A.M. Links: Sheriff Threatens Driver for Anti-Trump Bumper Sticker, Russia May Be Banned from Winter Olympics Over Doping, Republican Senator Opposes GOP Tax Plan

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    "Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls on Wednesday created a social media firestorm with a Facebook post threatening to bring disorderly conduct charges against the driver of a truck displaying a profane anti-Trump message on its rear window."

  • New poll: President Trump's approval rating is just 37 percent.
  • Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he opposes the GOP tax plan.
  • More women have come forth with accusations of sexual assault or misconduct against Roy Moore.
  • Robert Mugabe remains in military custody in the wake of a coup in Zimbabwe.
  • The entire Russian team may be banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics due to non-compliance with international standards set by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

NEXT: Thomas Massie on Tax Reform, Shikha Dalmia on Deporting Americans

Damon Root is a senior editor at Reason and the author of A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books).

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  1. More women have come forth with accusations of sexual assault or misconduct against Roy Moore.

    Judge No Mas, please!

    1. Rufus The Monocled

      Hello.

      “New poll: President Trump’s approval rating is just 37 percent.”

      Double it then.

      /still laughing pounding desk from the last time you posted this, Damon.

      1. Tom Bombadil

        I wonder what the poll results would be to this:

        “I think we should all take a break from polls”.

        1. Rufus The Monocled

          I just find it funny after what we saw in plain sight during the election.

          It’s all fricken BS.

          1. Half-Virtue, Half-Vice

            I agree, polling hasn’t earned its credibility back yet. I have no reason to believe them, and strong reason to doubt them.

            1. Tom Bombadil

              Since the USA is populated mostly by people who like “free shit”, I would be very worried about any President who is satisfying the majority.

              1. Everybody likes free shit. The trick is being grown-up enough to realize there’s no such thing. This is not a culture that encourages maturity.

                1. loveconstitution1789

                  I don’t like free shit from the government because its never free.

                  In fact, most “free” shit is never free.

                  Freedom isn’t free. Pussy isn’t free. etc.

                  1. You’re just repeating my point, but in a much dumber way.

            2. BYODB

              Isn’t 37% an increase in his popularity from the last time this stuff was posted?

              Even if it isn’t, I still don’t really care.

          2. Tony

            “Some polls were wrong one time, thus I get to believe whatever I want.”

            Not how thinking works dude.

            1. Rebel Scum

              As if you are one to lecture anyone on thinking ability…

              The running average during the last election had Trump way behind and this flipped (hilariously, I might add) as the votes were bring counted. It was glorious and happens to be the reason to take polling results with a heaping grain of salt.

              1. Rebel Scum

                with a heaping grain of salt.

                Dammit. I missed a yuge opportunity.

              2. Tony

                The Democrat outperformed polls in the Virginia governor’s race too. So the point remains: it doesn’t give you license to believe whatever you want.

                1. loveconstitution1789

                  The lefties are doing the polls, moron. The polls are inaccurate which is the point, moron.

                  So the point remains: it doesn’t give you license to believe whatever you want.

                2. Rebel Scum

                  The Democrat outperformed polls in the Virginia governor’s race too. So the point remains: it doesn’t give you license to believe whatever you want.

                  None of this refutes my argument that they should be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes they are accurate and sometimes not so much. Why don’t you try thinking an being a little less disingenuous?

                3. Colossal Douchebag

                  So the point remains: it doesn’t give you license to believe whatever you want.

                  You are so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so tiresome.

  2. Bee Tagger

    Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he opposes the GOP tax plan.

    But when he’s wearing his sunglasses and hat backwards as John Ronson, he supports it.

  3. “Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls on Wednesday created a social media firestorm with a Facebook post threatening to bring disorderly conduct charges against the driver of a truck displaying a profane anti-Trump message on its rear window.”

    The twitterfit only matters if Fort Bend is a blue county.

  4. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he opposes the GOP tax plan.

