Trump Wanted Snipers and Electrified Spikes to Defend Border Moat Full of Alligators and Snakes, Says New Report

Plus: Rudy Giuliani threatens to sue The Swamp, UPS gets approval for delivery drones, and more...

Last week, President Donald Trump was accused of sounding like a mafia boss in his interactions with Ukraine's leader. This week, we've crossed into mad medieval king territory. The president reportedly wanted to keep unauthorized refugees and migrants from crossing our southern border by building a goddamn moat full of alligators and fortifying it with snipers and electrified spikes.

That's what White House advisors and Trump administration officials tell Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis in the upcoming book Border Wars, excerpted yesterday in The New York Times. The book details a week in March where Trump began giving orders to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border immediately and indiscriminately.

Every part of this paragraph from the excerpt is so chilling:

Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That's not allowed either, they told him."

Fox News corroborated the shooting bit. "A source who was in the room at the time confirmed the conversation about shooting migrants in the legs to Fox News late Tuesday," it reported.

The White House had this to say:

WH responds to @nytimes story by @shearm & @juliehdavis. @realDonaldTrump reportedly suggested privately that border officials should shoot migrants in the legs to stop them:" There have been so many wild, inaccurate and offensive fake news characterizations" per @hogangidley45 pic.twitter.com/KnLEa1IjwB

— Fin Gómez (@finnygo) October 2, 2019

Thomas D. Homan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) acting director, described that period as the president being "frustrated" but taking "that moment to hit the reset button." Ultimately, Trump's "reset" included getting rid of then-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whom Davis and Schear portray as trying to ground Trump in some reality:

When the president demanded "flat black" paint on his border wall, she said it would cost an additional $1 million per mile. When he ordered wall construction sped up, she said they needed permission from property owners. Take the land, Mr. Trump would say, and let them sue us.

Kevin McAleenan, now Nielsen's temporary replacement at DHS and then head of Customs and Border Protection, reportedly had to tell agents to ignore Trump's instructions about immediate border shutdown:

Start turning away migrants at the border, he told them. My message to you is, keep them all out, the president said. Every single one of them. The country is full. After the president left the room, Mr. McAleenan told the agents to ignore the president. You absolutely do not have the authority to stop processing migrants altogether, he warned.

At present, Trump has been suggesting that impeachment is a "coup":

As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2019

Update: Trump tweeted a denial.

Now the press is trying to sell the fact that I wanted a Moat stuffed with alligators and snakes, with an electrified fence and sharp spikes on top, at our Southern Border. I may be tough on Border Security, but not that tough. The press has gone Crazy. Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019

---

QUICK HITS

• UPS was approved to launch what The Wall Street Journal describes as a "first-of-its-kind" fleet of consumer delivery drones.
• Rep. Devin Nunes' (R–Calif.) nonsense legal crusade against media and social media foes continues. A new suit, against reporter Ryan Lizza and Hearst Magazines, was filed September 30:

Among other things, Rep. Nunes' latest defamation suit says a reporter "behaved like a sex offender or pedophile cruising the local neighborhood," apparently because he drove around and talked to people. It's …. not the kind of thing you see in a civil lawsuit every day. pic.twitter.com/hvsVNhVvqm

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) October 2, 2019

• The House is launching a new investigation after a tip about a trade association and a foreign government booking a bunch of Trump Hotel rooms (but occupying few of them) surfaced.
• The president's lawyer, folks:

https://twitter.com/elainaplott/status/1179234987624800256

---

EVENTS

On Monday, October 7, Reason Senior Editor Jacob Sullum will argue in favor of abolishing all drug laws at the Soho Forum in New York City. You can get tickets here.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

This week, we've crossed into mad medieval king temporary.

Which of his Democrat rivals is going to fly in on her dragon and burn DC to ash?

[Juice]

All that shit sounds made up as hell.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

After the meetings, he went to watch the Gorilla Channel.

[Ryan (formally HTT)]

Trump fan fiction porn is driving the media industry (and Reason is happy to hop on board)

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Fox News claims to have confirmed some of it, you bigoted slack-jaw.

[Don't look at me!]

The rev quoting Fox. Too funny.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I've said all along, the biggest bigots are the ones in the closet pointing out everyone else's bigotry.

Same is true with the rabid anti-gay priests.

Perhaps that why he's the Rev.

[De Oppresso Liber]

You just perfectly described how projection works.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

You have no humor.

