Bill Clinton Gets Defensive, Pivots to Trump Transgressions When Asked About #MeToo Movement and Monica Lewinsky: Reason Roundup

Plus: victory for unlicensed hair braiders in Missouri and highlights from this weekend's sex worker rights rallies

screenshot/NBC News

Clinton says Lewinsky affair would not "be an issue" today. Talk about "alternative facts" (to pull a phrase out of the Trump-spox dustbin): Bill Clinton claimed today that his sexual relationship with then-intern Monica Lewinsky would not be viewed differently now than it was in the 1990s.

In fact, the former president suggested, #MeToo-era feminists are only lumping him in with power-abusing Harvey Weinstein types out of displaced anger at Donald Trump.

"I don't think [the Lewinsky affair] would be an issue because people would be using the facts instead of the imagined facts," Clinton told NBC's Craig Melvin this morning. "If the facts were the same today, I wouldn't [resign]." He continued:

A lot of the facts have been conveniently omitted to make the story work, I think partly because they are frustrated that they got all these serious allegations against the current occupant of the Oval Office, and his voters don't seem to care. I think I did the right thing. I defended the Constitution.

Clinton also complained that he lost a lot of money over his affair with Lewinsky; that Melvin was only giving "one side" by pointing to his relationship with Lewinsky while failing to bring up all the good Clinton has allegedly done for womankind; and that the sexual harassment and assault allegations against President Trump have not received enough media coverage. Melvin then pressed Clinton on whether "looking back on what happened then, through the lens of Me Too now," he now felt more responsibility.

Clinton: No, I felt terrible then, and I came to grips with it.

Melvin: Did you ever apologize to her?

Clinton: Yes. And nobody believes that I got out of that for free. I left the White House $16 million in debt. But you, typically, have ignored gaping facts in describing this and I bet you don't even know them. This was litigated 20 years ago. Two-thirds of the American people sided with me. They were not insensitive to that.

James Patterson, who co-authored a new novel with Clinton, jumped in to add: "It was 20 years ago. Come on."

Of course, many of the allegations against Weinstein, against other Hollywood and media men, and against Trump are descriptions of incidents that happened one, two, or even more decades ago. The whole point of Melvin's questioning Clinton about Lewinsky now was that sometimes social and personal perceptions can shift in 20 years.

Society's perception certainly has in this case. A better man than Clinton might at least acknowledge that, and even use it to his argumentative advantage. Instead, when asked for a modicum of self-awareness, our ex-president immediately gets defensive, lashes out in all directions, plays the Whataboutism card, and diminishes the idea that anyone could care about any of this.

In trying to distance himself from Trump and other #MeToo targets, Clinton reminds us that he wrote the playbook they're reading from now.

FREE MARKETS

Occupational licensing win for Missouri hair braiders:

BREAKING: Missouri #Braiding Reform Bill Signed Into Law#Braiders in Missouri will no longer have to get full 1500-hour cosmetology #license. Instead, simply register & watch 4-6 hr video.

Kudos to @Dogan4Rep for his relentless advocacy for #BraidingFreedom over several years!

— Dan Alban (@Frimp13) June 1, 2018

FREE MINDS

"International Whore's Day" highlights. Here are a few photos and missives from an international roster of rallies for sex worker rights that went down last Saturday. The demonstrations commemorated International Whore's Day, protested new federal legislation criminalizing sex ads, and called for the decriminalization of prostitution.

My favorite sign from today! #IWD #InternationalWhoresDay #InternationalSexWorkersDay pic.twitter.com/h3De6ZWYny

— Representative Elizabeth Edwards (@RepEEdwards) June 2, 2018

Butch Barbie reporting for duty #InternationalWhoresDay shirt by @AndreShakti pic.twitter.com/5TTRIawz3t

— Jacq the Stripper (@JacqTheStripper) June 3, 2018

Today during the International Whores Day direct action in Chicago. More photos / write up by @dykediscourse forthcoming via Hooligan. All photos by Cody Corrall // #InternationalWhoresDay #IWD18 pic.twitter.com/117MqPuNNF

— HOOLIGAN MAG (@thehooliganmag) June 2, 2018

Celebrating #InternationalSexWorkersDay w @cmdgrosso & advocates at #SexWorkers Rights Rally in #DC (Thanks Kholi @SweatTweets for T-shirt!) #DecrimNow pic.twitter.com/aqO28ZazIM

— Serra Sippel (@SerraSippel) June 2, 2018

#IWD18 #StopTheWarOnWhores #InternationalWhoresDay#InternationalSexWorkersDay #sexworkisrealwork #someoneiloveisasexworker #sexworkersolidarity #endthestigma #sexwork #workhealthsafety #sexworkiswork #sexworkisrealwork #tokyorainbowpride2018 #TRP2018 #??????????? pic.twitter.com/OHQ14h3qRb

— ===KAREN=== (@xgreenkarenx) June 4, 2018

Yesterday was so incredible, I don't have words. Hundreds of sex workers and allies overflowed Christopher Park and marched to Washington Square. We stood out in the sun and screamed and screamed and screamed. We screamed our rage and our grief and our n… https://t.co/artY4slWvI pic.twitter.com/vKYWEb8Wep

— Lorelei Lee (@MissLoreleiLee) June 3, 2018

So inspired by all the speakers & performers at today's #InternationalWhoresDay rally in DC #rightsnotrescue #NoFOSTA #IWD2018 #SexWorkIsWork pic.twitter.com/aT0UM8fnnK

— Feminists for Liberty (@FeministLiberty) June 2, 2018

QUICK HITS

• Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the president probably has the power to pardon himself but Trump will oh-so-graciously choose not to use it should he be indicted.
• Protecting and serving, one dance-floor back-flip gun-discharge at a time.
• "California isn't our most progressive state—it's our most racist one," writes Michael Shellenberger at Forbes.
• Introducing the era of "mutually nonconsensual sex."
• Denmark considers a ban on circumcision.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the president probably has the power to pardon himself...

"Go away, pardonin'!"

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

The Clintons are foul sociopaths.

He went full JR Smith. He can't even face his actions like a man.

[loveconstitution1789]

That would ruin Chelsea Clinton's chances for a NY Senate seat in the future.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Classic Clinton; waffle a bit to get a sense of how things are going, deflect any concept of personal responsibility, and displace general guilt on the nearest target. And do it all with smooth talking. I do have to hand to Bill in that he is the best there will ever be at that game. Even better than "I do a little side step now you see me now you don't" LBJ.

[JoeBlow123]

Burn the witches, Trotyskites, left oppositionists, and the unrepentant. Clinton is deserving.

