John Conyers Resigns, Russia is Banned From the Winter Olympics, and More Trouble at the FBI: P.M. Links

• 

  Astrid Riecken/TNS/Newscom

  Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) resigned his seat today amid mounting sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his son should inherit his seat.

• Russia is banned from the winter Olympics following a lengthy doping investigation.

• Oral arguments apparently went pretty well for the bakers in the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case.

• Opposition mounts to Trump's reported plan to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

• Another day, another FBI scandal.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Russia is banned from the winter Olympics following a lengthy doping investigation.

In Russia, Olympics dope you!

[CE]

I thought they would be banned for the whole Sochi fiasco.

[Rich]

But that bear was so *cute*!

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

All bears are cute.

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

"Careful, tovarisch."

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Thus freeing Russia up to invade Estonia.

[Episteme]

And then secretly entering under the Estonian flag?

[Episteme]

They thought they could get away with entering Colossus in the weight lifting event, unaware that the IOC has sprung for Sentinels...

[Telcontar the Wanderer]

Dammit, if Disney would just buy Fox already we could enter Bruce Banner and show them how it's done...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Opposition mounts to Trump's reported plan to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

WWJD?

[Red Tony]

Wipe his feet, wash his hands, walk over to your dinner table and flip it over, whip you until you ran out, curse a fig tree to never bear figs again EVER, play GTA.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Which GTA?

[Red Tony]

Jesus plays whatever GTA he wants to.

[MarkLastname]

Vice City. Jesus would play Vice City.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Thank you. Just like present day Tony, Red Tony doesn't appreciate the set up for a joke.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

People that ruin perfect set ups are so annoying. There is nothing more satisfying than lining one up with a perfect pass and having someone slam it into the back of the net. Even though they get the credit, we know the one with the assist is the true hero.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Jesus only plays Stick Of Truth and Fractured But Whole.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Not bad. Those are both pretty fun games.

[lap83]

nuh uh, Tropico

[Eek Barba Durkle]

GTA Man Betrays Us

[BYODB]

Why do the right thing when the wrong thing is so much easier and you get bombed so much less because of it?

[Rich]

Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich.) resigned his seat today amid mounting sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his son should inherit his seat.

"Why, he's a chip off the old block!"

[Aloysious]

Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich.) resigned his seat today amid mounting sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his son should inherit his seat.

Only if his son spent time in jail. Like Mrs. Conyers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oral arguments apparently went pretty well for the bakers in the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case.

That's not what their dentists said. TOO MUCH CAKE!

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Did they bake a cake for the justices? Assuming the cake is delicious, does that weaken or strengthen their arguments?

[Rich]

That would be awesome.

In any event, it would get a big laugh and piss people off.

Contest: What message written in icing?

I'll suggest: "Give me justice or give me cake"

[Don't look at me.]

A favorable verdict would be the icing on the cake!

[Fist of Etiquette]

My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of the icing.

[buybuydandavis]

Sweet!

[mad.casual]

Did they bake a cake for the justices? Assuming the cake is delicious, does that weaken or strengthen their arguments?

IANAL, but bake 8 cakes for the justices and suggest that either the Civil Rights Commission use the law to bake a 9th cake or that Roberts use his judicial powers to invent a penalcake.

[Red Tony]

Oral arguments apparently went pretty well for the bakers in the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case.

How can we tell? I honestly wonder how this works.

[Juice]

Probably based on what questions were asked by which justices.

[CE]

The Justices ask tough questions and strive to appear impartial during oral arguments.

Then they go dust off the opinion they wrote a few years ago for when a case like this showed up.

[Red Tony]

Off topic: So who the heck is Hank Phillips anyway? He seems to pop up every once in a while, spit out some quasi-Randian word salad, and then disappear.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

He is one of the occasionals. I think he is the official Randian representative, after Cytotoxic's mom took his computer away.

[BestUsedCarSales]

The greatest mystery to me is still whether or not SIV is a joke account. I'm actually starting to lean towards "yes".

