We Commoners are supposed to be oh so sensitive about the feelings of a group of people insane enough to pay money to be surgically mutilated, but gods forbid we take offense at the deliberately offensive.

Somebody really needs to explain to Andres Serrano the difference been a sophomoric attempt at blasphemy that could have been duplicated by any tasteless 12 year old in an afternoon, and art. The explanation should be made with a belt-strap.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

Cntd.

Finally; let's make a clear distinction here; freedom of speech means the State doesn't punish you for running your ratchet-jaw. Nobody owes you a job, an audience, or free printing. If you embarrass your employer by opening your pie-hole while arguably speaking for him, he gets to can your ass. If you go out of your way to infuriate a sizable segment of the taxpayers, and they want to deny you further access to the public trough, that isn't Censorship. That's thrift. The world does not owe you a living.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Anyway, while we're on the subject of which SNL writers should lose their jobs, whose bright idea was it to glorify President Obama on his way out?

They really did that, didn't they. Did actually did it.

This is what happens when there's no one in the room with a different opinion. There's no friction, so the lightest push just sends things out to the edge of the galaxy.

[Azathoth!!]

They need to be held to their own standards.

They need to be crushed under the idiotic weight of them.

Maybe then they'll start to understand that what they want can't ever work.

[Azathoth!!]

They need to be held to their own standards.

They need to be crushed under the idiotic weight of them.

Maybe then they'll start to understand that what they want can't ever work.

[Bill Dalasio]

But then again, isn't an SNL writer's job to, um, make up jokes? Not to avoid offending the rich and powerful, and their offspring?

Sorry, Robby, I guess I just don't find mindless collectivism terribly funny. Humor makes sense when it's addressing the actions, behaviors or personality quirks of the person you're making fun of. I had no problem with comedians making fun of the Bush daughters for their partying. And I would have had no problem with them making fun of the Obama daughters for pot smoking, if they'd been able to pull their collective noses from Mr. Obama's crotch long enough to notice it. So, what exactly about Barron Trump was this making fun of? He isn't home schooled. And, as far as I can tell he's a normal, healthy, well-adjusted little boy. Oh, I know, it's who his parents are. We aren't supposed to like Donald Trump so let's fling shit at his son.

[Murray Rothtard]

everyone here sounds like a humorless prog. the shit that's ruining our country has apparently spread quickly to the red "libertarians" on the site.

"waaaaahh. that's not funny. that's offensive. their are rules to how you should speak."

jesus christ people. lighten up. if you can't laugh at school shootings and autism and rich kids, i feel for you.

[kenzy9]

But then again, isn't an SNL writer's job to, um, make up jokes? Not to avoid offending the rich and powerful, and their offspring?
????? ???? ????
????? ???
Anyway, while we're on the subject of which SNL writers should lose their jobs, whose bright idea was it to glorify President Obama on his way out? Yes, that's right, Hillary Clinton singing "Hallelujah" wasn't enough: SNL had to find a way to outdo its previous obeisance to the Democratic Party.

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[CE]

Yeah, make fun of politicians from both parties. No need to kiss up to them, especially when they lose/leave.

[josh]

i didn't hear about the 'to sir with love' moment, and i'm thankful for that. i don't watch snl anymore, and one of the reasons is that every week i see someone go on about how hysterical they were and i have to wonder if no one understands what a sense of humor really is anymore. that depresses me. snl did some great work in the 2000 election, and ever since, everyone has been acting as if they been in the midst of a renaissance. renaissance doesn't mean much anymore either, i suppose. one of these days some nbc executive is going to have to be merciful enough to tell lorne michaels that it's all over.