[Palin's Buttplug]

And you're still a fucking moronic dipshit.

so?ci?o?path
?s?s???paTH/Submit
noun
a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.

Bill Clinton cheated on his wife but he had genuine empathy for others - unlike your hero, The Dotard.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Bill knew how to say "I feel your pain" but he was a liar about that too.

Plugged Butt knows how to say Bill felt empathy, but that is another lie.

Libertarians have empathy because they believe people have agency and can take care of themselves better than the State can.

Statists have no empathy; they believe people are too stupid, ignorant, naive, and gullible to take care of themselves.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Concerning Rufus the Idiot's post - on a sociopath scale Trump is in the serial killer zone compared to Bill Clinton.

Although empathy is vastly overrated as a quality a POTUS might need Clinton has lots of it compared to the Con Man. Cheney is the only pol in the serial killer zone with Trump.

[Rufus The Monocled]

lol.

You're cute in the morning when you haven't had your meds.

[Cyto]

I dunno... there was plenty of evidence of Bill faking his "empathy" at the time. And he certainly had the ability to ruthlessly attack people he perceived as threats.

It is certainly within the realm of possibility that Clinton has narcissistic personality disorder and the attendant sociopathy. It seems exceedingly common among those at the top levels of leadership.

Trump? Lord, who knows. It kinda goes without saying that he's a narcissist. But really... would you call one of those wind-up monkeys with cymbals a narcissist? I mean, sure, he bashes those loud-ass cymbals together with no regard for anything other than his own cymbal-bashing.... but it really isn't a conscious choice... he's just built to bash cymbals.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

Palin's Buttplug refuses to acknowledge that Cheney has more heart than any recent member of the executive branch. For shame.

[Citizen X]

You left out a plural. More hearts.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

thatsthejoke.gif

[Citizen X]

'Scuse me while i get more coffee.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Take a break, John

[Inigo Montoya]

"Cheney is the only pol in the serial killer zone with Trump."

Really? I seem to recall a pol who had an actual "Kill List," and ordered drone assassinations of undesirables that included an actual American citizen and, a couple of years later, that American citizen's young son and a group of the kid's friends.

Seems to me that the sociopath serial killer type is actually not that unusual a find in the halls of power. But I'm not deluded like you about one side being evil and the other side being saintly. They both suck.

[Jerryskids]

Sociopaths fake empathy. They don't have normal human feelings but they're self-aware enough to realize they don't have normal human feelings so they become very skilled at observing and imitating others' behavior in an attempt to disguise their lack of normal human feelings. Watch what they do when they think they're alone, what they do in private when there's nobody around to provide guidance on what normal human beings act like. Trump's more like a psychopath, a sociopath who doesn't give a shit if everybody knows he's a sociopath and therefore doesn't attempt to fake normal human behavior. As far as a psychopath is concerned, he's the center of the universe and everything revolves around him so he's perfectly free to do anything he likes. Like if he felt like strolling down Fifth Avenue and shooting somebody, he could see doing that. Torturing people, bombing the shit out of them, killing their families, ordering people to do these things with the confidence that they'll do as they're told - it's all good.

[CatoTheChipper]

Bill Clinton was the most talented politician of last half of the 20th century. Sincerity is essential to a democratic politician's success, and Bill Clinton was in a league of his own in faking sincerity. His ability to con the intellectual class was so exceptional that he effectively turned the major news and opinion media into his ministry of propaganda. He was also the luckiest politician in US history: His eight years were immediately preceded by a mild recession, giving the economy a small base to grow from, the collapse of the USSR afforded a decade-long holiday from history, the domestic US economy benefited enormously from the peace dividend, Volcker's monetary policy had already abated the worst of inflation and the pain of accomplishing that could be blamed on Reagan/Bush, and the entrepreneurial tech boom that began in the 80s was just beginning to have transformational macroeconomic effect outside of Silicon Valley. Greenspan was accommodative in monetary policy whereas the bond traders could still enforce fiscal discipline that prevented the expansion of welfare state, which kept Clinton from doing something stupid like HillaryCare. The one good thing that I can say about Clinton is that, other than his inability to keep his trousers zipped up and a massacre in Waco, he was no worse than any other politician in doing truly stupid stuff.

[ThomasD]

Trump and Clinton are both extremely narcissistic. But neither are psychopaths. Psychopathy is not a subset of sociopathy.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Wow. Are you a demon? You seem extra, you know, evil.

[damikesc]

Explains his "crying" at his friend Ron Brown's funeral, huh?

[DJK]

Bill Clinton did far more than cheat on his wife. He was credibly accused of sexual assault or rape by at least three women. Please explain why we should not take these allegations seriously but why we should take allegations against Trump seriously. Please do so without invoking partisan bullshit.

[Oli]

I doubt that you find lots of empathetic and good-hearted persons in politics. Hell, in high leadership positions in general. But they all pale in comparison to Trump. And while you might be able to relativize some of their questionable deeds and beliefs, I'm seriously flabbergasted how anyone could possibly see anything good in Trump.

[Citizen X]

Nah, Trump's just worse at hiding it, or else doesn't care to try.

[ThomasD]

Interesting how much this interview shows the similarities between Clinton and Trump. The narcissism, and complaints of persecution jumping out. One wonders how bad Clinton would have seemed with the sort of daily press Trump receives.

You can also see how they were able to get along so well. Right up until when they weren't.

[CatoTheChipper]

If Clinton were to have gotten the same treatment as Trump would get in such an interview, the interviewer would breeze right past the consensual Lewinsky affair and ask the hard questions about Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, and Kathleen Willey.

From what I saw, the interview was softball. It raised the least egregious potential #Metoo case in way that allowed Clinton to evade responsibility, excuse his misbehavior, and make claims of special virtue in advancing the rights and dignity of women.

[ThomasD]

Exactly. Clinton also gets the presumption that his viewpoint is valid. Trump is always the suspect.

[DJK]

^This.

Until the left is willing to confront multiple credible allegations of sexual assault against Clinton, it's hard to take their reaction to allegations against Trump as anything other than naked politicking.

[JoeBlow123]

Burn the rightists, the left oppositionists, the Trotyskites, and all who oppose the will of the Great Soviet, err, American People.

"Society's perception certainly has in this case. A better man than Clinton might at least acknowledge that, and even use it to his argumentative advantage."

Witch hunt. This is a witch hunt. Clinton has nothing to apologize for, he got a blowjob from a willing participant. This has never been disputed. The only thing he did wrong was break his marriage vows and lie about getting a blow job.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...but Trump will oh-so-graciously choose not to use it should he be indicted.

Not until convicted.

[Eidde]

Giuliani should remember he's no longer a prosecutor, he's supposed to be a *defense* lawyer.