[Ryan (formally HTT)]

I love this so much

[SQRLSY One]

Along with alligator-filled moats, Trump has OTHER great ideas in store for us!

https://futurism.com/trump-homeless-government-facilities
Trump Admin Proposes Putting Homeless In “Government Facilities”
This could go very, very wrong.

[blitzstrasse]

I have finally figured out what "Rev" is hiding. It's short for "Revisionist Fuckmonkey". I feel much better now.

[Fats of Fury]

Fox News claims to have confirmed some of it, you bigoted slack-jaw.
Fox news is where old white pants pissers get their taking points, Eh?

[De Oppresso Liber]

Fox news certainly gets cited here often enough, when cites are provided, that is.

[R Mac]

Cite?

[Brandybuck]

Slang shorthand for "citation". Get with the program man!

[JesseAz]

The fox news cite was for the shooting in the legs part, not the alligators part dumbfuck.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Ok? Did I say alligators, ...dumbfuck?

[Finrod]

You couldn't find a better example of confirmation bias than this turdball from fuckhead "rev" here.

[Brandybuck]

Fox is now part of the Fake News Conspiracy. Don't you see? They're ALL out to take away the unlimited power of the POTUS!

[joeyb]

You ever listen to his speeches? Doesn't really.

[damikesc]

Indeed. And it likely all is. And the media will be baffled how they got it wrong again and, as usual, won't out the source who fed them wrong info.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Of course it does, to you. You're in a cult.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You first have to imagine Warren emerging from the flames, naked and unharmed, with baby dragons on her shoulders.

[ShotgunJimbo]

gross

[John]

Why do you hate us Chipper?

[orwellsworld]

Innocent bystander here, now stuck with that imagery for the rest of the day.

[Dillinger]

dude no.

[Conchfritters]

I would imagine the red priestess when she took off her collar.

[NashTiger]

Tulsi.
It already seems as if her cheeks were singed.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Democrats are the Knights of the Round Table and are gonna save the Republic!

[Unicorn Abattoir]

They do routines and chorus scenes with footwork im-pec-able?

[Ray McKigney]

LULZ

[JFree]

How you English say "I one more time-a unclog my nose in your direction," sons of a window-dresser! So, you zought you could outclever us French folk with your silly knees-bent-running-around-advancing behavior?! I wave my private parts at your aunties, you cheesy load of second-hand electric donkey-bottom biters!

[Echospinner]

I read somewhere that the French taunter scenes were all ad lib.

[loveconstitution1789]

Well, Lefties do want a single King or Queen in charge of the USA.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

I am sure the Democrats see it more like:

Warren leaps over a pile of dead bodies to stab Trump with an obsidian blade and all Republicans everywhere drop dead in their tracks.

[Last of the Shitlords]

TDS is a helluva thing.

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

No one can argue with any of your citations. Your reasoning astounds us all! Can I please? If I stay in my place, could I be allowed to vote many-many times, for You?

Coding (even the most difficult codes) must be trivial for a Great Mind like Yours! So, I bet that You could fine-tune and perfect the following codes:
Theologically deploy Booger-Beam,-Logic Begin Perigee_Apogee_Median [ Escalate ( circumference[31:0], conference[31:0], congruence[31:0] ), Contents ( $RU$12'hBAD ) ] ; Loop_Count <= Loop_Count + 1'b1 ;
Invoke DisplayModule "Don't touch my keyboard that way!!! It makes me feel dirty!!!", end; end module ;

Master-Coder, PLEASE help me! If we can debug this code, I PROMISE to help You say the very best, right things to Your parole officer!

[loveconstitution1789]

L.A. County supervisors vote to ban flavored tobacco and call for statewide vaping ban

But smoking weed is A OKAY!

[hpearce]

That can be explained by the fact the state always wants tyo tax marijuana in its so-called pursuit for legal drugs

[Fist of Etiquette]

UPS was approved to launch what The Wall Street Journal describes as a "first-of-its-kind" fleet of consumer delivery drones.

No one shoot down brown.

[loveconstitution1789]

Revisiting Hitler, in a New Authoritarian Age

With nationalism and anti-Semitism on the rise around the world, two big new biographies look at the Nazi leader’s march to power.

Notice they leave off that Nazis were/are Socialists.

[hpearce]

"Notice they leave off that Nazis were/are Socialists."

With only a left-versus-rights paradigm, it was almost a foreseen fact that communism would be labelled left and fascism would be labelled right

[John]

But neither one of them having anything to do with what we know as "right" in the US. "Right" in the US means some form of classical liberalism which both fascists and communists hate.

[JFree]

That's not ever been true. It's a post-WW2 myth.