    Either it isn’t brutal enough or Wisconsin has a high state and local tax scheme going.

  5. Bee Tagger

    The entire Russian team may be banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics due to non-compliance with international standards set by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

    I hope someone creates a gif of the moment you see the cursor move, as if having a mind of its own, on an IOC monitor, click “select all” and then the “reinstate” button.

  6. President Trump’s approval rating is just 37 percent.

    Obviously they didn’t poll the president himself, as his opinion counts for at least P of the total.

  7. Bee Tagger

    “Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls on Wednesday created a social media firestorm with a Facebook post threatening to bring disorderly conduct charges against the driver of a truck displaying a profane anti-Trump message on its rear window.”

    In the future people will beg to be sent to jail rather than be the subject of a social media firestorm.

    1. This was the only aspect of the future that Demolition Man didn’t accurately prophesy.

      1. Also, Jeffrey Dahmer is not actually very threatening in a fight.

        1. Dead people usually aren’t.

  8. Four more women make allegations against Roy Moore

    Apparently, the Judge is fast with his tongue.

    https://goo.gl/XXEYsY

    1. loveconstitution1789

      You still have not answered if you will cry when Roy Moore wins his Senate seat in Alabama?

  9. Rich

    More women have come forth with accusations of sexual assault or misconduct against Roy Moore.

    Don’t matter none. He’ll soon be a throbbing member of the Senate.

    1. You go too far with your imagery.

      1. John

        If you believe all of this, apparently, Moore got married and reformed. The question his wife and family should be asking is whether going to work in a place filled with people like John McCain and Bob Menendez is really a good idea. Usually, people fall back into trouble when they start hanging around with the wrong crowd. And if your problem relates to sex, the US Senate is most certainly the wrong crowd.

        1. creech

          This. I was wondering if Moore wasn’t going to say he had a “come to Jesus” moment when he was in his thirties and realized he needed to amend his behavior in order to be saved. There are a number of guys at church who admit they ran around, etc. before they found Jesus and they appear to be moral and upstanding citizens today.

          1. John

            He should have said that upfront. It is pretty remarkable that in an environment where any woman can say any lie about him and will be believed by the entire media, they haven’t found a single woman who says he did anything after he was married that I have seen. His wife must really have some skills or have him by the balls or both.

          2. That is the correct way to respond and would have convinced many Republicans.

            A week ago. Bit late to try that now.

          3. Vernon Depner

            With statutes of limitations in sex cases, especially those involving minors, having been relaxed or eliminated in most states, confessing to even decades-old sins of this type can still land you in prison. At the least, you could end up loosing big in civil suits. Forgiveness might be available from your co-religionists and conservative voters, but not from the legal system.

        2. Aloysious

          You make a point that I’ve been thinking to myself for several days now.

          If Moore is elected, he’ll just be joining his fellow dirtbags. The Senate needs fumigating anyway.

          1. John

            $15 million dollars in secret taxpayer funded sexual harassment payouts. When you consider that a $100,000 payout is a very big settlement for a sexual harassment claims, that is a lot of perversion going on up there.

            1. Aloysious

              Have any of those ‘public servants’ lost their job? If I did what they are accused of doing, I would lose mine so fast it would break the sound barrier.

              1. John

                Hell no. And the list of who the settlements involved is secret. The nerve of these assholes.

                1. Libertarian

                  Under what budget line is this money being spent? Yet they say tax cuts must be “paid for”!

                  1. Tom Bombadil

                    It’s listed under the department of ‘nothing left to cut’.

  10. “Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls on Wednesday created a social media firestorm with a Facebook post threatening to bring disorderly conduct charges against the driver of a truck displaying a profane anti-Trump message on its rear window.”

    The phrase “social media firestorm” is a helpful clue that nothing in a story need be taken seriously, so thanks to the author for including it.

    1. Rich

      It is, however, a nice band name.

      1. It’s just an okay band name.

        1. Rich

          Ha! It’s “going viral” as we type!