[Zeb]

I suspect it's a joke but not a parody account. He's been around for a very long time.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

He is too humorless to be a parody. Otherwise he would give us more setups for chicken jokes. Not that it is that hard to spin them out of what he writes.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Oh, Cytotoxic. I often wonder what happened to him.

Also that other guy. The frequently annoying, pedantic one. Would get into shitfits with John a lot. I think he trolled under a different handle once, too. May have been a Tulpa.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

You just described 90% of current and former commenters.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Well, certainly 90% of the former-former commenters.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Do you ever wonder, when you look up at the night sky that John Titor is out there looking at the same stars as you?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

It's difficult to see the stars from my mother's basement. I do wonder if Joe from Lowell looks at the same Hentai as I do.

[Zeb]

MNG? I think he left after registration.

[Pro Libertate]

I should have left after threaded comments. P Brooks was right.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Not that far back. I want to say it starts with a B.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Bo Cara! That's it. My brain was started to melt.

[Red Tony]

We can tell.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Bo Cara "graduated" law school and is now Communications Director at SPLC.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Bo was my personal Nikki, just the worst. I had blisters on me fingers from scrolling and scrolling past his bs. A prick with ears.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I thought he kind of disappeared after RC Dean raped him in the face over his false lawyerly credentials.

[BYODB]

I still miss Dean.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Jst 4 U

[Stormy Dragon]

May have been a Tulpa.

We're all Tulpa. Especially you.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Fuck off, Mary.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Whatever Eddie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich.) resigned his seat today amid mounting sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his son should inherit his seat.

It's his birthright.

[CE]

Because nothing says "democracy" like "hereditary offices".

[Don't look at me.]

We are practically royalty, amirite?

[buybuydandavis]

The apparatchik class has rapidly moved to make their ruling class status hereditary

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

These idiot sons will be the death of the empire!

[Episteme]

But here in America, ANYONE can end up a corrupt dynast!

[Citizen X - #6]

Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich.) resigned his seat today amid mounting sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his son should inherit his seat.

"He shall also inherit my right of prima nocte."

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

I believe that is the etymology of the phrase "knocked up." As in, "my lord primanocted up my newlywed wife."

[BestUsedCarSales]

Go home.

[Red Tony]

Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich.) resigned his seat today amid mounting sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his son should inherit his seat.

"Let's be honest, who in their right mind wouldn't ride this fantastic mustache? Bitches be crazy. Now vote for my NOT bitchy son."

[Rich]

It's hard to govern (or educate, or report on) an entire country when you aren't sufficiently exposed to contrary perspectives and experiences.

FTFY

[Fist of Etiquette]

Another day, another FBI scandal.

NO WONDER THE PRESIDENT WANTS TO PRIVATIZE THE DEEP STATE.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Not to be confused with the Deep Slate, which does not exist.

[Aloysious]

Another day, another FBI scandal.

FBI = Foiled By Intelligence

/Archie Goodwin

[Rich]

Oral arguments apparently went pretty well for the bakers in the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case.

How anal arguments go remains to be seen.

[MarkLastname]

The two customers probably have an advantage there.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

I predict a gaping hole in their arguments.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I SAID WALK ON HOME BOY

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Okay then.
[Hangs head, kicks pebble, walks home with hands in pockets]

[Red Tony]

[Hangs head, kicks pebble, walks home with hands in pockets]

[Don't look at me.]

Shitty argument.

[MarkLastname]

"His son should inherit his seat."
Jesus Christ. Even the Mafia would consider that notion scandalous these days. Do these assholes genuinely think they're medieval dukes?

[Red Tony]

No, not at all.

They think they're modern dukes and lords and ladies. There's a difference.

[Rich]

No, *Deans*.

[colorblindkid]

It gets better. His grandnephew apparently said he's going to run for it, too.

[Rich]

Have a special special election based on how many women come forward to accuse each relative.

[Red Tony]

This week, on Rocky and Bullwinkle, it's "A Special Election for Special Erections, or, Keep it in the Family."

[Rich]

Certainly not "Keep it in your Pants".

[Spartacus]

Which one is the white rose?

