A.M. Links: Republican National Committee Backs Roy Moore, Trump's Political Advisers 'Concerned About the Legal Advice He Is Receiving,' SCOTUS Hears Gay Wedding Cake Case

• 

  Todd Kranin

  The Republican National Committee is now backing Roy Moore in the Alabama special election.

• Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele: President Trump's "refusal to acknowledge [that he] just endorsed an alleged pedophile for the sake of 'a vote' tells me Roy Moore will be a Trump Puppet and America no longer has a moral compass under [Trump's] 'leadership'."
• "The brazen assertion Monday by one of President Trump's lawyers that a president cannot be found guilty of obstruction of justice signaled a controversial defense strategy in the wide-ranging Russia probe, as Trump's political advisers are increasingly concerned about the legal advice he is receiving."
• Another woman has come forward with a sexual misconduct accusation against Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).
• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
• At least person has been killed and thousands have been forced to evacuate by raging wildfires in southern California.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Republican National Committee is now backing Roy Moore in the Alabama special election.

Over a Democrat? What are they thinking?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele: President Trump's "refusal to acknowledge [that he] just endorsed an alleged pedophile for the sake of 'a vote' tells me Roy Moore will be a Trump Puppet and America no longer has a moral compass under [Trump's] 'leadership'."

The president can only hope so.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The brazen assertion Monday by one of President Trump's lawyers that a president cannot be found guilty of obstruction of justice...

When the president obstructs it that means it's legal.

[damikesc]

The President is the boss of the FBI et al.

But it is humorous to see people who voted to acquit Clinton of obstruction when he lied under oath demanding Trumps head.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

But that was about sexual misconduct, so it's ok.

[Rich]

The Republican National Committee is now backing Roy Moore in the Alabama special election.

[Eidde]

What does Lou Reed have to say about that?

[Philadelphia Collins]

Or Jerry Lee Lewis?

[Bee Tagger]

Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele: President Trump's "refusal to acknowledge [that he] just endorsed an alleged pedophile for the sake of 'a vote' tells me Roy Moore will be a Trump Puppet and America no longer has a moral compass under [Trump's] 'leadership'."

"no longer"

[Rich]

Yep. Unlike, say, under the preceding administration.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Steele is a puppet of the Democratic party so they're even.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...Trump's political advisers are increasingly concerned about the legal advice he is receiving.

The political advice ain't all that, either.

[Rich]

The Republican National Committee is now backing Roy Moore in the Alabama special election.

[Rich]

I see the squirrels are having a good day.

[Bee Tagger]

Trump's political advisers are increasingly concerned about the legal advice he is receiving."

The lede in my chapter in future American History Books on the Trump administration:

"Concerns were increasingly increasing"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Another woman has come forward with a sexual misconduct accusation against Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

Conyers, you dawg.

[Rich]

An *icon* dawg!

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

It is truly awful how these phony allegations are ruining the reputation of an honorable man. Always keep in mind that in a system of white supremacy, MOC are stereotyped as sexual predators, so it's likely Conyers' race is part of the reason he's being targeted by this right-wing smear campaign.

Just read the article, for crying out loud. Groping women in church? Was he twirling his mustache while doing this? It doesn't even sound believable.

[Rich]

"When Rep. Conyers inappropriately touched me like this," said Grubbs, as reported by the paper, "my eyes would pop out and I would be stunned in disbelief."

Would *that* sound believable?

[colorblindkid]

Also, everybody seems to be forgetting that his wife spent 2 years in prison for bribery from 2010 to 2012.

[Conchfritters]

My wife and I have an agreement that I can sexually harass anyone I want if she goes to the pokey for more than a month.

[Detroit Linguist]

And folks who know the political scene in the Detroit area (for example, many friends who have spent their lives here) are bewildered since he's always been understood to be gay.

[Citizen X - #6]

Maybe his assumed homosexualism is a cunning ploy to convince women it's okay to undress in front of him. Or maybe he'll just stick it in anything warm and concave.

[Rhywun]

Or the multiple sexual harassments against women are a cunning ploy to stay in the closet.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Hot and Convex > Cold and Flat > Warm and Concave

[Kivlor]

Your posts are getting better OBL.

[Conchfritters]

Eh, it was probably while his wife was in prison.

[Hank Stamper]

Daddy horny, Michael.

[Bee Tagger]

The brazen assertion Monday by one of President Trump's lawyers that a president cannot be found guilty of obstruction of justice signaled

signaled a desire to lay bare the thoughts of most powerful political figures accused of common-people crimes?

[Rich]

Masterpiece's owner, Jack Phillips, is a Christian who closes his business on Sundays and refuses to design custom cakes that conflict with his religious beliefs ? for example, cakes that contain alcohol, have Halloween themes or celebrate a divorce.