          1. Bee Tagger

            I call dibs on “Going Viral” (quotation marks included) for my band.

            1. Rhywun

              “Been Viral Since Grade School” was already taken.

            2. Libertarian

              Needs more emojis.

      2. Bee Tagger

        It’s either the least or most woke band ever.

        1. John

          Social Media Firestorm’s breakout new album “Punch a Nazi” with it’s hit single “Only call me Xe”

          1. Colossal Douchebag

            “Smokin’ In The Gender-Neutral Bathroom”

  11. Bee Tagger

    New poll: President Trump’s approval rating is just 37 percent.

    I assume the “just” is there because of how low it is but it’s use is going to confuse the 63% that are stunned it’s that high.

    1. Rhywun

      This seems to be a weekly feature now. It’s been bouncing from 36% to 38% for weeks.

      1. loveconstitution1789

        It was at around 20% at the time of election 2016, so I use poll results to wipe my ass.

        1. BYODB

          At the very least, Presidential popularity polls are indeed worth about as much as toilet paper. The same people who said they would definitely not vote for Trump, who then went into the booth and voted Trump, are going to continue to claim that they definitely voted for Hillary.

          Frankly, I don’t think anyone wants to be honest to pollsters. Probably a wise move in the modern surveillance state.

  12. Half-Virtue, Half-Vice

    Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he opposes the GOP tax plan.

    The cur!

    1. Rhywun

      I love how they propose tax cuts that expire, but gee I don’t see a lot of spending bills with cut-off dates.

      The bill is garbage for that reason alone.

      1. John

        It is total garbage. It is just the GOP version of social engineering and fucking anyone who has done well for themselves but not well enough to be one of the important people.

        1. Half-Virtue, Half-Vice

          My poor ass grad student buddy is under the impression that his tuition is going to get treated like income under the new bill. He makes less than 20k and he figures he’ll be taxed like its 50k. Is he off his rocker or..?

          1. John

            I don’t know. But it wouldn’t surprise me if that were true.

          2. JWatts

            That might be correct. Essentially he’s getting a ‘gift’ of 30K from the school. At least the school treats it that way. So, the new bill treats universities like every other corporation and taxes ‘gifts’ as if they were income.

            Of course, the university could just lower their fees to make up the difference….

      2. Libertarian

        I love how worried we’re supposed to be when it comes to “paying for” tax cuts, but no one asks that question when spending is up for a vote.

        1. John

          And how letting someone keep money they rightfully earned is a “subsidy” like it is fucking welfare. God I hate that logic. A subsidy is when someone writes you a check. Taking less of their money can never be a subsidy unless you think that none of it is actually theirs, which is what these assholes think.

          1. sarcasmic

            “Should five percent appear too small
            Be thankful I don’t take it all”

          2. BYODB

            It’s sort of like a subsidy when 50% of people either pay zero or a negative tax rate.

      3. Lester224

        The corporate tax cut doesn’t expire, just the individual ones (in 8 years so the deficit increase is only incredibly huge, not incredibly, incredibly huge). Priorities! The donors on the boards of the multi-national corporations cannot be denied.

  13. Bee Tagger

    New poll: President Trump’s approval rating is just 37 percent.

    I just realized that they may be measuring Trump’s overall approval of the state of the country. He’s always saying things need to be made great again so it only stands to reason that he generally disapproves of the state of the country right now. They called him and asked him how many things he approves of and then reported the answer. This is now how I understand the initial statement and refused to be convinced otherwise.

    1. Libertarian

      That he has yet to deliver on the wall, o-care repeal, etc may be causing disappointment in those who voted for him. I’m curious to see how that 63% breaks down into Trump voters, Hillary voters, and those who didn’t vote.

