Freedom Caucus in the Fray, Mike Pence's Marriage Rules Violate the Law? P.M. Links

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  Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press/Newscom

  Not only is Vice President Mike Pence a bad person—because he doesn't dine alone with women who are not married to him—he's obviously breaking the law, says Vox.

• Betsy DeVos says competition would help schools in the same way that competition has improved ride-sharing. People are condemning her for this metaphor, because they are stupid.
• Critics of Charles Murray barely understand The Bell Curve.
• Donald Trump vs. the Freedom Caucus.
• Sean Spicer says "reality" dictates that Bashar al-Assad will remain president of Syria.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Not only is Vice President Mike Pence a bad person?because he doesn't dine alone with women who are not married to him?he's obviously breaking the law, says Vox.

Sharia law?

[Bubba Jones]

He recognizes that ambitious women are treacherous and he seeks to minimize their opportunities for blackmail.

BTDT.

[colorblindkid]

Whenever any married politician is seen at a restaurant alone with a woman other than his wife, rumors and allegations begin before the check is even paid. It's just common sense. I would imagine there are millions of wives who won't let their husbands go to business dinners alone with another woman for very non-religious reasons. But CHRISTIAN SHARIA!!!!

[mad.casual]

He recognizes that ambitious women are treacherous and he seeks to minimize their opportunities for blackmail.

Or play the numbers and just inherently fuck with their leveraging. Personally, nothing brings a fresh breath of honesty to the conversation like "What do you think dear?"

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Domestic Dissident]

Obviously the scum at Vox have already tried to set him up and failed.

The greatest threat to to Washington is an honest man.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Obviously. Those damn cuckaschmucks must be stopped!

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Cuckaschmucktarians does sound better than cosmotarians, but it is a lot harder to type.

[paranoid android]

Why do you call yourself "Domestic Dissident" when you've so emphatically switched over to bootlicking?

[Juice]

LOLWUT? Washington chews up and spits out honest men on a daily basis.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Critics of Charles Murray barely understand The Bell Curve.

Sometimes feelings are all you need to be a critic.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I feel your bell is curved.

[buybuydandavis]

Critics of Charles Murray barely understand The Bell Curve.

Left side of the Curve.

[Anomalous]

More than 2 SD less than the mean.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

That just gave me an entirely new perspective on the phrase "mean people suck." Mind. Blown.

[Bra Ket]

The truth is not a defense for blasphemy. In fact it just makes the moral panic worse. We don't need rigid social rules to prevent people from saying obvious nonsense. It's the stuff we can't counter with words that we need violence for.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Betsy DeVos says competition would help schools in the same way that competition has improved ride-sharing.

THEN WHY DOESN'T SHE BECOME THE SECRETARY OF RIDE SHARING.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Elite hipster lefties who send their kids to private schools would go berserk if she did that.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

There's something particularly infuriating about (mostly white) liberals who wax about the nobility of public schools and the "benefits of diversity," while sending their kids to magnet or private schools and who pointedly live in upper middle class white neighborhoods.

At least when we were looking to move back to Colorado, I was quite open about the fact that Aurora and Denver Public Schools are garbage school districts, and that sending our kids to school there would be a form of child abuse.

[mattcid]

I was at a large political thing for the upcoming school board election. The phrase "School Choice" came up and you would think someone had yelled "Grenade!" They're afraid of Betsy and I'm loving it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump vs. the Freedom Caucus.

President Trump has more freedom in his little finger than they have in that whole failing caucus. Believe me.

[Not a True MJG]

IT'S NOT LITTLE

[Fist of Etiquette]

I have to admit, that's the riff I was aiming for.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Bleachers shares new song 'Don't Take the Money' about Lena Dunham

In between producing new songs for Lorde, including singles Green Light and Liability, Jack Antonoff enlisted the New Zealand singer to help him write a track of his own, one that's partially inspired by Antonoff's current partner, Lena Dunham.

