Au Revoir to the Paris Climate Accord, Trump Criticizes 'Press Covfefe,' Why White Supremacists Are Wrong to Love Vikings: A.M. Links

Pacific Press/Sipa USA/Newscom

• President Trump plans to withdraw America from the Paris climate accord, according to Axios. Why does it matter? "Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could do to unravel Obama's climate legacy," notes Jonathan Swan. It also "sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritize climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal."
• "White supremacists love Vikings, but they've got history all wrong," says history professor David Perry.
• The word of the day is "covfefe."

@RealDonaldTrump/Twitter

Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017

• Your weekly reminder that "human trafficking operation" is just police code for "prostitution sting."
• "A 'Privacy Constitution' of sorts for domestic spying would be a homerun for the GOP and President Trump," suggests Bob Barr.
• What happens when abortion is illegal in all circumstances?

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Trump plans to withdraw America from the Paris climate accord...

Retreating from the French???

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

This 'trumps' his Gorsuch nomination on his list of good moves.

/Yes, I'm aware his list of bad moves is impressive too.

[Bee Tagger]

"A 'Privacy Constitution' of sorts for domestic spying would be a homerun for the GOP and President Trump," suggests Bob Barr.

That's former libertarian presidential candidate bob barr, to you.

[Bee Tagger]

As an elephant, babar will never forget this slight.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

A 'Privacy Constitution'

If you want a privacy constitution, just shut the damn bathroom door.

[Cyto]

Or you could just read the constitution we already have. It is pretty strong on privacy. Heck, just sticking to enumerated powers would do the trick.

Too bad our courts and legislators fail on reading comprehension.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Your weekly reminder that "human trafficking operation" is just police code for "prostitution sting."

While prostitution stings are easy, coming up with phrases that confer a sense of worth and danger is not.

[Bee Tagger]

"White supremacists love Vikings,

Sure, the rest of the NFC Central would like you to think that.

[Conchfritters]

Is there some conspiracy behind Teddy Bridgewater shredding his ankle that I am unaware of?

[Bee Tagger]

"sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritize climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal."

Combative seems like a pointless adjective there.

[Conchfritters]

Denying climate change is literally violence. Literally.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

It's a total load of bullcrap. The US not reworking its entire energy infrastructure to be totally dependent on solar and wind should hardly prevent any of the other countries from implementing their own plans. The Paris signees should be far more concerned about China and India than the US, anyhow.

[Fist of Etiquette]

While spending time trying, as Trump suggested, to figure out what "covfefe" means is a waste, it's far more worthwhile to take a big step back and look at the situation that leads to the President of the United States tweeting, poorly, at 12:06 a.m. about the bad press he gets.

Okay.

[Mickey Rat]

Tweeting poorly about whatever is bothering them is a media members shtick.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Duterte Talks About Monica Lewinsky

hilippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday denounced the daughter of former U.S. president Bill Clinton for criticizing him over a joke about rape, and questioned whether she was just as outraged by her father's affair with a White House intern.

Duterte was incensed by Chelsea Clinton tweeting at the weekend that he was a "murderous thug with no regard for human rights".

"I was not joking, I was being sarcastic," Duterte said in a speech to navy officers.

"I will tell her, when your father, the president of the United States, was screwing Lewinsky ... the girl there in White House, how did you feel? Did you slam your father?"

Yeah Chelsea, did you?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ms. Clinton has a nice little growing cottage industry as a Twitter scold.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

The Clintons have to rebuild their brand now that Hillary's not there to provide pay-for-play access. What's sad is that they have to use Chelsea, who's the political equivalent of Paris Hilton, to do it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It also "sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritize climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal."

They like their deals to unravel of their own volition.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Pissed-off artist adds statue of urinating dog next to 'Fearless Girl'

Gardega created a statue of a small dog, titled "Pissing Pug," and his sloppily crafted pooch takes direct aim at "Fearless Girl" ? or, at least, at her left leg.

"This is corporate nonsense," Gardega told The Post of "Fearless Girl," saying it was put opposite artist Arturo Di Modica's famed bull as a publicity stunt by a Boston-based financial firm.

It has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull," he said. "That bull had integrity."

Corporate feminism vs guerilla art....it's on!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Soon it's going to be statues all the way down.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Mebbe they can re-purpose some of those now unused statures from Nawlins ...

[Rhywun]

But many female passers-by Monday said "Fearless Girl" has come to represent women taking on Wall Street ? and just about anybody else standing up to financial firms ? and that Gardega's peeing dog is misogynistic.