Emphasis added. Let the lawsuits begin.

[Citizen X - #6]

Damn, he just doesn't want ANYBODY to have a good time.

[Conchfritters]

I might be crazy, but if I am a divorcee in Colorado, I think I would avoid getting a cake from the Bible thumping douche bag, and go to another bakery that celebrates my disunion from that lying, creating ho.

[Griffin3]

"creating ho"? What a cuck.

[Eidde]

Wait, I thought all these bakers were hypocrites who celebrated divorce and only raised moral objections when gays came to claim their Right To Be Served?

[Zeb]

No you didn't.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Divorce cakes are always single serving.

[Citizen X - #6]

Any cake is single serving, if your self-respect is low enough.

[Juice]

I can't wait until someone tries to force a Muslim baker to bake a cake with alcohol.

[Citizen X - #6]

The Republican National Committee is now backing Roy Moore in the Alabama special election.

Partisans gonna party.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

But first, enjoy a slice of freedom cake.

[Episteme]

Dibs on a piece with bald eagle in it!

[Rich]

In wake of Weinstein, men wonder if hugging women still OK

In wake of Conyers, the answer is "no".

[Eidde]

What about dry-humping? They wouldn't mind that, would they?

(asking for a friend)

[Crusty Juggler]

The "ass-out hug" is still okay, while the "rubbing your penis on her thigh until she orgasms" is still wrong.

[Crusty Juggler]

Or until you make a mess in your trousers is still wrong.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Glad you clarified that.

[Leo Kovalensky]

"The "ass-out hug" is still okay"

*Interprets this as: I need to order a pair of chaps.

[Citizen X - #6]

If you're taking below-the-belt fashion advice from Crusty, be prepared to have a lot of interesting conversations with police officers who are reluctant to touch you.

[Griffin3]

In wake of Pence, they already knew how to not get accused of this crap.

[lap83]

Hugging people without their consent doesn't warrant getting the justice system involved, but it's a crappy thing to do.
If you're not my family member please don't. Huggers annoy me.

[Crusty Juggler]

If I can't hug you how I am going to be able to smell your hair?

[lap83]

Just wait until they fall asleep during the mid-afternoon meeting like a normal person, gosh

[Crusty Juggler]

Danny Masterson is FIRED by Netflix just two days after executive told one of the actor's 'rape victims' that the company did not believe his accusers

'I am obviously very disappointed in Netflix's decision to write my character off of The Ranch. From day one, I have denied the outrageous allegations against me. Law enforcement investigated these claims more than 15 years ago and determined them to be without merit,' Masterson told TMZ shortly after the news broke on Tuesday.
'I have never been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one. In this country you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, in the current climate, it seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused.'

TW: Scientology

[Conchfritters]

Xenu will right this injustice.

[Rhywun]

This decision comes just two days after the director of global kids content at Netflix told one of the four women who has accused Masterson of rape that company executives do not believe her or the other three alleged victims.

Oh no they di'int!

[Citizen X - #6]

Netflix should go ahead and write The Ranch off of The Ranch. It is a terrible show.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

The hell is The Ranch?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Shitty sitcom about rural folk that's actually just Big Bang Theory for horses.

[Citizen X - #6]

Even Sam Elliott saying "fuck" can't save it.

[Episteme]

Are the horses really nerdy and neigh-and-whiny about comic books?

[lap83]

Was this season of AHS somewhat prophetic? Are all the fired media men going to join together and start a sexist clown cult?

[lap83]

I can't be the only person who has wondered this.

[Mike Laursen]

Prediction: This current atmosphere will lead to rich and famous men turning to robot sex dolls, exclusively.

[Episteme]

...and, when the smoke clears, all us poor unconfident shlubs will be left by default as the ones with the beautiful women?

[Rhywun]

alleged pedophile

Anyone else getting tired of this redefinition of the word "pedophile"?

It's bad enough that "alleged" now means "guilty" but when did hitting on a teen become the same as child molesting?

[$park? leftist poser]

A little bit before calling someone pretty became sexual harassment.

[Zeb]

I know I am. Hitting on teens when you are 30 may be creepy and inappropriate in most cases. But it's perfectly natural and normal sexual attraction and a very different thing from wanting to have sex with pre-pubescent children.

[Rebel Scum]

Seconded.

[loveconstitution1789]

That and speaking with someone in the USA who wants to listen is protected speech under the 1st Amendment. The second we Americans allowed the government to decide what is protected speech, is the moment that we gave up some of our rights under the 1st Amendment.

[Crusty Juggler]

Demand for anal bleaching soars by 23% as women follow in the footsteps of celebrities including Sophie Kasaei, Charlotte Crosby and Kourtney Kardashian

This is why they hate us.