Antonoff released his latest single as his project Bleachers on Thursday night, titled Don't Take the Money. As the two artists explained on Twitter, the song came out of an initial demo they recorded together, with the track's backing vocals sounding very similar to Lorde's distinctive voice.

[Not a True MJG]

What... what is he bleaching?

[LoneWaco]

Eyes, brain, tongue, skin

[Anomalous]

Is Anton his middle name?

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Fake Camel Toe Underwear: The Fashion Trend No One Asked For

The pants, which have been called "party pants" have a silicone pad in the front that "enhances" the female form.

According to EliteReaders, the party pants have found a market with the transgender community ? male genitalia can be concealed quite effectively with these magical jocks.

Weirdly they also come in a variety of skin-toned hues.

[Aloysious]

Comments be funny.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm sorry, but if I picked up lady because of her prominence up front only to find when I stripped off her yoga pants it was all false advertising?

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

It would serve you right for all that false advertising you participated in in your early teens though your late thirties by stuffing a tube sock down the front of your pants.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It was a tube sock full of wood screws that I had to keep handy to beat off all the amorous ladies chasing me.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

TIL that Fist is a FUPA connoisseur.

[IceTrey]

You'd do what and why did you phrase it in the form of a question?

[Fist of Etiquette]

It was an elliptical statement. USE YOUR IMAGINATION.

[Anomalous]

It's the toe of the camel, it's the knuckle of moose...

[mad.casual]

According to EliteReaders, the party pants have found a market with the transgender community

We're a hit in the transgender community? I'll go out and buy a modestly priced bottle of champagne to celebrate! If we leverage this right with the T community, this time next year we could probably expect to have the B and the Q crowd on board too. Before you know it, we'll be well on our way to a 0.001% share of the lucrative exotic and corrective underwear market!

[Harvard]

I'm agash!

[Fist of Etiquette]

He does not eat alone with a woman or attend an event where alcohol is being served unless his wife is present.

Vice President Pussywhipped.

[colorblindkid]

That's the only thing I'm getting out of this whole thing. Dude's on a short leash.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Or he's gay

[Conchfritters]

Mike Pence did nothing wrong in the Minneapolis airport bathroom....

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Our first Muslim VP.

[colorblindkid]

"People are condemning her for this metaphor, because they are stupid." Duh.

it's much like they condemned her for her somewhat accurate but very inarticulate comment about HBCUs being an early example of school choice. When the government failed to provide education to the public and kept black kids out of college, private institutions created their own successful educational establishments independent of the government.

[Bubba Jones]

Isn't that what happens now? Parents don't send their kids to private school in protest against high quality public schools.

[Juice]

She was also criticized for equating expensive education choices to ride-sharing services that are also financially out of reach for low-income families ...

A guy I know just told me he can get to work using Uberpool cheaper than taking the Metro. It usually costs him $2. That's about the cost of a bus ride.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A male boss cannot casually cordon off certain jobs, tasks, or opportunities for men only. (I am assuming here that Pence does occasionally dine with men ? table for two ? without his wife present.)

Journalism 101: Always assume as the publicly available facts might not go your way.

[Free Society]

Not only is Vice President Mike Pence a bad person?because he doesn't dine alone with women who are not married to him?he's obviously breaking the law, says Vox.

Can't Pence get a pass because of cultural differences? Or is deference only awarded to certain cultures? Oh well

[wef]

Pence might be onto something. I probably shouldn't dine alone with humans who are not married me.

[MarkLastname]

White people dont have culture, they just have oppression.

[damikesc]

So, per Vox, there is no right to assembly. You MUST assemble with others, even if you desire to not do so.

Seriously, how many married guys regularly go out drinking with other women or going out to eat with other women? I have no rules in my marriage and I don't do it. I'd prefer to spend time with, you know, my wife.