      1. John

        Congress has failed to deliver on those. Congress is in a lot of trouble in 2018 if it doesn’t do something. Of course, I think the GOP wants to lose Congress in 2018. They would be happy to see Trump impeached and they much prefer to quietly go about stealing while in the minority. This allows them to avoid responsibility for anything and to tell their supporters about all of the wonderful things they would do if only if it wasn’t for those damned Democrats. The last thing any of them ever wanted to was to actually be expected to do something.

        As far as Trump goes, with him like every President, absent a war, it is all about the economy. If the economy continues to do as well as it is doing now, Trump will be fine.

        1. CE

          Trump was supposed to be the great deal maker. So far he’s allowed Congress to fail at all the big deals they’ve tried.

      2. Bee Tagger

        Literally, the only poll respondent was Donald Trump.

  14. Conchfritters

    The sheriff, a Republican who is weighing a bid for Congress…

    Please keep this man very far away from Congress.

    1. paranoid android

      Nope. The GOP are reactionaries in every sense of the word now. If liberals hate this guy because of his blatant disregard for free speech, then Republicans will feel honor-bound to make him a national celebrity and land him a six-figure salary as a Fox News analyst.

      1. John

        Yes, liberals only hate people for the purest of reasons. And no liberal ever made their bones by being hated by Republicans.

        What planet do you live on?

        1. Zeb

          Well, whether they hate him for disregarding free speech or for not tolerating an anti-Trump message, they hate him and that’s something to go on for a lot of people, it seems.

        2. chemjeff

          News Flash: both conservatives and liberals are capable of being assholes!

  15. Rich

    New poll: President Trump’s approval rating is just 37 percent.

    That’s apparently a typo, which should read:

    “New poll: President Trump’s approval rating is a just 37 percent.”

    Or, more probably:

    “New poll: President Trump’s approval rating has been adjusted to 37 percent.”

  16. Libertarian

    Mugabe is in jail, Charles Manson is on his deathbed, and a GOP candidate is in the midst of a sex scandal.

    It appears that after a bizarro year that put Trump in the white house, God has finally put his hand on the tiller.

    1. gaoxiaen

      It appears that none of the above can surf.

  17. New poll: President Trump’s approval rating is just 37 percent.

    Wait till the hicks that voted for him realize they’ve been conned. No wall, no Muslim ban, no Obamacare repeal, no tax reform, no Iran deal cancellation, no trade deals.

    1. creech

      Yeah, so just why are the progs still in an uproar? Seems like everything they hated about Trump isn’t about to happen.

    2. Chinny Chin Chin

      The hook is baited, and PB’s made a good cast. Now it’s a waiting game…

      1. Rhywun

        It’s not his best effort.

        1. Chinny Chin Chin

          He’s still learning how to leverage Trump.

          1. PB doesn’t learn.

      2. loveconstitution1789

        Butt, used his dingleberries as bait so nobody is getting near that stink.

    3. Rebel Scum

      Wait till the hicks that voted for him realize they’ve been conned.

      Do you even hold this standard for Barry, who went back on multiple campaign promises when he continued (and expanded…) every single bad Bush policy? //rhetorical.

      1. Barry didn’t con the hicks, though. Barry conned the people who like to think they’re smart and sophisticated but really aren’t. It’s different somehow!

  18. Conchfritters

    In 1982, Kelly Harrison Thorp was working as a hostess at the Red Lobster restaurant in Gadsden. She was 17 years old and a high school senior.

    One day Roy Moore came into the restaurant…

    Roy Moore gets older, and those hostesses at Red Lobster stay the same age.

    1. Goddamn, now i’m hungry for a cheddar bay biscuit.

      1. chemjeff

        mmm Red Lobster biscuits

      2. paranoid android

        Did you know you can actually get a mix in grocery stores to make those same biscuits? It’s my understanding that it’s not *exactly* what’s served in the restaurants, but for my money it’s as good or better.

        1. They sell the branded product at Sam’s. Pretty close.

    2. John

      He was just making a waitress sandwich. How can the Democrats say a guy who models himself after Chris Dodd and Ted Kennedy is unfit for the Senate?