What does that even mean? NYC would be Detroit if it wasn't for Wall Street. You want to "take it on"? FU.

[B.P.]

I thought the bull was supposed to represent a strong economy, not financial firms.

[Rhywun]

That's the point. Little woke girl twisted the message of the bull into some leftist BS about "evil capitalism" and/or "toxic masculinity".

[Cyto]

Which makes me want to suggest something that shouldn't be suggested.

Awe, what the heck.....

Someone should make an R. Kelly fountain statue and place it directly in front of the girl statue. Properly directed, it would completely change the message of the little girl statue and suitably horrify pretty much everyone.

[Dick Puller, Attorney at Law]

+, you win the internets

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Funny, but I guess predictable, that Fearless Girl was noble, but Pissing Pug is contemptuous.

Wonder what the next will be, Curious Cat? Mighty Mouse? Feckless Flea?

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Maybe some prog can make "Hungry Chinese" to place next to Pissing Pug.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

What do you call a Vietnamese walking a dog? -- A rancher.

What do you call a Vietnamese with two dogs? -- A vegetarian.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Actress Priyanka Chopra is accused of 'disrespecting' India's PM by wearing a knee-length dress to meet him in Berlin before hitting back with 'legs for days' snap

What a slut.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Bad enough they disclaim agency for all women, then reimpose it for particular ones in particular instances, but now they claim the PM doesn't have enough agency to tell her to coverup or to have her ejected? It's lack of agency all the way down and up.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

"Paging William Morris. Mr. William Morris to the white courtesy phone, please".

[B.P.]

It was in Berlin though, so it was an away game for both of them. Don't local traditions/slut rules apply?

[Ken Shultz]

"Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could do to unravel Obama's climate legacy," notes Jonathan Swan. It also "sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritize climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal."

If Trump hadn't stiff armed international climate change agreements, he'd have betrayed his support in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan, that put him into the White House.

P.S. The Paris Climate Accord is unconstitutional because it was never even submitted to the Senate, much less ratified. Any and all actions meant to comply with the accord would therefore have been unconstitutional--not to mention authoritarian. Since when do we libertarians want presidents negotiating such agreements with other countries and then inflicting them on the American people without their consent by way of Congress and the Senate?

[paranoid android]

Since when do we libertarians want presidents negotiating such agreements with other countries and then inflicting them on the American people without their consent by way of Congress and the Senate?

Do you know of any libertarians who are doing that?

[Ken Shultz]

I hope not! And that was the point.

Libertarians don't want that.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

Since when do we not don't want that? That's all I'm sayin'.

[Mickey Rat]

I predict Bailey will be bitching about this in the near future.

[Ken Shultz]

I think climate change is a real problem; I oppose the Paris Climate Accord for being unconstitutional among other reasons.

I don't see international agreements as the way to address the problem.

Incidentally, I supported what Obama did in our intervention in the Libyan revolution in theory; I opposed Obama's intervention for being unconstitutional.

I disagree with Bailey on various topics, but I think he's a principled guy. He's more utilitarian than many of us, and that leads him to some . . . interesting positions sometimes. I guess he's more impressed by the outcomes of libertarian policies. I'm more impressed by letting average people make qualitative choices for themselves--sometimes despite the outcome.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

"I think climate change is a real problem"

Please name one real-world (not computer modeled) AGW caused environmental impact "problem".

I'll give you a 10-year extension if you need it.

[Ken Shultz]

It doesn't matter that I reject any solutions that are socialist or authoritarian; the only thing that matters is the science?

I hold that the only appropriate solutions are all capitalist and libertarian--in which case the science itself is hardly even important.

All the capitalist and libertarian things we should be doing to address climate change are capitalist and libertarian things we should be doing for other reasons, as well.

I have zero interest in arguing over something that's effectively irrelevant.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

Pull your head out of your ass and listen to something other than your echo.

You said:
"I think climate change is a real problem"

I asked you to name a single AGW problem.

If you can't name a problem, we sure as shit don't need to debate "solutions".

[Ken Shultz]

Do you not get that socialist and authoritarian solutions should be rejected for being socialist and authoritarian--regardless of what the science says, too?

If new data became available tomorrow that proved beyond any doubt that climate change was real and man made, would you embrace authoritarian and socialist solutions or would you still oppose them for being authoritarian and socialist anyway?

I don't know how much of your life you've wasted on an arguing against things that wouldn't change your position even if they were true, but I don't even argue with women over stuff like that--and they've got a lot more to offer me than you do.

Whether AGW is real isn't anywhere near as important as whether what they do about it is capitalist and libertarian. Wank off over the irrelevant details all you want, but leave me out of it.