How are his remarks helping Trump?

He could say "who knows if the President can pardon himself, that won't even come up because even the more corrupt prosecutor won't be able to charge the President with anything, you media hack!"

[Tony]

They're not sending their best lawyers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Clinton says Lewinsky affair would not "be an issue" today.

The lament of the trail blazer.

[Fist of Etiquette]

BREAKING: Missouri #Braiding Reform Bill Signed Into Law#Braiders in Missouri will no longer have to get full 1500-hour cosmetology #license. Instead, simply register & watch 4-6 hr video.

Lawmakers rush to invest in video production companies.

[Fist of Etiquette]

In fact, the former president suggested, #MeToo-era feminists are only lumping him in with power-abusing Harvey Weinstein types out of displaced anger at Donald Trump.

It's a shame the woke generation is too young to understand what a grandfather clause is and who earned one here.

[Eidde]

Bill Clinton is a stand-in for Trump?

After Bill's wife was robbed of the Presidency by Trump himelf?

/sarc

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

Will her pain ever end?

[Shirley Knott]

Let's hope not.

[Bearded Spock]

You have to admit Hillary's story could be an epic Greek tragedy, like Oedipus.

An ambitious woman who hitches herself to a talented but despicable man, endures decades of abuse and humiliation in order to achieve her dreams of power, only to see them crumble at her moment of victory, due in part to her husband's behavior 20 years earlier.

[lap83]

The decriminalize poster is embarrassing from a graphic design standpoint. Also, really creepy choice to have it look like it was made by a 5 year old girl

[Citizen X]

Which Hit'n'Run Commenter Is This?: Regular Congressional Candidate Edition

[Leo Kovalensky II]

"And at one point in a conversation with The Post, he seemed to express admiration for the system run by the Taliban in Afghanistan... But Larson, 37, is hoping to take his views toward the mainstream by mounting a campaign for a congressional seat in Virginia, running as a Libertarian"

FFS. I mean when I think of models of libertarianism, I think of the Taliban.

[Citizen X]

He's wrong in so many directions at the same time that i almost think he has to be just foolin'.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

"Larson said he considers himself to be part of the 'incel movement' "

And now it all makes sense.

[Juice]

Wait. Incel movement?

[Leo Kovalensky II]

The movement is primarily women moving away from the socially backwards incels.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

I suppose the Holocaust was a Jewish movement ... in cattle cars.

[Rich]

"Say it LOUD: I'm INCEL and I'm not ALLOWED!"

[Inigo Montoya]

Yes, Incel movement.

"Movement" here is used in the same sense as when you visit the bathroom a few minutes after finishing your morning coffee.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

I think we know which commenter this is. Rhymes with...damnit.....I had something for this.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Rhymes with Weigel's Cock Thing

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yeah, I saw that too. Also it says he's an "independent libertarian" and while we do value our independence I feel like maybe they shouldn't even bother to use the word. Since he doesn't have either party or philosophical association. Maybe just call him independent.

[lap83]

According to some of our trolls, he is almost every commenter

[Shirley Knott]

And according to some of our commenters, he is almost every troll.
That's how we get incels?everybody too busy pointing fingers to get a grip.
NTTAWWT

[Rufus The Monocled]

"Denmark considers a ban on circumcision."

Forget it. They're on a role.

I wonder if progs, who love to inexplicably hoist Scandinavia on a pedestal, notice what's going on over there.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

It gets cold in Denmark. Everyone should be wearing turtlenecks.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

But not in the summer.

[rolls down turtleneck]

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Scandinavian countries are awesome because they're very welcoming to immigrants, especially Muslim ones. They know diversity benefits everybody. If only more Americans understood this simple fact, Drumpf wouldn't have gotten over 60 million people to vote for his white nationalist agenda. (Of course more people still voted for Clinton.)

[loveconstitution1789]

Too bad Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are socialist countries.

BTW: Yes they are socialist. Each of the Scandinavian countries owns state companies or partly owns companies.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

I never said they were perfect. But as a left-libertarian, I prefer a diverse, pro-immigration socialist country over a white nationalist, capitalist one.

[Cyto]

I actually ran into that mentality while shopping for an elementary school for my kids.

One of the local schools is an "international baccalaureate" school. A big part of their presentation was how they teach diversity.

Now, this school is located in a predominantly gay area. And we have large immigrant communities from Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Columbia... I dunno, plenty of others... there's lots of Scandanavians, Canadians, French... even New Yorkers and Puerto Ricans .... In short, you are very unlikely to find a more diverse location on the planet - ethnically, racially, ideologically...

But the school not only feels the need to teach "diversity", they think it is the top priority.

Too bad.. I think it was a really good school otherwise.

[General_Tso]

Diversity of everything but thought, I'm sure.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

Not exactly true.

[loveconstitution1789]

"For example, democratic socialists are generally opponents of global capitalism and free trade, but the Scandinavian countries have fully embraced these things."

Above is from your citation. Its a lie. Nordic countries a great deal of capitalism going on. They also have Socialism. The governments of these nations fully own or partly own hundreds of companies. Socialism is government controlling the means of production. Owning a company means you control that means of production.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Of course you are wrong again:

Although there are significant differences among the Nordic countries, they all share some common traits. These include support for a "universalist" welfare state aimed specifically at enhancing individual autonomy and promoting social mobility; a corporatist system involving a tripartite arrangement where representatives of labor and employers negotiate wages and labor market policy mediated by the government;[9] and a commitment to widespread private ownership, free markets and free trade

Statoil trades on the NYSE https://www.equinor.com/

[Rufus The Monocled]

"welfare state aimed specifically at enhancing individual autonomy"

Kinda oxymoronic.

I think their definition of 'individual autonomy' differs from the American (even Canadian) one.

[Citizen X]

Individual autonomy within the bounds of jantelov, that is. Sure, the blade of grass that grows the tallest gets cut, but the rest of the blades get to feel pretty good about themselves.

[loveconstitution1789]

Stupid Buttjam thinks just because a state company lists its company on a stock market means that the state does not control the means of production.
Svensk state companies
Norge state companies
You can search for Finland and Denmark.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Finland isn't Scandinavian.

[Citizen X]

Linguistically, no, but culturally, very much so.

[Juice]

Closer to Russian/Baltic, really.

[loveconstitution1789]

Finland used to part of Mother Russia until 1917, so there's that.

[lap83]

Culturally, not really

[Juice]

Culturally, not really

So drinking shitloads of vodka and hanging out in saunas all the time is Scandinavian?

[lap83]

I agree with you. Threading...

[Rufus The Monocled]

No. It's not Scandinavian linguistically or culturally.