  19. Rufus The Monocled

    Trump still does better than the media though!

    “Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the mainstream press is full of fake news, a sentiment that is held by a majority of voters across the ideological spectrum.”

    He always wins. Even if Pyrrhic!

    http://thehill.com/homenews/ca…..-fake-news

    1. John

      I don’t think destroying the media is a Pyrrhic victory. Nothing that is that great of a service to humanity can ever be described as Pyrrhic.

      1. Rufus The Monocled

        I meant more in general and not specifically to media.

      2. chemjeff

        But here’s the thing John, without some semblance of mainstream media, all we will be left with is biased slanted partisan media. I don’t like the bias of CNN or the New York Times either, but at least they make the effort to do some solid reporting. Without them, we would be left with Breitbart/Salon hacks.

        1. CE

          Every time I accidentally hit CNN while flipping through TV channels, there are 4 or 5 people sitting around shaking their heads and looking glum. They’re not even trying to hide their partisanship.

  20. Aloysious

    Mood music

  21. John

    One woman, Gena Richardson, said Moore asked her out on a date when he met her at the Gadsden Mall where she worked. Moore later called Richardson at her school and asked her out once again, she told The Post.
    Another woman, 62-year-old Becky Gray, said Moore repeatedly asked her to go out on dates with him when she was 22 years old and working at the Gadsden Mall.

    Those are the two “Roy Moore accusors”. Asking women out on dates is now a crime? The one woman was 22 years old for God’s sake.

    1. paranoid android

      You don’t need to defend Moore, John, he’s not gonna fuck you. You were born in the wrong century for that.

      1. John

        I will defend anyone I think is being wrongfully treated. I defended Anthony Weiner. No way in hell did what he did merit years in prison. You see, I don’t give a fuck about someone’s politics. And I think you have a bigger obligation to defend someone who is unpopular and being railroaded than you do anyone else.

        I have no political affinity towards Moore and I don’t care if he gets in the Senate. But I do care about a fucking lynch mob. If you don’t have the integrity or the courage to give up your sorry fucking desire to virtue signal against the evil “molesters” that is a sad fucking statement about you. What is it like to be a cowardly piece of shit who would join a lynch mob just so long as the right person is on the other end of it?

        1. paranoid android

          You’re doing it all wrong, if you’re gonna woo a strapping Southern gentleman like Moore, you have to stick to topics that interest him, like cheerleader tryouts and training bras.

          1. John

            Yes Android, you are not one of those evil molesters!! I bet Moore is in some kind of a satanic cult. Them satanists are always after our children. Right?

            That is the kind of logic you are engaging in. Good luck with that.

            1. paranoid android

              Really? Huh, I would have thought that aspect of the story would have garnered more coverage. Did he mention the Satanic cult to the mothers he asked to pimp out their daughters to him?

              1. John

                If that were an aspect, you no doubt would believe it. You show your integrity when you defend people you don’t like. Ask yourself how many times in your life you have ever done that?

            2. Lester224

              Give it up John. The Republican establishment has thrown him under the bus because they think it looks bad to evangelicals if a 30-something that gropes teenagers is in the Senate. I don’t think most evangelicals in Alabama care, though.

              1. John

                I would understand that if they didn’t also think it was okay to have the various cretins they do have up there in the Senate. A double standard is worse than no standard.

                1. paranoid android

                  Amount of proof provided that I support “the various cretins they do have up there in the Senate”: 0

                  1. John

                    You object to all of them. I am sure Android. You are a pillar of integrity and consistency.

    2. lap83

      Why is that even news? It sounds like a sub-par Onion article, “Local woman recalls that one time a politician asked her out on a date”

      1. BYODB

        Frankly, when I was in my early thirties my fianc? was in her mid-twenties. Guess me and Moore are equally evil. Ouch! She graduated high school when I was out of college, the humanity!

    3. chemjeff

      They aren’t accusing him of sexual assault. They are providing evidence that Roy Moore really did cruise for younger women.