[Bubba Jones]

The bell curve arguments are funny. I work with a lot of geneticists. They have no trouble admitting that behavioral traits can be genetic. There are drugs that are approved for black populations and not white. Skin color itself is obviously controlled by genes. And, genetic sequencing can tell you your family history.

But, these same people will argue that race is not genetic.

Cognitive dissonance.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

To be fair, most people's conception of "race" isn't genetic. Somalis, Arabs, Irishmen, Punjabis, and Mexicans are all the same race, genetically, but most people who want to talk about "race" would instead insist that Somalis belong grouped with Africans, that Arabs and Punjabis should be grouped with Asians, or have their own separate group, and that Mexicans also should have their own separate group.

Most people who talk about "race" aren't referring to the Mongoloid/Caucasoid/Negroid divide, but are just using some bullshit standard that they themselves invented. This "most people" includes most government surveys, especially Britain's survey, which thinks for some odd reason that a good chunk of all Caucasoids belong separated from the rest and grouped with the Mongoloids.

[Mark22]

But, these same people will argue that race is not genetic.

Skin color is obviously genetic, but it doesn't define "race". There is no consistent definition of "race" possible.

When people use the term "race", they usually mean "group of people who look similar to me" or "ethnicity and skin color".

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

The U.S. Military's V-22 Osprey: "Everything Is An Option"

The service wants the tanker capability for its fleet of Osprey so that the tilt-rotors would be able to extend the range of the Marines' F-35B Joint Strike Fighters?which is becoming an increasingly important factor in the Pacific theatre. Dubbed, the VARS?V-22 Aerial Refueling System?the idea is for the Ospreys to top-off the F-35Bs as they takeoff from a large-deck amphibious assault ship with a full load of weapons but not fuel. The Ospreys would also be able to refuel the jets as they return?acting as a recovery tanker.

Military spending, people.

[ATXChappy]

As someone who spent a few years in Marine Aviation (My squadron was the first to get the V-22), adding additional capabilities isn't necessarily a bad idea. The more roles a particular air frame can accomplish, the fewer air frames you need. So, something like this can actually reduce military spending.

The biggest problem with military spending isn't the capabilities that the services are asking for. It's the bureaucratic procurement / funding processes that are driven by Congress and their military industrial complex lobbies. It's why we get stories like this. http://www.military.com/daily-.....-want.html

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

The more roles a particular air frame can accomplish, the fewer air frames you need. So, something like this can actually reduce military spending.

I agree with your point. I was thinking more along the lines of how both the V-22 and F-35 are incredibly costly programs.

[ATXChappy]

You get no argument there. The entire procurement process is rife with corruption and completely broken. Neither of those platforms should have cost what they did. But, that's what happens when entrenched government contractors work with entrenched bureaucrats and politicians. I was reading yesterday about how ULA (a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed) is doing it's last no-bid contract launch for the government this year to the tune of $160 million dollars where as the SpaceX launches run $60 million. And, according to SpaceX, that $60 million they are charging will allow them to pay off the R&D costs for developing the re-usable rocket in just a few years.

[damikesc]

As a married dude, I do not EVER go out drinking with other women nor do I take other women out to eat without my wife being there. Do the idiots at Vox have ANYBODY who is married?

Mind you, these same people would also call him a cheater if they saw him doing either. And they are quite if a drunk man "rapes" an equally drunk woman --- you know, because the man is able to maintain his ability to accept things in a way the woman obviously cannot.

[TW]

I'm old enough to remember when the New York Times ran a front page story during the 2008 election speculating that John McCain was having an affair with a lobbyist. And as I recall, the media ran similar stories during the 1988 election speculating that George HW Bush may have cheated on his wife. When you know that there are people who are out to destroy you and don't care about the truth, it's generally prudent not to give them any ammunition that you don't have to.