[loveconstitution1789]

Finland used to be part of the Swedish Empire, so there's that.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Swedish is an official language and about 5% of Fins are native Swedish speakers.

[CatoTheChipper]

Finland is Nordic, but not Scandi.

[loveconstitution1789]

Scandinavian area actually refers to Scania or the southernmost region of Sweden that used to be occupied by the Danish. In 'Merica, we tend to use it interchangeably with "Nordic Countries".

Nordic Countries is another term used to describe Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

[Juice]

The US govt owns a few companies too. Passenger rail and air traffic control are both fed-owned monopolies, just off the top.

[loveconstitution1789]

I never said the USA was not socialist in a few ways:

ObamaCare.
TARP bailouts.
National Railroad Passenger Corporation, d.b.a. Amtrack.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

Amtrack is an example of socialism. ObamaCare and TARP are more examples of welfare statism than socialism.

The problem with calling the Scandinavian countries socialist is that it cheapens the term. When people like Bernie Sanders can point to these countries as shining examples of how "Socialism" could work, it cheapens the arguments against the real socialist economies like USSR, Cuba, Venezuela which have been total failures.

Calling Sweden or even the current system in China "socialist" is a bit of a stretch. They are at most mixed economies with thriving markets.

[Juice]

Obamacare and TARP are fascism, straight up.

[loveconstitution1789]

TARP gave the US government shares and owning interests in vehicle manufacturers and banks.

That is the US Government controlling the means of production.

There is no such thing as mixed economies. Its either a Capitalist country in which government owns 0% of business or its a Socialist country where government owns 1%+ interest in the means of production.

Calling Nordic countries socialist countries is accurate. They are also huge welfare states. Hardly any residents are trying to get their Nordic governments out of socialism.

The USA has Amtrack, ObamaCare, and I think most TARP is written off by now. The USA has a huge welfare state. Tens of millions of Americans are trying to get the US government out of socialism.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Well, on the whole Denmark is easily better than conservative Saudi Arabia despite some of its statist tendencies.

You would feel at home in Saudi Arabia with your fellow conservatives, Rufus. Get out of that socialist hell-hole Canada.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

SOMALIAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Rufus The Monocled]

I don't even get angry with your gibberish.

I may get a chuckle but little else.

/taps PB on bum.

Move along child.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

...you regretted that as soon as you did it and are now washing your hands like you suffer from OCD, aren't you.

[Rufus The Monocled]

The bleach is eating my skin!

[BestUsedCarSales]

Pain cleanses.

[damikesc]

Why aren't you in your utopia of Venezuela, PB?

[Citizen X]

Denmark considers a ban on circumcision.

On top of the hijab ban? Do Danes want people to be covered or not?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I have no skin in either of those games.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Me neither 🙁

[Jerryskids]

No reason to get snippy about it.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Cut it out, guys.

[Don't look at me.]

Just off the top of my head, I can't find a problem with it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"International Whore's Day" highlights.

I am always interested in the mindset of the protester whose sign is telling those they need to convince "fuck you and your ________." Do they think the legislator is still listening at that point?

[Eidde]

"So you're saying you're offering your services? Of course, I only ask because I want to refuse your offer if you make it."

[loveconstitution1789]

James Patterson, who co-authored a new novel with Clinton, jumped in to add: "It was 20 years ago. Come on."

What, the last time James Patterson wrote a decent book?

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

I found the power of five series quite compelling.

Wait, that was Anthony Horowitz, nebermind.

[Jerryskids]

Wait, the sparkly vampire kid wrote a book?

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

Team Jacob 4 Lyfe, bitch.

[MarkLastname]

He said 20 years ago, not never.

[Bee Tagger]

"California isn't our most progressive state?it's our most racist one," writes Michael Shellenberger at Forbes.

M Night Shyamalan-like plot twist in that sentence.

[Citizen X]

[record scratch]

[Rhywun]

I remember when the word "racist" had a more-specific definition than just "something I don't like".

[Rev. Arthur ?. Kirkland]

The definition of "racist" being used for California in the article is that of Ta-Nehisi Coates. The choices are accordingly either denouncing California for racism or denouncing Ta-Nehisi Coates for idiocy.

[Mickey Rat]

Coates himself is quite the racist.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

"I see Village People"

[loveconstitution1789]

Clinton says Lewinsky affair would not "be an issue" today.

Billy Bob Clinton would still be one of the worst presidents of all time. Him and Johnson are the only presidents to have ever been impeached by the House.

[Shirley Knott]

You're overlooking FDR, Nixon, and Obama. Unindicted? BFD
Look at what they did.
res ipsa loquitur

[loveconstitution1789]

Absolutely FDR, Nixon, Obama, LBJ, Wilson, Booosh were all bad presidents too.

Clinton and Johnson just have the crowning turd award for being impeached.

[Citizen X]

Bill Clinton's not even in the bottom 25. When you're trying to be worse than Woodrow fucking Wilson, you can't just stick a cigar in a 4 and call it a day.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Among 20th century presidents Bush the Lesser, Harding, and Nixon rank the lowest.

https://goo.gl/EnxYCR

Of course these are scholars/historians so I expect conservatives to object to their ranking based on wingnut retardation.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

W was a 20th century president?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Both the liberal and conservative lists have FDR in the top three and Wilson in the top ten.

That lists is just gross.

[loveconstitution1789]

FDR is a God to most of Lefties. He ushered in modern American socialist 'benefits'.

Most lefties completely ignore that FDR put Americans in concentration camps. Americans in camps. Its doesn't really faze lefties.

[BestUsedCarSales]

And the conservatives on the list still put him as number 3. At least conservatives put Washington at 2.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

Washington is the only president I respect and even then, it's with reservations

[loveconstitution1789]

Any list that doesn't list most of the Founding Fathers near the top are clearly BS.

Washington fought the British and won. Washington had to be begged to be president. Washington wanted to leave office after one term and was begged to stay. Washington dispersed a rebellion without firing a shot. Washington set the precedent of 2 terms which was honored until FDR's God complex.

Not saying Washington needs to be #1 but he did a lot for the USA to get us going in the right direction.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

It shows that they are will to forgive such horrible behavior if they end up getting government cheese.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Hey asswipe, how does it feel knowing that Trump is going to preside over more economic growth in one term than your messiah Blocko had in two?

[Rev. Arthur ?. Kirkland]

Wilson resegregated the Federal Government, dicked around with Mexico's internal affairs enough to provoke an attack that resulted in the deaths of US citizens on US soil, subsequently launched an invasion of Mexico that utterly failed to meet its declared objective and ended only when outside threats forced its withdrawal, dragged us into WWI by completely trashing our neutrality in a manner so blatant the Secretary of State resigned in protest, blatantly suppressed basic human rights in the name of national security, and then personally took a major role in peace negotiations that were so badly fucked up even contemporaries realized they made WWII inevitable.