Before the civil war, the 'right' was pretty much the same as the old landed aristocracy in Europe.

After industrialization, the right in the US did become different than Europe but not 'classical liberal'. Just otoh anti-progress and anti-science (and generally anti-industrial) with the addition of some anti-empire in response to the US becoming powerful and imperial - with the goal to replace that with literalist interpretations (themselves new and post-industrial) of religion. And otoh a business 'right' that actually created 'progressivism' (in the service of 'efficiency') and was very comfortable with what later became fascism.

After WW2, the right in Europe and the US became somewhat similar again. Mostly defined in opposition to socialism and social liberalism. Classical liberalism itself was mostly dead then. That also meant it could become 'traditional'. Hell it could become anything we wanted - a hat, a brooch, a pterodactyl. Russell Kirk raked through its bones and discovered (new for America) the 19th century arguments where Brit conservatives attached themselves to some (but not other) of Burke/Toqueville/Bagehot but he was not looking to restore 'classical liberalism'. Rather he was doing what 'progressives' and 'Marxists' had long been doing - using history as a cudgel to undermine one's opponents now. US 'right' became very much like UK 'right' - but not much like continental 'right'.

[JFree]

Pre-civil war the difference between the US and Europe was in who had POWER. In Europe those old landed elements had power and squashed 'liberal' revolutions right through 1848 and beyond. In the US, they really didn't have sustained power except in the South. In the North, the 'right' was more like the earlier mercantilist/protectionists in Europe - represented in politics by the Hamilton and Henry Clay types. Sometimes in power, sometimes not - but usually in opposition to 'liberal' then

[loveconstitution1789]

Conservatives are always conservative on the political spectrum.

Aristocracy in Europe are Conservatives. It's literally why they were given titles and their elite status. They were loyal to some Theocracy or Monarchy.

Lefties on the political spectrum are the opposite of that. Always wanting some kind of change.

Classic Liberalism and Libertarianism are in the Center. Classic Liberalism used the Left Center during Revolution to kick the King of England out of the Colonies

[John]

So your theory of history is that a nation governed by the most classical liberal political document every created, the US constitution, never had a classical liberal side in its politics.

Jesus fucking Christ where do you people get this shit?

[JFree]

What I said - assuming you can read - is that the 'right' then was opposed to 'liberal' ideas in the US then (now called 'classical liberal') - and the 'right' now is actually far more closely related to the 'right' then than to the 'liberal' then.

Just to give one example. American classical liberal ideas massively influenced an entire generation in Europe. Notably 'Germany' (which was dozens of different countries then) where they tried to have their own 'American revolution' in 1848 - and were beaten bad by the reactionary forces that then turned it all into 'Germany'. So they fled to the US and were (with the Irish) the first big wave of post-independence immigrants.

Unlike the Irish who stayed East, the Germans went west to Ohio/Mich/Wis/Mo/Tx/etc. They were totally gobsmacked by the existence of slavery and fugitive slave act impact and the 'planterocracy' control of national politics that made everything west of the Appalachians part of 'compromise' politics where one side was not liberal at all and the other side kind of was - sometimes - but didn't mention the big elephant in the room crapping on the furniture. Those Germans had been so fed on 'ideals' that they had no idea the reality wasn't necessarily the same. Locally, they assimilated and were accepted easily. It was 'national politics' - the one of that Constitution - that was at odds with 'classical liberal' by that time.

The reaction to the Irish immigrants (who weren't classical liberal at all but just hungry and Catholic - and didn't assimilate well either) in the East - and the German immigrants in the nearby slave states with no German migrants was - the 'American' party (the Know-Nothings). Which was also not 'classical liberal' in any way - but looks a lot like the right now.

[De Oppresso Liber]

No, right wing always has a basis in existing hierarchy. Left always seeks to flatten or create a new hierarchy.

[loveconstitution1789]

Fascism is not well-defined so it can be Left or Right.
Nationalism can be Left or Right.

Socialism is Left. Monarchism is Right.
Conservative on the Right and Revolutionary on the Left.

Libertarianism in the Center.

[JohannesDinkle]

The Nazis were called that because of their title: Nazional Socialistische Deutsche Arbeits Partei, NSDAP, the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The name 'Nazi" was both a contraction of the Nationalist part of the party name, and also a dig - 'Ignatz' was the name applied to a Bavarian rube, like 'Bubba' , and 'Nazi' is the nickname for Ignatz. Kind of like Chuey for Jesus in Mexico.
The important thing is that they certainly thought of themselves as socialists and supporters of workers, but also nationalists, as opposed to the international socialism espoused in the USSR, a nation that also thought of themselves as socialists. The common view of the world accounts for the Ribbentrop treaty 0f 1939 - 1941. Stalin thought Hitler was an ally against capitalism.