      1. gaoxiaen

        So, he’s the same as almost every other male, including non-humans.

    4. Rat on a train

      Under the new rules asking someone out is a crime if they decline, which makes it an unwanted sexual advance.

    5. Vernon Depner

      Expressing a sexual interest in a woman in any way without her enthusiastic consent in advance is literally rape.

    6. EscherEnigma

      Most of these “accusers” are not alleging crimes. They’re verifying the pattern of behavior that many find objectionable (if not criminal) and also bolstering the believability of the women who *are* accusing criminal conduct.

  22. Sevo

    “Heat on ‘climate chancellor’ Merkel over coal and cars”
    […]
    “Angela Merkel has been dubbed the “climate chancellor” but she now faces the real risk of Germany, a green energy pioneer, missing its emissions reduction target on her watch.”
    https://www.yahoo.com /news/heat-climate-chancellor-merkel- over-coal-cars-030729291.html

    Gee, maybe the krauts really like a light to come on when they flip a switch on a foggy day

    1. Rhywun

      So much derp…

      “The urgency, as we can tell from the natural disasters, is great,” she warned in her weekly video podcast, stressing that an overheating planet was a key driver of migrant flows.

      I can’t believe even she believes that flapdoodle. But that’s what you get when you play footsie with the idiotic Greens. Though it’s delightful to see them getting slapped down by the adults in the coalition for their delusional “end coal” fantasies.

      1. Tom Bombadil

        Merkel looks like someone who would emit a lot of methane.

    2. Zeb

      Didn’t she shut down all the nukes in Germany?

      1. Rhywun

        I think so. That’s why they’re burning more coal than before.

        Their eco-nuts really are that stupid. When I lived there in the 80s it was all about “acid rain”. Which turned out to be more or less a hoax. Then it was all about “Don’t use paper bags! Use plastic!” Guess where that went.

        1. BYODB

          Acid rain is real, and is more or less a direct result of burning coal (or a few other fossil fuels) without any safeguards whatsoever. It’s a known thing, but no one dumps that much sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere anymore. Well, humans don’t anyway. The Earth does.

          We’ve known about it for well over a hundred years, at least.

          1. Rhywun

            OK, easily solved then 🙂

            The point is nobody has mentioned it in a couple decades but at the time it was like the end of the earth.

            1. BYODB

              Yeah, turns out it was a relatively simple fix to filter that shit out instead of dumping it into the atmosphere ^_-

    3. BYODB

      Maybe, just maybe, the ‘targets’ were not reachable at all.

      Well, I mean they’re reachable you’d just have to make sure the proles aren’t allowed to use electricity anymore. I’m thinking subsistence farming for Germany? That would be so woke of them.

  23. Sevo

    So the Toles cartoon today has Sessions looking at reports regarding JFK’s assassination along with something on Clinton; hint, it must be “old news!”
    Now when was all the Trump/Ruski canoodling supposed to have happened?

  24. This Moore fellow was a bit of a creep, huh?

    1. He decided to run for Senate, which should have been a clear indicator.

  25. John

    http://twitter.com/LeeannTweed…..8586890241

    Al Franken call your office. The upside of this is that now we can watch Shreek, MJGreen, Android and the other lefties on this site suddenly discover the need to defend someone who is the subject of old and unverifiable accusations. That is one upside I guess.

    I think we should just adopt a uniform rule that Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are “believe the accuser” days and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays are “the bitch is lying” days.

    1. paranoid android

      Being called a lefty by you is like being called a white supremacist by the SPLC: kind of amusing because it’s so wrong, but so commonplace as to not be noteworthy.

      1. John

        Calling you a lefty is not fair. You are right about that. Leftists for all their faults at least try to have a semi coherent set of views. I really can’t say that about you. I can’t figure out what you think or if you even think at all. You just seem to snark whichever way the wind is blowing.