[MarkLastname]

Maybe a dynastic war to determine which branch of the family gets the throne?

[Rhywun]

Jesus Christ.

To be fair, it's Detroit. Nobody else is gonna step up to the plate.

[Red Tony]

What about Miguel Cabrera?

[Pro Libertate]

Robocop. Weller is from Wisconsin, which isn't that far away, and he has an actual PhD (not the honorary kind). And, of course, Robocop is a great hero to the people of Detroit.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Reason, I really want more articles thanking us for the money. You really have fucked that duck today.

[Rich]

Calling Jerusalem the Israeli capital will draw Muslim anger

Unlike almost anything else.

[Pro Libertate]

What, they'll get MORE pissed?

[Don't look at me.]

Almost to the point where they might think about doing something crazy.

[Rich]

Calling Jerusalem the Israeli capital will draw Muslim anger

Ah, but will it draw Mohammed?

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Even George W. won't paint Mohammed.

[Pro Libertate]

We've got a guy who may very well nuke the Moon.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

You haven't seen REAL Muslim anger.

[Hank Stamper]

I say we leave this decision to the free market. If Arabs countries don't want this they must exceed Israel's bid which must cover the cost of moving plus 30% profit (or whatever defense contractors use). Otherwise leave it where it is. This is also my plan for all public statues and monuments in the USA.

[Domestic Dissident]

Opposition mounts to Trump's reported plan to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Awesome, now that terror monkey Erdogan is trying to threaten us. What is he going to do, have one of his goons shoot our ambassador in the head on live TV like they did to that Russian guy?

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Why not? Turkish officials have attacked protesters in the USA, so something like that on their home soil wouldn't necessarily surprise me.

As a side note, as long as the Knesset is in Tel Aviv, that's where our embassy should be.

[Tom Bombadil]

What reason could ever be given for Israel to have their capital wherever they want?
What reason could ever be given for the USA to have their embassy wherever they want?

Imagine if the Saudis decided to move the Haj to Medina. Would we have worldwide concerns of violence by Christians enraged by this?

Why can't people just fuck off? And even more to the point, why don't the vast majority of world leaders unequivocally tell dickheads like Erdogan to fuck off?

[Rebel Scum]

Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich.) resigned his seat today amid mounting sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his son should inherit his seat.

This really grinds my gears. These a-holes fancy themselves royalty.

[Marty Feldman's Eyes]

And it happens. Duncan Hunter and Harold Ford Sr./Jr. spring to mind.

[Sevo]

"...suggesting his son should inherit his seat...."

His son is named Kim Jung Un

[Rebel Scum]

Russia is banned from the winter Olympics following a lengthy doping investigation.

So there is an actual Russian scandal.

[Don't look at me.]

DID TRUMP SUPPLY THE DOPE?

[Episteme]

Is Trump the dope?

[Rich]

"We confirmed that the news reports [that] the special counsel had subpoenaed financial records related to the president are completely false," Sanders said during the daily press briefing. "No subpoena has been issued or received. We have confirmed this with the bank and other sources."

*** rising intonation ***

What about the gag orders?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Conyers is old news, Reason, Dustin Hoffman on the hot seat for sexualized assault.

[BestUsedCarSales]

They made, like, three whole movies about how he's a Focker. There's not a single reason to be surprised by this.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I found this interesting:

Oliver continued, "It is reflective of who you were. If you've given no evidence to show it didn't [happen] then there was a period of time for a while when you were a creeper around women. It feels like a cop-out to say 'it wasn't me.' Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?"

Instead of talking about the film, the heated conversation remained heavily focused on sexual harassment.

Oliver said, "There's no point in [an accuser] lying."

So the accused has to prove a negative by providing evidence the accusation is false?

And "There's no point in [an accuser] lying"?

That's false on its face. There may be lots of reasons for an accuser to lie, especially if the accused is prominent, rich, or both.