'It's predominately women who come for the bleaching but we have had a few men in this year too.
'There's not one particular age group, we get young women right through to older women.
'I think women are feeling under pressure from their partners to emulate the look of adult stars that are seen in porn.'

[Juice]

Name's Artemis...

[Crusty Juggler]

John Conyers will retire, let a relative run for his seat: Report

What a swell guy.

[Rhywun]

Ian Conyers, 29, will run for the seat in an attempt to keep the district in the family.

Grampa needs to keep siphoning tax dollars to pay his legal bills.

[Citizen X - #6]

I like how feudalism turns up in the oddest places.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

keep the district in the family.

What a fun, folksy way to describe it.

[Rebel Scum]

Political dynasties because fuck all you plebes. Ruling class has got to rule.

[Episteme]

He's hoping that all the recent talk of Prince Harry has Americans in the mood for dynasties.

[Crusty Juggler]

Quentin Tarantino Might Direct a Star Trek Movie

I can't wait to watch Kirk suck on some Klingon toes.

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

Kill Khan Vol. 3

[sarcasmic]

"Very funny Scotty. Now beam me down my motherfucking clothes."

[Rhywun]

"Does it say 'pointy-ears storage' on this hangar bay?!"

[sarcasmic]

"No? Because storing those green-blooded bastards isn't my fucking job!"

[Ron]

too funny

[loveconstitution1789]

"Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

Fuck you aliens!
-New Captain Kirk

[Rebel Scum]

America no longer has a moral compass under [Trump's] 'leadership'."

And yet, every day there is a new reason for me to vote for Trump again in 2020.

[Crusty Juggler]

He has done a great job so far.

[Rebel Scum]

I like things like reversing Barry's outgoing federal land grab and things like this.

[Crusty Juggler]

Epic.

[Tony]

Being a big fat geriatric bigot? That's what you think counts as presidential?

[loveconstitution1789]

Bill Clinton is already out of office, so what's your point?

[Tony]

You actually think Trump is thinner than Clinton. That's how fucked up this situation is.

[loveconstitution1789]

You are a socialist and that's how fucked up this situation is.

[Citizen X - #6]

Belief that a country (or any collective) can have morality, or any agency whatsoever, is a weird new kind of pantheism.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Untrue. My whole life is based in trusting the goodness and humanity of the Quaker Oatmeal company.

[Tony]

Can impeached traitors run for president? Not yet adjudicated?

[sarcasmic]

Clinton can't run again because he already served two terms.

[Ron]

Democrats should be happy the GOP no longer follows some moral compass isn't that what they have been telling us that they don't want our morals

[Crusty Juggler]

American Hero, Actor Admits the Empire Did Nothing Wrong

Driver can make a passionate case for why Kylo Ren isn't actually a villain at all.

"It's not like people weren't living on the Death Star," he says, his brown eyes shifting from puppyish to fierce without warning. He seems almost in character now. "Isn't that also an act of terrorism against the hundreds of thousands of people who died there? Did they not have families? I see how people can point to examples that make themselves feel they're right. And when you feel in your bones that you're supported by a higher power on top of that, and you're morally right, there's no limit to what you'll do to make sure that you win. Both sides feel this way."

You're starting to talk me into joining the Empire, I say. He laughs and shifts his delivery one degree over the top. "So, the rebels are bad," he says, connecting his fist with the table. "I strongly believe this!"

This means he is against the American Revolution.

[Rat on a train]

"Have you noticed that our caps have got actual little pictures of skulls on them? Hans, are we the baddies?"

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

*cough* Alderaan *cough*

[Rebel Scum]

Another woman has come forward with a sexual misconduct accusation against Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

An icon in American politics.

[Eidde]

What normal women wouldn't feel honored to service an icon?

/sarc

[Domestic Dissident]

And Reason continues to go full apeshit mode over Roy Moore while handwaving away Al Frankenstein.

Gee willikers, I wonder why.

[Crusty Juggler]

Is it because Reason is a secret leftie lib dem?

[Citizen X - #6]

Reason is also a pack of cuckaschmuck PFLs.

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

Al Franken is a pedophile as well???

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you implied they're comparable but now I see you were merely engaging in butwhataboutism.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Sproing.

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

The Republican National Committee is now backing Roy Moore in the Alabama special election.

Just not backing him enough to introduce him to their young daughters...

Trump's political advisers are increasingly concerned about the legal advice he [Trump] is receiving."

Well, you get what you pay for.

At least person has been killed and thousands have been forced to evacuate by raging wildfires in southern California.

Couldn't have happened to a least person.

[Domestic Dissident]

I'm a little surprised Reason is choosing to totally ignore the fact that the Supreme Court upheld Trump's travel order, because you know how pissed they are. I can picture Dipshit Dalmia frothing at the mouth with spittle flying everwhere.