        Regardless, tell us about how unfairly poor old Al is being treated here. Don’t worry, I won’t call you a defender of rapists because this may not be true. I will leave doing that to people who let their politics do their thinking.

        1. paranoid android

          Ha ha ha, I can’t believe you still haven’t caught on that I only snark at you because you’re a stupid reactionary hack who will fly off the handle into a hilarious spittle-flecked rage when challenged on anything. I thought you were playing along as well but you may actually be that clueless.

          Anyway, for the record, it’s hard to have a fully formed opinion on the Franken thing because the story broke literally less than an hour ago. The woman has a photo and seems to have some credibility so I see no prima facie reason to disbelieve her, though her case will be stronger if dozens more corroborating witnesses and other accusers come out, as has happened with Moore.

          It’s quite telling that you’re so wrapped up in partisanship that you are unable to even fathom that somebody could try to evaluate these cases on their own merits instead of adjudicating everything by the help or harm it does to their political team.

          1. John

            I have no doubt you will be more than fair in evaluating the case against Franken. The fact that you are completely unable to do that in the issues around Moore is my point. You are going to be Mr, Lets Wait for the Facts on Franken and you won’t believe it absents pretty solid proof. And the irony of that will never occur to you.

            1. What would be enough evidence for you on Moore? If this Franken thing continues what would be enough evidence for Franken?

              1. John

                An accusation that was associated with enough known facts to properly judge its credibility or from an accusor who would have no reason to lie and not have come forward before now. Right now, the only ones who fit that description are the women who say they dated him when they were 17. I see no reason why they would lie about that and I see why they haven’t come forward because nothing they are claiming was illegal or anything they thought was a big deal.

                Every other accusation is either completely lacking in credibility or impossible to judge.

          2. BYODB


            Anyway, for the record, it’s hard to have a fully formed opinion on the Franken thing because the story broke literally less than an hour ago.

            So, what you’re saying is you don’t #BelieveHer. You monster. She said it, so it must be true.

            /sarc

            That said, Moore very well could be guilty but I’m afraid I remain flaccid even after multiple women have sensed blood in the water and a potential payout. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe that one or more of them could have been touched (not raped), but rather they waited so long that it’s impossible not to consider this opportunistic.

            If they had come forward when he decided to become a fucking judge for the Supreme Court of Alabama maybe I would have believed them. Or when he was elected to any of those other positions he’s held over the last, what, 30 or 40 years?

            The icing on the idiot cake is that, apparently, these women only came forward because WaPo ‘heard about them’ at a Moore campaign event all at once and sought them out. What did they offer, one might ask, and how did they actually hear about these women?

            1. BYODB

              Or, shorter version, why should I believe the Washington Post about the story when it appears that they’re blowing smoke about how they even discovered this story in the first place?

              Simple: They don’t want to mention that this was something that was likely found during ‘opposition research’ and they don’t want to mention who’s opposition research it was, how valid that research was, or anything else about it. Gee, I wonder why?

              There is absolutely no way a WaPo writer had this story just fall into their lap. No way whatsoever.

    2. Half-Virtue, Half-Vice

      *facepalm*

      I feel like nothing is going to come of this… well idk… they hated that college kid who did stuff to a sleeping girl. I don’t know what I want, I guess equal disdain? But I reckon partisan defense and this is just one girl compared to a harem, buuuut there is a picture.

      1. Rhywun

        They’ve already flooded the tweet with all the talking points. “He’s not touching her” etc.

        1. Half-Virtue, Half-Vice

          Not surprised, that photo is distasteful at best tho. Yesh. And I don’t remember the last time a, “I was just joking” defense has survived a twitter mob.

          1. The photo and his insistence on kissing her are creepy (especially for, what, a guy in his 50s? he’s doing a boob grab ‘joke’?), but he might not actually be touching her. It is evidence that he was trying to humiliate her after the backstage drama, though, which is also gross and shitty of him.