[TW]

I'm willing to bet that there is almost a one-to-one correlation between the people criticizing Pence for not putting himself in a position where he could be accused of impropriety and those who think that when two drunken college students hook up, the guy is automatically at fault and Title IX requires he be kicked out of school if the girl regrets her decision. In light of the realities the Left has created both in academia in and the workplace, the Pences' "rules" seem less like puritanism and more like a prudent survival step that more people (men especially) should consider adopting.

[Dick Puller, Attorney at Law]

A man is faithful to his wife, and it becomes a trending news story? What does that tell you?

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Drug-fueled trucker drove 3,000 miles NON-STOP from Seattle to Massachusetts while high on meth, LSD and cocaine

'He was clearly a danger to himself and others,' a police spokesperson said. 'It appeared the driver didn't rest, only used drugs, and he drove from Seattle, Wash., to Deerfield, with a destination on the East Coast.'

He was clearly awesome.

[Spartacus]

That truck must have a YUGE gas tank.

[Griffin3]

Where did he pee?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Aquafina bottles. They used to have a nice wide opening that was perfect for urinating at 75 mph. I always thought that was a brilliant design. Unfortunately, they changed it a while back, and I have not found anything else to accommodate my girth.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Pissing into a narrow mouth water bottle is very tricky. The problem is that the head of your penis creates a seal with the opening and eventually there is a build up of pressure and a burst with urine backspray. So you have to press down on part of the head of your penis to equalize the pressure, all the while aiming the stream into the bottle while steering with the other hand. It is not easy. That is why I miss the old Aquafina bottles.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

That's why you punch a hole in the bottom of the bottle.

[Gordilocks]

Can you blame him? He's driving an ugly piece of shit across some of the most boring scenery on earth, including eastern Montana, North Dakota, and Chicago. Fuck, I probably would have needed MORE DRUGS.

I took some ecstacy once, while hauling a load of mangoes from Laredo back up to Toronto. Texas went by in a few blinks of an eye ... wish I would have picked up Agile Cyborg hitch-hiking, that would have exponentially increased the entertainment and conversation value.

[notJoe]

Sounds like the plot of Vanishing Point The Sequel.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Non-stop back to Dallas, poppin' them west-coast-turnarounds...

https://youtu.be/YEo06UdN9vI

[Agammamon]

I would say, that since the dude made it 3,000 miles, that he wasn't actually a danger to anyone.

And 3,000 miles is what? 40-48ish hours of driving? I've had to be up and running for 30+ hours more than once - and had to do it *without* the benefit of drugs.

[Conchfritters]

Breaker one nine - we got a suicide jockey up here with steaks on the grill, come back..

[Get To Da Chippah]

Eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin'

[TW]

I'm old enough to remember when the New York Times ran a front page story during the 2008 election speculating that John McCain was having an affair with a lobbyist. And as I recall, the media ran similar stories during the 1988 election speculating that George HW Bush may have cheated on his wife. When you know that there are people who are out to destroy you and don't care about the truth, it's generally prudent not to give them any ammunition that you don't have to.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Donald Trump vs. the Freedom Caucus.

What does this data not account for? Money and energy. Last year, Kansas's Roger Marshall defeated then-Freedom Caucus member Tim Huelskamp, with Marshall benefiting from outside groups aligned with the GOP establishment who wanted to knock off Huelskamp and punish him for his breaks with party orthodoxy. A well-organized effort, backed by Trump, to knock off Republican incumbents could be formidable, particularly if the president was willing to publicly campaign against Freedom Caucus members and raise money for their challengers.

Is a message of, "those meanies wouldn't let that retarded bill pass, and Donnie is mad!" be enough to defeat a sitting congressman?

[H. Farnham]

I'm from Kansas. What they mean by "outside groups aligned with the GOP establishment" is Ag industry organizations and lobbyists intent on keeping the sweet federal subsidies flowing to our poor, downtrodden farmers that "feed 132 people, and you."

[lap83]

Not only is Vice President Mike Pence a bad person?because he doesn't dine alone with women who are not married to him?he's obviously breaking the law, says Vox.