Maybe it's because they look almost as stupid as they did after saying the "Arab Spring" was going to be awesome.

[Citizen X - #6]

Maybe you should start frequenting a different website.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Boop.

[Tony]

Banning religious minorities for freedom!

[loveconstitution1789]

Funny, I don't see much in the mainstream news today how great Roberts is for backing up the constitutionality of Trump's travel ban.

I guess that praise for Roberts was just for ObamaCare.

[DJF]

There are 2 billion Muslims, hardly a minority

[Zeb]

2 billion out of 7 billion is a minority. But so is every other religious and ethnic group. Perhaps being a minority, all by itself, shouldn't confer a special status on a class of people.

[Zeb]

http://reason.com/blog/2017/12.....avel-ban-t

They waited a whole 24 hours to post something, the deceitful bastards.

[Tony]

I must say the silver lining in all this is that the Republican party never gets to claim the moral high ground about anything again. I hope it was worth it, pedo defending fuckfaces.

[loveconstitution1789]

The Democrats are defending Bill Clinton's trips on the Lolita Express again?

[Tony]

Tuned to FOX News for a good 5 minutes just to see what was happening. Mike fucking Huckabee denouncing nepotism (Conyers). Vomit in the back of throat. Mike fucking Huckabee, of the Arkansas bible thumping Huckabees, defending Roy Moore for Senate, because the Bible technically never said you can't touch little girls in the vagina, I suppose. Vomit all over room. How do you guys stomach this crap every single day? I guess the rank hypocrisy, partisan propaganda, and morbid obesity that makes me expel my breakfast all over the place is precisely what gets your engines going. Just a matter of perspective, huh?

[Red Tony]

I guess the rank hypocrisy, partisan propaganda, and morbid obesity that makes me expel my breakfast all over the place is precisely what gets your engines going.

Who said anything about Al Sharpton?

[Citizen X - #6]

Barf more, comment less.

[loveconstitution1789]

The funniest thing is that you think FOX represents conservative views.

[sarcasmic]

Or that libertarians watch it.

[loveconstitution1789]

Do libertarians watch it? The only people on here that bring up what FOX says are the lefties.

[sarcasmic]

The only person I know who watches it is my mother, who is a religious conservative in her 70s. I now hide the remotes when she visits so I don't have to listen to it.

[Tony]

FOX News boasts about winning the ratings yet no one seems to watch it, even the ridiculous ones like you who repeat the laughable nonsense that gets spewed on it, almost to the minute. How curious.

[loveconstitution1789]

Tony, you watched it. So, I guess the there are plenty of lefties trying to "see what those deplorables are up to".

[sarcasmic]

So, I guess the there are plenty of lefties trying to "see what those deplorables are up to".

Makes me wonder if the majority of FOX viewers are leftists who like to yell at the television and come up with straw man arguments. Like Tony for example.

[Rebel Scum]

Honestly, I'll watch Gutfield, but only when he pops up on my YouTube feed.

[Procyon Rotor]

I don't watch FOX. Like all true libertarians, I get my news directly from the ghost of Murray Rothbard, then come here to comment on articles I didn't read.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Damn, this guy is legit.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Maybe it was a joke. Mike Huckabee is one of our greatest living comedians.

[ace_m82]

the Bible technically never said you can't touch little girls in the vagina

http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksear.....ersion=NIV

Anyhow, you assume "logical consistency" is something they understand. You see, even the Man himself said:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

and:

"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."

How many of them say "Oh, yes, I'm a Christian" because they know they can't be elected otherwise?

(Other references to obeying God being necessary in order to be a Christ follower/Christian:
Proverbs 8:17
John 14:15
John 14:23
John 15:10
1 John 5:3
2 John 1:6)

[Procyon Rotor]

Skimming the list of passages in your link, it seems like the only two times "sexual immorality" is actually defined, it means sleeping with Moabites or sleeping with your stepmother. Don't see anything in there about age.

[ace_m82]

If you noted, the passage said "engaged in sexual immorality with the Moabites", which means it's not that they were Moabites, but the act they did (sex outside marriage) was the immoral part.

For the age thing, the only real mention is in Deuteronomy 22:20-22, which deals with the woman who had sex while still in her father's house (unmarried, assumed very young). Why did the woman receive this penalty? Well, you can't tell the guy did it, but you can tell the girl...

Sexual immorality is dealt with in Leviticus 18 and 20. Everything other than sex between married people is considered "sexual immorality". So yes, sex with young girls would be "sexual immorality", definitionally.

[Juice]

How do you guys stomach this crap every single day?

Who are you talking to? You think there are a bunch of Mike Huckabee and Roy Moore supporters around here?

[Tony]

Yes.