If disliking a President for being a segregationist, interventionist, rights-violating asshole who paved the way for the rise of Hitler is "wingnut retardation", then we should all hope and pray for the universal ascendancy of wingnut retardation.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Agreed. He was a monster who defined the executive excess that would come to dominate this last century of politics.

[MarkLastname]

There may be no one in America so thoroughly devoted to a political party than you. I wonder what your 'libertarian' defense of Wilson and Johnson is?

[loveconstitution1789]

Of course Wilson was bad. Add in all the other presidents that Shirley Knott mentioned.

Even with it arbitrary standards, being impeached is a turd award unto itself.

BTW, Bill Clinton just lucked out that the Dot.com boom happened during the 1990s. It was a Republican Congress that twisted Bill's arm to cut welfare. Billy pushed for HillaryCare and to incarcerate more black men than ever before in America.

[Don't look at me.]

A cigar in every twat!

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

I consider that whole episode to be a blessing, as Clinton and Gingrich were too distracted with flicking each other in the nuts to interfere too heavily with the popular emergence of the internet and whatnot

[Citizen X]

Hundreds of sex workers and allies overflowed Christopher Park and marched to Washington Square. We stood out in the sun and screamed and screamed and screamed.

Huh. I didn't know i was into that.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

Introducing the era of "mutually nonconsensual sex."

There they go again, redefining what we used to call marriage back in my day.

[Bee Tagger]

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the president probably has the power to pardon himself but Trump will oh-so-graciously choose not to use it should he be indicted.

As an avid fan of media meltdowns, I ain't too proud to beg for this sweet pardon.

[Don't look at me.]

Will be epic.

[Rich]

"When you're alone, and you fart, and you say 'Pardon me' -- that's CLASS."

[Rich]

-- The late, great Rodney Dangerfield

[loveconstitution1789]

BREAKING: Missouri #Braiding Reform Bill Signed Into Law#Braiders in Missouri will no longer have to get full 1500-hour cosmetology #license. Instead, simply register & watch 4-6 hr video.

Misery going from acting like braiding licensing has nothing to do with competence to braid hair to proving that licensing has nothing to do with ability to braid hair.

[bevis the lumberjack]

"I think I did the right thing. I defended the Constitution."

He heroically defended the Constitution, armed with a mere cigar, and 20 years later people want to throw him under the bus. smdh.

Seriously, what the hell is he saying here?

[Mickey Rat]

Clinton defended the constitution by claiming the President was far too important to be held accountable to the law.

[loveconstitution1789]

He tried and failed to be immune from civil actions.

Billy tried though.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

When you have nothing to fall back on as a politician, claim you defended the Constitution. If that's not an option, give Carlos Danger a call and see what he can do.

[Citizen X]

He'll stick his dick in it and take the heat off for a news cycle or two.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

I thought the final fallback position was, "I want to spend more time with my family."

[Chipper Jones]

That's actually the line that comes after coming clean about your alcoholism.

[Mickey Rat]

Clinton's diddling an intern in the Oval Office came right on the heels of a Democrat crusade against workplace sexual harassment and hostile enviroments following Anita Hill's allegations against Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings and Senator Packwood being run out of office for hitting on his female staff. The Democrats were full of righteous indignation and moral preening on the issue up until the moment they understood a president of their party would be held to those standards. Clinton himself had proudly signed a law that opened up the ability to use supposedly consensual supervisor/employee affairs as evidence to a pattern of behavior in harassment lawsuits brought by other women. He just objected to that rule being applied to him.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

The Democrats were full of righteous indignation and moral preening on the issue up until the moment they understood a president of their party would be held to those standards.

So nothing's changed in 20 years...

[Cyto]

I thought Packwood was run out of town because he had is secretary type up his memoirs - which included lurid details of consensual encounters. She was offended by the "hostile work environment" of having to be exposed to these stories.

I distinctly remember Gloria Steinem excoriating Packwood over that sickening and demeaning treatment of a woman who is just trying to earn a living because of the massive imbalance of power .... and then just a couple of years later defending Clinton in the face of incontrovertible evidence that he sexually exploited a very young and very junior underling.

It was an astonishing position to take.... one that she and her cohort have maintained until this day.

[John]

And it is why the infamous pussy tape didn't end Trump's campaign. It is amazing to think that they thought they still had the power to ruin people's careers over this sort of stuff after defending Clinton.

[Bearded Spock]

It's not an exaggeration to say that Donald Trump is president because of Bill Clinton.

Which makes Hillary's loss even more ironic.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

Heh..."Packwood"....heheh...

[John]

Fun fact; the world's number one thoroughbred stud horse is a horse named "Tap It".

[Sevo]

"I don't think [the Lewinsky affair] would be an issue because people would be using the facts instead of the imagined facts,"

*IS* that so?

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Is too!

[Sevo]

And there was another 'shot-by-cop' over the weekend:

"Officer wounds self during pursuit near San Diego marathon"
[...]
"SAN DIEGO ? A San Diego police officer accidentally shot himself in the leg Sunday while pursuing a hit-and-run suspect who pointed a weapon at officers and was eventually arrested on the roof of a parking structure near the finish line of an annual marathon, authorities said."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/06/03/
police-respond-to-reported-
shooting-in-downtown-san-diego.html

No word on whether he'll press charges.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

http://www.echoecho.com/htmllinks01.htm

[Fist of Etiquette]

...one dance-floor back-flip gun-discharge at a time.

Bust a move and a cap.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The image that this conjured?of a couple waking up in the fetid bed of blackout sex, coming to the hideous realization of what happened and then lacing up their running shoes for a mad race across campus to the Torquemada of Title IX?is not just amusing, but offers a potentially useful precedent to the nation's college men.

The early bird gets to keep using his worm another day.

[Rich]

Introducing the era of "mutually nonconsensual sex."

Would that it were the era of "get colleges out of 'sex crime enforcement'."

[HGW xx/7]

"International Whore's Day"

#ImStillWithWhore

[Bearded Spock]

You would think they'd be business-savvy enough to give out free samples or run a "2 for 1" special like my local donut shop did on National Donut Day last week.

Maybe their problem isn't excessive government regulation, but poor marketing.

[lap83]

I couldn't find a link without an auto-start video, sorry.

An FBI agent did a back flip in a club, dropped his gun and accidentally shot someone

[lap83]

dammit I didn't see it in the links the first time I looked

[loveconstitution1789]

The FBI does not like to be made to look like fools.