I'm going to take a wild guess that those same writers were in the "it's nobody's business if the president receives oral sex from an intern and lies about it!!!!!1111" camp. The personal lives of GOP politicians are everyone's business, however.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Listen, it's a little strange, so we should all laugh at it.

Not strange: emailing your daughter under her assumed name.

[lap83]

That's just being a good mom. Her daughter obviously identifies as a Diane, she's just being supportive.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Sean Spicer says "reality" dictates that Bashar al-Assad will remain president of Syria.

Is that controversial?

[Free Society]

I'm afraid so. Not enough virtue signals about democracy and human rights.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

When I was in college I lived in a suite that had two stalls next to each other. One of my suitemates and his gf used to poop at the same time, together, next to each other. That is strange.

[KerryW]

That sounds like the Cialis commercial they decided not to use...

[MarkLastname]

Did they... did they poop back and forth between each other's butts?

Anyone get that movie reference?

[Bender B. Rodriguez]

Betsy DeVos says competition would help schools in the same way that competition has improved ride-sharing. People are condemning her for this metaphor, because they are stupid.

They aren't stupid. They are well aware that increased choice improves every other aspect of their lives, but choose specifically to ape the talking points du jour on school choice because TEAM. The people I see derping about this on derpbook are otherwise quite reasonable people in many other ways, but intentionally get it wrong when describing what school choice consists of and how charter schools actually work. Shockingly, most of them are public schoolteachers.

Adam Carolla rails about politicos either being stupid or lying, and usually finds in favor of the latter. 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.'

[DanO.]

This might be like the worst chat room ever.

[MarkLastname]

Your mom is the worst chat room ever.

[Griffin3]

The list of memes on the Betsy Davos article are really, really weak. Considering, they are mostly tweets. Do these people even know what memes are?

Strangely, some of the anti-uber tweets make the pro-voucher case in a backhand way. I assume this is unintentional.

But what about ppl who can only afford the city bus? We defund public transit to pay for Uber?

Hmm. In some cities, 63% of the buses break down and never reach their destination. Should you force EVERYONE to ride the bus?

[Professor Woland]

When they do the inevitable porn parody of the Trump administration, she will be depicted as Busty Devos, Secretary of Sexual Education.

[TW]

I just finished reading the Vox article. The author goes on at great length to explain how workplace discrimination on the basis of sex is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Unfortunately she failed to mention that because the definition of "employer" in the statute explicitly states that it "does not include (1) the United States" meaning the federal government which includes the Office of the Vice President, that because he is not covered by Title VII, it is therefore impossible for Vice President Pence to violate it.

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm

[Agammamon]

My last comment was #6,809,745.
That averages out to about 1144 comments per day over 16.25 years, assuming this place started in 2000.
So much accomplished, so many libertarian moments.

So, WTF is this?

[Not a True MJG]

So much accomplished

eh

[Roger Wilco]

Please don't normalize 538. Despite what Nate Silver might think, not every take on every news item can be proved empirically.

[tuwuremos]

my Aunty Mila just got Toyota Highlander just by some part-time working online with a pc... Get More Information>>>>>>>>>>> https://qr.net/eyGRuC

[IceTrey]

Camel toe underwear.

Check the neck!

[simplybe]

The article about Mike Pence is asinine. In a world where a Twitter tweet can become an international fact in hours why would any high profile figure subject his wife and children to the tabloid mentality that rules America

[simplybe]

The reason Trump won the Republican nomination was main stream media told everyone that he actually won every debate. That every asinine comment he made was the word from on high. Why would they do this. They thought Trump was the only person in America Hillary could beat. Thankfully they were wrong. If you doubt me look at how they portrayed Trump before his win of Republican primaries and after he won. The media is a lie waiting to happen

[J Mann]

If a hypothetical government figure were known to only accept blowjobs from women, would Vox consider that to violate the law?