            But the kiss itself is… some weak stuff. I can easily believe Franken was exploiting the situation – lots of writer-performers do – but from her account she never actually says, “No, we’re not going to kiss.” He can say that, as far as he knew, he had consent, given that she agreed to the script and the rehearsal.

            It’ll be interesting to see how Franken responds. I bet it’ll be better than Moore’s flailing, and not because of the librul media providing cover or whatever.

            1. John

              He responded. He said “that is not how I remember it” and “well I guess I shouldn’t have done the photo”. He didn’t directly say it didn’t happen. Only that he didn’t remember it that way.

              It is fairly weak stuff. But so is a lot of the shit being thrown at Moore. Franken is a creepy weirdo. i wouldn’t kick him out of the Senate, but if you say they should kick Moore out of the Senate if he wins, there is a reasonable case for at least censuring Franken for this.

    3. Tony

      So you’re projecting your own ostentatiously partisan hypocrisy onto people before they’ve even had a chance to speak? Well, you are you.

      1. John

        Yeah Tony, you are going to be all over Franken for this. LOLOLOLOLOL

        1. Tony

          Proportionately. Exhibit A: she wasn’t a child.

          1. Rebel Scum

            Yes, pre-pubescent girls are more Joe Biden’s territory.

    4. lap83

      I hate Al Franken but this is not why he should resign. He should resign because he probably committed election fraud

      I can’t wait until this #MeToo thing has run it’s course. Focusing on the sleazy antics of politicians is like calling out Hitler for undertipping a Jewish waiter.

      1. John

        I agree

      2. Hey, Capone was caught for tax evasion. Sometimes, you gotta play with the stupid hand you’re dealt.

        1. It is nothing but stupid hands. The deck is missing an entire suite and some of the cards are from Candyland.

          1. lap83

            Plumpy gathered my fruit before it had fully ripened #MeToo

            1. Well, now i know what it feels like to pass half a can of La Croix out of my nose, so thanks for that.

            2. Red Tony

              Hey don’t you be bagging on Plumpy. Plumpy is badass.

  26. Rat on a train

    Japan can’t keep trains on schedule. Train departs 20 seconds early. Next train is 4 minutes later. Company apologizes.

    1. Rhywun

      You know where else train operators apologize for not being on time?

      1. lap83

        Canada?

        1. Rhywun

          No idea. But I find it an interesting reflection of the cultures where it does happen.

      2. EscherEnigma

        None of the times I’ve ridden Amtrak, that’s for sure.

        1. Rhywun

          The US has never been big on punctuality and it shows. And for once it’s not just the lazy good-for-nothing unions’ fault.

        2. I have a question about Amtrak cars: do they put the urine smell in them at the factory, or do they pump it in while they’re operating? Because i have a hard time believing that that many people are peeing on every car.

          1. Rat on a train

            They refresh at major stops.

            1. It just happens whenever they stop in Philadelphia. No one can explain it. It might be a Catholic miracle.

  27. Rebel Scum

    New poll: President Trump’s approval rating is just 37 percent.

    New Poll: Reason’s glib approval rating is 100%

  28. Rebel Scum

    Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he opposes the GOP tax plan.

    I’d wager he also supported ACA repeal until he didn’t.

  29. Rebel Scum

    More women have come forth with accusations of sexual assault or misconduct against Roy Moore.

    Having the same credibility as the chick who claimed a blonde haired Trump molested her on a plane at a time when Trump had brown hair. Jk. I haven’t really looked in to these and am awaiting more info.

    1. loveconstitution1789

      Any accusations about Roy Moore will drop off suddenly after the special election on Dec 12, 2017.

      its almost as if lefties just want an Alabama senate seat.

    2. Bra Ket

      I checked them out for you. Though I went through them pretty fast just to get the facts. Two women; first was 28, says he grabbed her butt. Other was 17, says he asked her out and she declined.

      Funny how what I just said was almost as short, but far more informative than reason’s blurb about them. But I’m not as good as making it sound “narrativey”, I guess.

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