[Shirley Knott]

So they do it by themselves, no external effort required.
Sounds about right.

[Cyto]

"The word you are looking for is Decriminalize".

No. Just no. That is in no way the word I'm looking for. It is almost worse than being illegal - a quazi-illegal zombie status that maintains something of a black market status.

Full legalization is the only correct path for all of these "victimless crimes".

Sex workers should be able to ply their trades in the same way that lawyers or architects do. They should be able to rent office space, advertise, form trade associations, etc. The Arizona version of legal isn't even good enough. They shouldn't be relegated to trailer parks in the middle of nowhere. Upscale, clean and classy - well, as classy as that's gonna be anyway - that's what it needs to be.

The same goes for drugs. You should be able to pick up a name-brand tin of hash at Walgreens, with known concentrations and trusted quality control. The same goes for sex services - you should be able to visit a national chain with recognized quality control and predictable pricing.

This quasi-legal BS just keeps everyone from having to confront that decision.

[John]

+100

[Rhywun]

-1 selective enforcement

[Sevo]

"The word you are looking for is Decriminalize".
------
"No. Just no. That is in no way the word I'm looking for. It is almost worse than being illegal - a quazi-illegal zombie status that maintains something of a black market status."

And you won't have to look further than CA's 'decriminilization' of dope for a lesson.

[John]

Or states' decriminalization of gambling. It just ends up being a government enforced crony monopoly.

[Eidde]

Candi, Cruella and Ceci, LLC.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Keep your chain bullshit. I only want Artisinal Whores.

[Eidde]

And Buy American!

[General_Tso]

Free range, cage-free, locally sourced, fair trade, sustainable, organic whores for me please.

Coming soon to a Whole (paycheck) Foods near you.

[Ron]

Sex workers should be able to ply their trades in the same way that lawyers or architects do."

so they will have to go to university and pass state required test to be sex workers just like lawyers and architects? at least there will plenty of professors applying to be their teachers

[Cyto]

You see.... this guy gets it!

[Rev. Arthur ?. Kirkland]

Actually, "decriminalize" is the word you're looking for, in the context of prostitution.

Sure, in the context of marijuana and other drugs, "decriminalize" is a term of art that means "still illegal but not subject to criminal penalties for possession" that maintains black market status, while "legalize" means to move the status to something like that of alcohol.

In the context of prostitution, though, "legalize" is a term of art that means "make nominally legal but so hemmed with restrictions and regulations that most prostitution remains part of the black market", while "decriminalize" means "make ordinarily legal". There are a lot of places around the world where prostitution is "legalized" but not "decriminalized" in these senses, including (for example) Nevada.

[Robert]

I'm just trying to imagine the McDonald's of sex service.

[Rich]

Someone should do a study proving Bill's handling treatment of women cost Hillary the election.

[lap83]

A lot of the facts have been conveniently omitted to make the story work, I think partly because they are frustrated that they got all these serious allegations against the current occupant of the Oval Office, and his voters don't seem to care. I think I did the right thing. I defended the Constitution.

The #metoo movement is ancient at this point. So he had all this time to craft a statement about it and this is the best he could come up with?

[lap83]

I don't even know who he is trying to convince....some obscure demographic that combines blaming Trump for everything with liking the constitution but having no idea what it says.

[Cyto]

Look, your confusing is just misplaced anger at Trump...

[Cyto]

"your".... really Google? I can't be expected to proofread everything I dictate.

[John]

I am awfully hard on Soave. But in fairness, he may be about as good as it gets for Millenial journalists. Ben Shapiro is supposed to be an important conservative millennial. I honestly had never paid much attention to him until I stumbled onto this "important" piece he wrote about the GOP and Millenials. Holy shit is that guy stupid. Soave's endless false equivalences at least require some degree of intellectual sophistication. Not so much with Shapiro's dopey sloganeering. There is so much stupid in this that it can't be fully appreciated within the reason character limit. To give you a feel, Shapiro breathlessly informs us that millennial conservatives are being called racists because of Trump, because apparently Progs never called conservatives racists before that. This essay wouldn't even earn a B in an 8th grade civics class.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....-americans

[loveconstitution1789]

Plus moving to the left of GOP ideals can also mean joining Libertarian causes. Republican causes are not really good for the USA. War on Drugs, massive government spending, massive military spending, endless wars, religious Nanny-State, etc.

Its going to the left of Libertarian causes that should worry people because that can involve socialism or anarchy.

[ThomasD]

Libertarianism is never to the left of the GOP. On a continuum from more to less statism both major parties are to the left.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Dopey sloganeering fills legislatures, judicial and executive positions all around this exceptional land.

[MarkLastname]

You hate any conservative that doesn't love the president, don't you?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""James Patterson, who co-authored a new novel with Clinton, jumped in to add: "It was 20 years ago. Come on."""

Didn't Bill Cosby try the "it was 20 years ago" defense?

[Rich]

Hey, the Beatles used it to good effect!

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

BREAKING: Sgt. Pepper accused of sexual harassment by Lovely Rita, Billy Shears

[John]

That can't be true. Mr. Shears has been with us for all these years.

[sarcasmic]

With a little help from his friends.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

I laughed because I am a horrible person.

[sarcasmic]

I'm thinking the lyrics to "When I'm Sixty-Four" would have been a lot different had Viagra existed in 1966.

[General_Tso]

Eleanor Rigby was on the list of potential victims, but at her deposition, nobody came.

[Cyto]

I think his version was "it was 35 years ago"... but yeah....

[Rich]

Denmark considers a ban on circumcision.

And if that works out well, a *retroactive* ban may be considered.

Think of the JOBS!

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

They need to bring in more Muslim mohels to do the jobs that the native-born Jewish mohels will no longer do!

[Eidde]

"Denmark considers a ban on circumcision."

Hey, I never heard about this before, what's this about?

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

1) Fuck the Jews
2) Fuck the Muslims
3) Apparently there's this whole "anti-circumcision" movement consisting mainly of people who are obsessed with children's genitals to an unhealthy manner.

[Eidde]

Look, I've been trying to alert Reason to the situation - Denmark is just the tip...of the iceberg.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I hope we get more info. Getting just the tip always leaves me unsatisfied.

[Procyon Rotor]

If I were to say I was part of an "anti-child-rape" movement, would you say I was obsessed with children's sexuality to an unhealthy manner?

Fuck you. Don't mutilate babies.

[Rev. Arthur ?. Kirkland]

This is from the same country where the Minister of Integration just made remarks suggesting that people who fast all day are a danger to others and so perhaps shouldn't be employed by Danish businesses (during, we'll note, Ramadan, which is when Muslims fast all day).