I'm not saying Hoffman's accusers are lying, but Oliver is throwing up a lot of straw men here, just to virtue signal his feminist bona fides.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

What I've read makes Oliver sound like even more of a self-impressed jagoff. He says, "It's that kind of response to this stuff that pisses me off." Dude, you're here to ask questions about a movie. People aren't here to learn about the things that piss you off. Hoffman may well be a creeper who has abused women, and I see the point in addressing it, but that's not actually the reason you or the audience are there.

That said, a panel on Wag the Dog? I liked the movie, but does it call for a retrospective?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Oliver has become very respected for reasons unknown.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Oliver was grandstanding.

Yeah, exactly, I don't have any strong opinions about Hoffman, he may be creepy (although the second accusation consisted of him 'propositioning a woman'. Now, I don't know what the details are, but couldn't that consist of being asked on a date?

Regardless, Oliver was clearly vibrating before the show started to make a point-- he made it about HIS feelings about the oppressive environment women are suffering under.

And yeah, Wag the Dog, it's not like it was a timeless classic or anything. It was an amusing... entertaining movie. Maybe it needed to be done because Trump or something.

[BYODB]

Who cares if Hoffman was asking her if she wanted to fuck? He was asking a question with an almost binary answer scheme: Yes, or no. Unless there was a real 'or else' applied to the question, then so fucking what? Do you think literally hundreds of women haven't thrown themselves at Hoffman just to fuck? Of course they have.

Why are we pretending that the Victorian Era was just fine?

Jesus, you would almost think women are too fragile to be in the business world. Or, and here's a thing, are women saying that they don't want to fuck all the time? If so, I have news for them: they are very, very different from men after all.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?

For whatever reason, I believe this is the core concept of his statements. Everything is done so that one does not feel dismissed.

[damikesc]

When Oliver is nailed for harassment, it will be fucking GLORIOUS.

[BYODB]

I'm not saying Hoffman's accusers are lying, but Oliver is throwing up a lot of straw men here, just to virtue signal his feminist bona fides.

I think Oliver is trying to make any women that's he's abused over the years feel like he's really changed as is on their side now.

Now he needs to provide evidence that he's never actually done so, and maybe he'll suddenly understand what's happening here.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I'm... thinking Oliver may not be harassing women.

[BYODB]

Shall I take it as read that there are imaginary italics around 'women'? ^_-

[MarkLastname]

Well, maybe it's Kevin Spacey he should be interviewing then.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Just in case you thought you'd get through the day without yet another fucked up cop story.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-head.html

[Juice]

That POS woke up that morning and put on that fucking bowtie not realizing exactly how he was going to be a POS that day, but knew he would be somehow.

[Juice]

Goodwin says he was then ordered to remove his beloved pet's head - or he would be sent to jail

Send me to jail. That way the settlement or judgement will be even larger.

[IceTrey]

Conyers RETIRED. C'mon Reason.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

DAMN YOU, BRITCHES!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Wilfrid Laurier University's president apologizes to Lindsay Shepherd.

MacLatchy said the Waterloo, Ont. university regrets how the meeting between Shepherd and her professors were conducted.

"The issue was how ? the format of ? the meeting [that] was held and the discussion that went on about a question that had happened in the tutorial," said MacLatchy.

MacLatchy said she was "shocked" at how Shepherd was treated when she heard the recording of the meeting, which was publicly released by Shepherd on Tuesday.

"It's not who we are as a university and it doesn't represent what we stand for at Laurier," MacLatchy said.

Nathan Rambukkana, the professor who conducted the meeting with Shepherd, also apologized to her through an open letter.

MacLatchy said she wants to apologize to Shepherd in person and said her office has reached out to set up a meeting.

"We're waiting to hear back from her," she said.

[Red Tony]

How she should respond.
How she probably will respond.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Most unintentionally funny article of the week?

If Arkansas Democrats want to field a serious Democrat, there's only one name to consider. I'm talking, of course, about Clinton.

Read it for the lulz.