[Glide]

Agreed, but small correction.

Any and all actions meant to comply with the accord would therefore have been unconstitutional

There's nothing inherently unconstitutional about passing laws that have the same end as an unconstitutional agreement, if they are passed by Congress. Nor is there anything unconstitutional about using executive branch power that has already been defined by Congress to achieve these ends.

Of course the Obama administration was quite fond of pushing the absolute limits of its legal powers on the environment and I don't doubt a Clinton administration would have done the same.

At any rate, constitutional or not, conformity to the agreement would have been an undue restriction on free markets with almost no benefit for us, so getting out of it is great news.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

"White supremacists love Vikings, but they've got history all wrong," says history professor David Perry.

It is a pretty fun show. Hunky actors, pretty actresses, violent fight scenes, etc, what more do you want?

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

"Secrets of the Viking Sword" was one of the more interesting documentaries I've seen the last few years.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

The 'Manchurian' President?

I want to talk about the striking contrast between Donald Trump's strange Russian romance and the way that the Communists in Frankenheimer's movie went about their America-subverting scheme.

In "The Manchurian Candidate," the whole point of the story is that the plot is secret, designed so that its intended outcome is the last thing that Americans expect. They're being duped into voting for a man who they think is the most hawkish of Russia hawks, when all the while he's being maneuvered into betraying America to the Comintern.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

In Trump's campaign for the presidency, by contrast, the Russian romance was not only out in the open, it was a deliberate selling point, which the candidate himself consistently brought up and emphasized and touted. Any American voter who paid attention knew that Trump was a Russia dove, that he intended to seek a d?tente with Moscow, that he wanted to make some sort of Great Deal with Vladimir Putin and inaugurate a new era of great power cooperation. He won the Republican primary on that position. He won the Electoral College on that position. The public had every reason to understand that he was unusually pro-Russia, and in the necessary numbers they voted for him anyway.

He's so stupid - that's how devious Putin is!

[Ken Shultz]

"In Trump's campaign for the presidency, by contrast, the Russian romance was not only out in the open, it was a deliberate selling point, which the candidate himself consistently brought up and emphasized and touted. Any American voter who paid attention knew that Trump was a Russia dove, that he intended to seek a d?tente with Moscow, that he wanted to make some sort of Great Deal with Vladimir Putin and inaugurate a new era of great power cooperation."

It wasn't about great power cooperation so much as it was about fighting ISIS in Syria. Trump campaigned on working with Putin to fight ISIS in Syria.

We tried invasion and nation building in Iraq--that sucks.

We tried funding and arming militants who were both anti-Assad and anti-ISISm, that sucks, too, for various reasons, and it was also ineffective.

Why not try a working relationship with Russia, seeing as they and their allies are running the resistance to ISIS in Syria anyway? Hell, it might even lead to better relations with Iran!

But nooooOOOooooo. It's all a conspiracy by Trump to . . . to . . . to do . . . something. Something awful. We don't know what that could be, but it's either trying to form a working relationship with Putin on ISIS or something even worse than pussy grabbing--one way or the other, we need a Special Counsel to get to the bottom of it.

[Bubba Jones]

You don't think that being less confrontational with Russia is exactly the same as going commie?

You think this might be consistent with inviting the EU to put on its big boy pants?

[Zeb]

Yeah, I'm not sure why wanting peaceful and reasonably friendly relations with Russia is supposed to be a terrible thing.

[B.P.]

God, I have loved seeing the conspiracy theorists on the left and the right switch off to using their foes' arguments in such a short time period.

Also, Russia is hardly a "great power".

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

You'll never leave us, right ENB?

[Conchfritters]

If the sex links leave, I'm outta here.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Ronald Reagan once famously quipped the nine most terrifying words a U.S. citizen can hear are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

How dare he invoke the GOP's greatest president in rebuke of the GOP's current incarnation.

[Ken Shultz]

"Despite the negative press covfefe"

It's a typo.

It's supposed to be "Despite the negative press [coverage].

Took me less than a second.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Wrong.

[Ken Shultz]

Your average freshman composition student correcting a classmate's paper would know it was a typo and what it was supposed to be.

I know a little kid whose favorite food is "fasghetti".

Do you know what she means, or is that too confusing for you?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Since when do we as libertarians kowtow to societies obsequious grammatical rules?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

So now it is "Grammar Nazis vs. Grammar Libertarians"?

Which ones are allied with the Oxford Comma, 'cos I hate those guys.