This same country just outlawed wearing face coverings in public.

So, guess what it's about.

[Robert]

If it weren't a religious tradition, would it be allowed? If ear piercing weren't traditional for baby girls in some Mediterranean countries, would that be allowed? It doesn't do anything good for the kid, just inflict pain & a little damage.

[John]

http://www.washingtonexaminer......flynn-case

It appears that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn really didn't think he lied. An innocent man was threatened with bankruptcy and the bankruptcy of his son and was forced to plead guilty to something he didn't do.

[Cyto]

If the FBI guys didn't claim he lied.... wow.

Because their entire setup is designed to put words in their interviewees mouths. No video or audio record... just their own personal notes. Yeah... if they said he wasn't lying... wow.

[Ken Shultz]

That doesn't matter, John. Because black people are forced to do the same thing in the drug war every day. Why don't you care about black people, John?

Besides, Trumpity Trump Trump, Trumpity Trump.

You're worried about justice when what you should be worried about is Trump collaborating with Putin to dethrone St. Hillary. You probably think the FBI was spying on the Trump campaign, too. That's crazy. The warrant the FBI got to spy on the Trump campaign proves it's crazy, too.

Don't you know anything about the Constitution?

[John]

Who do you think you are saying that stuff? Ken White?

[Cyto]

All of the reporters and pundits repeating the scoffing claim that the Obama Administration never spied on the Trump campaign just have me flabbergasted.

"It was an informant - as everyone knows.... not a spy!"

I've seen a lot of motivated reasoning over the decades, but this one takes the cake. This is probably more bizarre than the folks who actually believed OJ Simpson was framed.

[John]

I think this beats OJ. The OJ people at least could say cops do actually frame people.

[Citizen X]

The LAPD DID frame OJ. He was guilty as hell but they framed him anyway, and as a result he got off.

[loveconstitution1789]

The FBI does not video its interviews.

IIRC, the FBI does typically record audio for transcripts.

Video is better because its gets physical intimidation acts by LEOs that don't show up on audio alone.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

"" An innocent man was threatened with bankruptcy and the bankruptcy of his son and was forced to plead guilty to something he didn't do."""

One of Mueller's favorite tactics.

[Ken Shultz]

The sign that . . . um . . . lady is holding, does that say, "Fuck Your White Savior Complex"?

I know it's a cliche that every guy is looking for a hooker with a heart of gold, but is it too much to ask that they not be so contemptuously racist?

[Bearded Spock]

Isn't Lorelei Lee a famous porn star?

I've heard the name before, but I'm not familiar with her body of work, and I'm sure as hell not going to Google it or follow her Twitter feed while at work.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

"""Fuck Your White Savior Complex"?""

Not sure if it's the same, but I'm starting to agree with that statement. Liberal privileged white people claiming the desire to end the suffering of people of color by the use of white privilege. It's like saying people of color can't do it on their own and need white privilege to solve their problems. I've been seeing that a fair amount lately.

[Ken Shultz]

Shultz stoked 'bout the Capitals being up 2-1 in the series?

Hell no!

Win the fourth game, then comes the celebration.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

CNN appears to be flipping out about SCROTUS and gay cakes, but our office manager mercifully keeps the volume down. Anyone know what's going on with that?

[John]

According to this at NBC, they didn't rule on the constitutionality of the law. They said that the commission was such assholes that they discriminated against the guy's religion regardless of the validity of the law. Even Kagan and Breyer agreed with that.

http://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/04.....asons.html

So the ultimate resolution of the issue remains in doubt. That said, if the rule is that you can have forced accommodation laws that force people to go against their religion but you can't be an asshole about it, these laws are effectively repealed because the gay lobby and their supporters seem to be completely incapable of being anything but assholes.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

+1 Power Bottom

[John]

Shackford is composing a bitchy "well I guess the evil bigots had to win this one but it won't matter anyway" reaction piece through his angry tears as we speak.

[loveconstitution1789]

John, Shackford had that article ready to go already. He just needs to personalize it with citations to the decision.

All I can say, is that Shackford and the other Reason staff that have TDS should get a few articles ready for Trump's reelection in 2020.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

Oh man, if being a dick about enforcement is a defense, progressives are in real trouble.

[John]

How big of a dick must a government agent be to get Kagen, the biggest pro-government hack to ever sit on the court, to say they went too far? Tony and Shreek must have made up the commission.

[sarcasmic]

I get the impression that Kegan is all about government doing stuff for people, but not so much a fan of government doing things to people.

[John]

If this case is any indication, you have a point.

[sarcasmic]

She doesn't suck cop-dick, that's for sure.

[Cyto]

But how is the government to do stuff for people if they don't do stuff to other people?

[sarcasmic]

Free shit. Free school. Free health care. Free housing. Free shit. All paid for by patriotic taxation.

[loveconstitution1789]

I just watched a documentary on Scalia and Kegan made a bunch of comments about Scalia that were quite endearing. She even mentioned that Scalia influenced her to be in the judiciary.

I don't care for many of her left-leaning positions but at least she knows why Scalia was an originalist. In other words, she does not seem to despise originalism but does not follow it herself.

[John]

From the opinion

...showed elements of a clear and impermissible hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs motivating his objection. As the record shows, some of the commissioners at the Commission's formal, public hearings endorsed the view that religious beliefs cannot legitimately be carried into the public sphere or commercial domain, disparaged Phillips' faith as despicable and characterized it as merely rhetorical, and compared his invocation of his sincerely held religious beliefs to defenses of slavery and the Holocaust. No commissioners objected to the comments. Nor were they mentioned in the later state-court ruling or disavowed in the briefs filed here. The comments thus cast doubt on the fairness and impartiality of the Commission's adjudication of Phillips' case.

What a bunch of assholes.

[lap83]

"hmm, maybe we went to far with comparing not being able to force someone to bake a cake with slavery and death camps?"

Unfortunately, that level of self-reflection is probably too much to ask for

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Wasn't there already a precedent for this with the Hobby Lobby ruling that the company didn't have to provide coverage for certain types of birth control?

[Eidde]

That's federal law - state law (according to the Supremes) has more leeway to screw religious minorities. But not infinite leeway.

[Rhywun]

I hope they slip in the ruling against pubsec unions while the country is preoccupied with looking for its fainting couch on this one.

[John]

I love it that two of the liberal justices voted for the baker. That has really gotta hurt.

[loveconstitution1789]

Reason staff are going to churn out hundreds of articles blasting this decision.

The majority opinion clearly lands on the side of the Constitution and it protected freedom of association.