[Red Tony]

These people have never really thought about what a large role charisma plays in politics, have they? I was intrigued by the title because my first thought was that they wanted to see Bill nominated (and honestly, he might actually win there), but then they started saying "and everyone's revised their opinion of Clinton in the wake of these sexual assault/harassment scandals"?bullshit! Republicans knew he was a rapist (or at the very least a pervert), and Democrats knew he was a rapist (or at the very least a pervert) and pretended not to know. Anyone "reassessing" their view of Clinton either knows jack shit about him (possible) or is trying to save face for having supported him. Beyond that, saying "well Chelsea has a shot"?well Jesus H. No she doesn't. She may be more charismatic than her mother, but that's not really saying much, and I only have that opinion because I know NOTHING about Chelsea.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Well, for Bill, Children born after his impeachment hearing are eligible to vote now. So it really is ancient history for younger voters.

Though the saddest line, for me, was "But as Lyon College political science professor Bradley Gitz told Bershidsky, Arkansas is a small state where personality-driven retail politics often win the day." Outright admitting that personality has little to do with it in large states. Probably true.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I was going to say something about this. When you see the world through Millennial-colored glasses, everything looks like sexual assault.

[DRM]

She may be more charismatic than her mother, but that's not really saying much, and I only have that opinion because I know

Given her "success" as an NBC TV personality, 2011-2014 . . .

[BestUsedCarSales]

There is a thin line between laughter and screaming into the night.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Sexual assault roundup, Drive At Five edition, California Democrat Matt Dababneh accused of forcing woman into bathroom and masturbating in front of her.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Ok, I was wrong, this is the most unintentionally funny article of the week.

In the most recent issue of the Journal of Feminist Geography, professor Anne DeLessio-Parson argues that "hegemonic masculinity implies an imperative to eat meat" and that this helps reify other power hierarchies as well.

"Refusing meat therefore presents opportunities, in each social interaction, for the [gender] binary to be called into question."

To study the link between masculinity and meat, DeLessio-Parson interviewed 23 vegetarians who live in Argentina to probe how they deal with their country's "meat-centric" culture, finding that being vegetarian itself is a political act.

[RELATED: PETA paying students to evangelize for veganism on campus]

Vegetarians also contribute to the destabilization of the gender binary, she argued.

[Red Tony]

Yeah, the fact that human bodies need protein plays no role whatsoever in people eating meat.

[BestUsedCarSales]

The most vegetarian nation on earth, India, is also the most gender balanced of all time. The theory checks out.

[Red Tony]

...we are talking about the same people that practiced ritualistic bride burning up until the British came in, right?

I mean, the British Empire sucked, but stopping that shit was one of the few good things they did.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yes.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Ok, THIS is the most unintentionally funny article you'll read all week.

Amid Bolivar's free-fall, Venezuela to create Crypto currency, except THIS one will be controlled by a communist Oligarchy.

I know, right?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Saves on printing costs.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

VOX media doesn't trust their employees to drink.

Amid the wave of recent sexual harassment allegations against a number of individuals at media companies, and after firing its own editorial director for sexual harassment last month, Vox Media announced to its staff on Thursday that it will not have an open bar at this year's holiday party.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Think about that for a moment, the liberals don't trust themselves around the demon rum...

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

There's nothing more "handsy" than a Vox staffer after a couple of Vodka Gimlets.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

There's nothing more "handsy" than a Vox staffer after a couple of Vodka Gimlets.

[MarkLastname]

I think it's high time we stop calling them liberals.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Geraldo Rivera: News is a 'flirty business'.

[Tony]

Why is Reason joining the National Review in trying to aid Trump's desperate attempt to trash the credibility of the FBI to save his own fat ass?

[MarkLastname]

Why is Tony suddenly cheerleading historically corrupt and abusive law enforcement agencies? I guess as long as their going after someone you hate, you're willing to forgive whatever else they'll do. Partisan douch bag.

[Sevo]

"Why is Tony suddenly cheerleading historically corrupt and abusive law enforcement agencies?"

Because he's a lefty scumbag bereft of human decency.

[Tony]

Yes surely Trump is the pristine and saintly one compared to the FBI right now.

You people shouldn't ever vote.

[IceTrey]

I think they are doing fine all by themselves with that.