[Gadfly]

I choose to believe it's a neologism that means "you know what, I've made this complaint 100 times before; you know the rest; goodnight".

Your analysis is accurate, therefor less fun.

[Cyto]

Or it could be that he accidentally leaked the secret code name of our most closely held covert operation.

At least that's a good spin for the "experts" at places like HuffPo and MSNBC.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Military's clout at White House could shift U.S. foreign policy

he shift in staffing reflects Trump's faith in the nation's warriors and his delight in shows of military force. On the campaign trail and in office, he has promised to "knock the hell" out of the Islamic State and take a harder line against an array of adversaries, including North Korea to Iran.

Since January, that attitude has rippled across U.S. foreign policy and the NSC itself. In the Middle East, Trump has emphasized support for Arab allies, prioritizing a desire to contain Iran and pound extremist groups over the Obama administration's advocacy for human rights and changes designed to improve life in closed and repressive societies. That shift is one that has long been advocated by the U.S. military.

It's less The Manchurian Candidate and more Seven Days in May.

[paranoid android]

So we're, what, two, three months away from Trump making public appearances in military dress and asking to be called Generalissimo?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

No, we are a few months away from James Mattis, H.R. McMaster and John Kelly stripping off their shirts, oiling up, and wrestling for control of the White House.

[B.P.]

"...prioritizing a desire to contain Iran and pound extremist groups over the Obama administration's advocacy for human rights and changes designed to improve life in closed and repressive societies."

Remind me again about all of the great things Obama did for human rights and improving life in closed and repressive societies. Let's see... he received a Nobel Peace Prize based on his work in.... um, there was the time his wife tweeted a picture of herself holding up a sign about some North African warlord enslaving several hundred girls... wait, he gave a soaring speech in Cairo! Is that it?

[$park? leftist poser]

"there was a three-fold increase in NSA data searches about Americans and a rise in the unmasking of U.S. person's identities in intelligence reports after Obama loosened the privacy rules in 2011."

But I thought Edward Snowden, the greatest hero who ever heroed, single-handedly put a stop to all of that.

[Cyto]

That part was our fault.

The nation responded with a huge "meh" to the whole thing. A few busybodies got their panties in a twist, but it all died down soon enough.

So they were emboldened and doubled down on the domestic spying.

We were warned. We just didn't give a crap.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

What happens when abortion is illegal in all circumstances?

Oh boy.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

What happens when abortion is illegal in all circumstances?

Lotso clickbait?

[Philadelphia Collins]

Individuals' right to continue living will be affirmed?

[Fist of Etiquette]

"White supremacists love Vikings, but they've got history all wrong," says history professor David Perry.

Vikings were the first to arrive in America, in a global effort to snuff out cultural appropriation.

[gaoxiaen]

Damn it I'm early. ttyl

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Your weekly reminder that "human trafficking operation" is just police code for "prostitution sting."

"Operation Big Bad John" was a success!

[$park? leftist poser]

+1 worthless pit

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

"White supremacists love Vikings, but they've got history all wrong," says history professor David Perry.

From the Article:

In fact, the whole notion of a pure white medieval Europe, so important to white supremacists today, is false. The fixation on skin color is largely a modern phenomenon, alien to a Europe dependent on a Mediterranean world composed of people with varying shades of brown skin.

Ask a Sicilian about that ...

[Conchfritters]

+ 1 - Can I have one of those Chesterfields now?

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

The fixation on skin color is largely a modern phenomenon, alien to a Europe dependent on a Mediterranean world composed of people with varying shades of brown skin.

"We're going to rebuke this fixation on white skin by discussing our fixation with brown skin!" Yes, medieval Europe wasn't the Aryan Paradise of Nazi lore, but it wasn't exactly a salad bowl of different races, either.

[Rhywun]

[Attacks like Portland's will keep happening unless we all fight white supremacy]

The guy was screaming nonsense about "Vinland" in court; this is not the actions of a man expressing some ginned-up "Viking" fetish - it is the act of a deranged lunatic.

Meanwhile, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for their [Attacks like Manchester's will keep happening unless we all fight ----?-----] article.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Preds Fan Charged After Throwing Catfish Onto Ice During Game 1

Waddell stuck the catfish in his pants between two pairs of underwear, and when he got into the game, he found two other Preds fans who were sitting close to the glass and worked it out so they would record him throwing the fish.

Hero.

[Rhywun]

I hope some Yinzer throws a tuna at Subban down in Nashville.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

He has over $2,000 in his gofundme defense fun.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

gofundme defense fun.

Best typo evah.

John-level.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

That guy put a lot of effort into smuggling that fish into Pittsburgh.