Fuck yea! Great day.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Yeah, they're all in spittle-flecked rage right now!

Especially Scott Shackturd, whose #1 dream in life is become a government-sanctified permanent victim.

[Derp-o-Matic 6000]

Makes it more difficult to blame on the Kochs or Trump or Booooosh or whoever the current bogeyman is

[loveconstitution1789]

Justices have a clear job. Read the Constitution and what it says or does not say. They piss me off because when they make up law, they are blatantly ignoring the Constitution. They should not be so political.

Politicians need to get elected, so they clearly don't care about the Constitution unless their voters do.

[loveconstitution1789]

Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n (16-111)
The Colorado Civil Rights Commission's actions in assessing a cakeshop owner's reasons for declining to make a cake for a same-sex couple's wedding celebration violated the Free Exercise Clause.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Supreme Court rules in favor of Colorado baker!!

Another big win for freedom in America! So sorry* Scott Shackturd and all the rest of you professional fake libertarians.

*Not actually sorry. Eat a ginormous bag of dicks!!!

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

Every time someone reads one of your comments, they need to spend an extra minute in the shower to wash the sleaze off.

Why do you enjoy wasting water?

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Fuck off Mary Stack. Go overdose on your meds.

[BestUsedCarSales]

No papa. He's Dave Weigel. Don't you remember Papa? Are you okay? Please hold on.

[Citizen X]

No, he's Red Tony, who Mikey (using his vast deductive powers) has determined is Paul Krugman.

[John]

Reason needs to email people sheets so they can keep score of this stuff at home.

[Citizen X]

I think the good people of Reason would prefer to pretend that none of this is happening in their comment section.

[John]

They like the ad revenue too much to care too much.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Haha, yeah right. I'm guessing you not spent much time in Papa's Deep State shed. Because if you had seen the thousands of polaroid pictures of Butthole "Fuckbrain" Weigel on the walls, you'd know that Papa knows Weigel when he sees him.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

"California isn't our most progressive state?it's our most racist one," writes Michael Shellenberger at Forbes

Hey, the two aren't mutually exclusive, guy.

[John]

He needs to embrace the power of the word "because".

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

All these goddam twitter links are freezing my screen. Please stop with that shit.

[creech]

Re: Clinton. Lewinski apparently was a consenting part of the affair. I would think it was Clinton's earlier alleged rapes, gropes, harassment, etc. that put him in Weinstein territory?

[Jerryskids]

In yet more embarrassing news about Georgia cops....

[loveconstitution1789]

Yea, that's bad.

To be fair, Athens-Clarke County Police fired him immediately. Many jurisdictions are corrupt and try and cover up behavior like this. With that being said, Athens-Clarke County has been sued before for cops that have shown patterns of behavior that are unacceptable and violate the law.

[Eidde]

Do they have arbitration agreements with cops in GA?

[loveconstitution1789]

Those county police are not union. Internal police procedures dictate how discipline are handled. That cops was placed on administrative leave for a few days while the incident was investigated and then fired.

Athens is a small Georgia college town that's biggest claim to fame is University of Georgia, R.E.M., and B-52's.

[General Skarr's Prize Petunias]

The Trump Shack is a bigly place where we can get together
Trump Shack baby

[Citizen X]

Gold roof... classy!

[John]

Is it bad I assumed the New Hampshire Rep holding the decrminalize sign was a hooker and thought "damn she looks so cute and pure to be a hooker"?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yes, that's a fucked up thing to call a politician pure.

[John]

She looks it to me. Looks and are are two different things.

[Eidde]

You thought she was a hooker and she was just a state legislator.

Fill in the rest of the joke however you please.

[John]

At least she isn't a journalist.

[Mickey Rat]

This pleases you. As there are just some things a self-respecting hooker won't degrade herself to do.

[Tony]

We're libertarians. Literally the last thing that should be of public concern is a person's consensual sex life. But he is a Democrat...

[loveconstitution1789]

You forgot to quote that as actual Libertarians saying something like that. You're NOT a Libertarian.

[bevis the lumberjack]

"Literally the last thing that should be of public concern is a person's consensual sex life"

True. And in Clinton's case that applies, even to a Democrat. Unfortunately it doesn't cover the Broderick rape or showing Paula Jones his dick. Or lying while under oath in a civil deposition.

[Tony]

I eagerly await you applying the same standards to the current president.

[Sevo]

"I eagerly await you applying the same standards to the current president."

I eagerly await one shred of evidence, other than the voices in your head.

[John]

I fully agree Tony. I think Trump deserves to serve out two terms just like Bill Clinton.

[bevis the lumberjack]

"I eagerly await you applying the same standards to the current president."

I don't know what you mean by that. I've said clearly and repeatedly that I can't stand Trump.

That said, I'm not aware of a woman leaving an encounter with Trump with a split lip and torn clothes. If you have info on something like that, please provide it.

All of the stuff with Trump seems to be associated with Stormy (Stormie?) Daniels, which I assume you'd be ok with since it was consensual...?.

[ThomasD]

You mean there never should have been laws concerning relations between bosses and subordinates?

Like the ones Clinton and his party championed?

[Mickey Rat]

Democrats proudly supported laws making a person's consensual sex life fair game as evidence for establishong a pattern of creating hostile work environments in sexual harassment lawsuits. Clinton was literally hoist on his own petard by the inclusion of his affair with Lewinsky in Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit against him.

[Brian]

You're right: it's democrats that are supposed to care.

[Bearded Spock]

Still no word from Reason on the masterpiece case.

I think intellectually even Shackford agrees with the decision. But deep down inside, most of them are going "REEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

[John]

Shackford wiped his eyes and wrote a totally neutral account of the decision. He doesn't seem in a celebratory mood oddly. He assures everyone he is against these laws. You would think he would be happy for the bake shop.

[BestUsedCarSales]

There was no winning that one from you, was there?

[John]

His lack of editorial comment on the decision speaks volumes. Sometimes it is the dog that doesn't bark that says the most. Shackford is who he is.

[ThomasD]

SCOTUS dodged the question. Overturning the law threatened the entire edifice of anti discrimination law and they knew it. But they also didn't want to rule against this guy and that's what has them in the dumps.

[Citizen X]

Since the decision was "the CO Commission is assholes" and not "these laws violate free association," there really isn't all that much to bark at.

[Intelligent Mr Toad]

The President said to the Ms.:
"Your mouth is a nice place for jiizz,
And whether it's moral
For you to give oral
Depends on the meaning of 'is'."

[damikesc]

OT: I've noticed CA is having a huge problem with a big increase in STD.

Last year, didn't they make not revealing HIV status to partners no longer a felony?

I wonder if these two things are, in some way, related...