[Rhywun]

Enh, I would just ban him for life and not draw any more attention to it. Unless it was deemed to be a hazard. And I love how the radio station is trying to distance themselves; seems pretty obvious to me it was their stunt.

[Fist of Etiquette]

When purchasing the ticket, he agreed to the stipulations that go with it. He is a contract breaker. He should be banned from entering into any further contractual agreements. He is also a trespasser.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We'll say it was the fish that stunk up the ice that night.

[Bubba Jones]

I thought that wind and solar had killed coal and in 20 years we will all be whisked around in self driving electric cars.

Thanks to bunch of evil megalomaniacs in California who want to set up a BDSM colony on Mars.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

CNN host Alisyn Camerota asked the city of Portland, WA sheriff if the tirade the accused stabber went on during his arraignment is the "downside of free speech".

This was just an hour ago. Most telling, the sheriff agreed with her.

[Cyto]

Ida Know.

I'd say that it was more telling that a reporter (who makes her living off of free speech) thought that was the salient question. I can't imagine a journalist in 1978 asking a question like that.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

What happens when abortion is illegal in all circumstances?

From the article:

"El Salvador has one of the worst records on reproductive rights in the world."

I learned today that "reproductive rights" means "abortion", which is the equivalent of saying that Free Speech rights means killing those who don't want to listen to you.

[Kivlor]

Read a little farther and you'll see that it's not just that abortion is illegal which makes this particular situation monstrous. It's the fact that their system has a presumption of guilt. That might make any law look pretty horrible.

Prosecuting and imprisoning a woman because she had a miscarriage and is presumed guilty... pretty jacked up that is.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

Kivlor,

"Presumption of guilt" is the norm in most countries that follow the Napoleonic code, including Latin American countries. What I am pointing out is the equivocation presented by the author. The author prefers to obfuscate the issue by implying that women in Salvador do not have reproductive rights which is actually a lie.

[Kivlor]

I think I wasn't clear enough. I actually agree with you. I was apparently failing at my attempt to carry the false equivalence point further. Saying "this is what happens when X is illegal" and implying "this is what will happen if we ban X" when the example for X is under a legal system operating under a presumption of guilt rather than a presumption of innocence.

My screw up. I failed.

[Tony]

You make a terrible anarchist.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

I am a terrible anarchist.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Because our laws are so draconian, so tilted in favor of the rights of fetuses over those of living women...

Uh-oh.

[Philadelphia Collins]

Unborn females disagree.

[Inigo Montoya]

Is the professor a professor of European history, I wonder?

Not to defend whatever stupid beliefs some psycho killer might hold, but it's unlikely the Vineland Saga was some kind of hoax, as the prof clearly suggests in the article. I'm pretty sure they've found some plenty of archeological evidence of a limited Viking presence in what is today Newfoundland (which is Canada, not the U.S., for any white supremacists keeping score).

http://www.livescience.com/544.....vered.html

For that matter, I've learned more than enough European history to know that the whole idea of Vikings being almost exclusively raiders whenever they ventured outside of Scandinavia is an exaggeration at best. They also did quite a lot of peaceful trading and would try to settle in suitable sparsely populated areas to farm them. (Think Iceland or the Faroe Islands, which are part of Denmark even today.)

As a largely stateless and essentially tribal society, some Vikings did indeed undertake voyages simply to raid and pillage, but they were also pagan holdovers in an already mostly Christianized Europe, which means that the Church (which was about the only literate institution at the time) had a vested interest in portraying them exclusively as scary and villainous.

[creech]

Hey, Uhtred of Bebbanburg wasn't called the "Priest Slayer" for no reason.

[Inigo Montoya]

One priest! He killed one damn priest (actually a bishop) -- and the guy totally had it coming.
The bishop wanted to FORCE Uhtred's girl to marry someone against her will AND perform the marriage using a proxy to stand-in for the actual groom. I'd have done the same thing in Uhtred's position.

And did anyone else notice that Uhtred had four different girlfriends/wives over the course of two seasons, and each one was hotter than the last? And even the women who got to know him pretty well (King Afred's daughter and the warrior-nun) thought he was a great guy. Uhtred was like the James Bond of his time.

[Sevo]

"...It also "sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritize climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal.""

See, the man isn't all bad.
Here he's going to treat climate change the way is should be treated.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Wait, is the second tweet real? Did Trump make a joke at his own expense?

I'm glad I'm sitting down.

[Brandybuck]

What happens when abortion is illegal in all circumstances?

False equivalency, thy name is Reason!

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Not in El Salvador, apparently.