[John]

Nazis hated capitalism as much as communism. They saw capitalism as decadent and a tool of the international Jewish conspiracy.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Stalin thought Hitler was an ally against capitalism.

You are mistaken. The USSR was an ally to America against the Nazis. The atrocities committed by the Nazis were the inevitable result of unchecked capitalism. The historical proof is that capital was doing better under the Nazis than under FDR.

Here is a modern day corollary: Trump is pro-capitalism, therefore the neo-Nazis that brought him to power are pro-capitalism, therefore the actual Nazis were historically pro-capitalism.

Duh!

'Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. Since the beginning of your life, since the beginning of the Party, since the beginning of history, the war has continued without a break, always the same war. Do you remember that?'

[Vernon Depner]

Monarchism is Right.

Yes. A republic is inherently liberal. You can't have real conservatives in a republic.

[loveconstitution1789]

Conservatism is a spectrum, so while you cannot have Monarchs rule a Republic, you can have Conservatives who only want change when there is wide support for said change.

[Brian]

Since the primary function of sorting all ideologies into binary categories is guilt by association, I could care less which bin someone says anything is in.

Personally, I put everything on an “asshole spectrum”: Nazis and commies are relatively close to the extremes, with democratic socialists trying to catch up to them.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

sorting all ideologies into binary categories is guilt by association

If you deny people their logical fallacies, there won't be much left to discuss.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

No kidding.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Or should I have said,

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHH

Too stupid to KNOW what a FALLACY is!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mike Laursen]

I don’t get your beef. They didn’t write that the Nazis were not socialists. They just left out a detail you would have included in the paragraph you quoted.

[loveconstitution1789]

They don't want Socialism associated with Nazism. That is the reason the MSM never mentions it.

Its all part of the Propaganda machine. Lying through omission.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Among other things, Rep. Nunes' latest defamation suit says a reporter "behaved like a sex offender or pedophile cruising the local neighborhood," apparently because he drove around and talked to people.

Pervert.

[Brian]

He knows pedophiles. Don’t dismiss him out of hand.

[loveconstitution1789]

Food shortages and hyperinflation in Venezuela are pushing thousands of people to leave the country each day in search of a better life.

Socialism!

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

thousands of people to leave the country each day in search of a better life.

The only reason that these modern socialist experiments fail so quickly is because people don't stick it out and starve to death like they did in old days. How rude!

[Don't look at me!]

Traitors.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...a foreign government booking a bunch of Trump Hotel rooms (but occupying few of them) surfaced.

WHO KNEW THEY WERE SO SPACIOUS?

[Don't look at me!]

Sharks with frikin’ laser beams on their heads!

[mad.casual]

Yeah, I couldn't read it without imagining Trump putting his pinky finger to the corner of his mouth.

[Minadin]

Maybe some very ill-tempered sea bass.

[juris imprudent]

Screaming eels.

[Eddy]

I searched the comments for this very phrase, and here it is.

[loveconstitution1789]

Americans Spent More on Taxes in 2018 Than on Food, Clothing and Health Care Combined

"We need more taxation".
-Lefties

[Juice]

Taxes in aggregate are my largest expense. Been that way for many years.

[Don't look at me!]

You still aren’t paying your fair share!

[hpearce]

And by making businesses take-out the taxes in withholding has helped to cover this fact up

Anytime the state forces business or private entities to enforce it laws, you know there is trouble.

[JesseAz]

When one adds up all government spending, it spends over 40 cents of every dollar spent.

[Ron]

I pay more in taxes than I do in rent yet my family wonders why I can't buy a house. When my mother was divorced with three kids working as a bank teller, not a high paying job, she could by a house because her taxes were 10% of her income mine is 34% of my income.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Sorry, dude. When I bought my first home, interest rates were much higher and the tax break more than made up for the difference between rent and a mortgage. I couldn't afford not to buy a home.

[ShotgunJimbo]

You technically can buy a house. If you are at an income level where you are paying 34% of your income (effective) you are making pretty good coin. You can buy a house in any state with that income.

The govt certainly does not deserve that large percent of your income though, we can very much agree on that point. Not a dollar more than 10% IMO.

[loveconstitution1789]

Most renters don't realize that they are paying property taxes and other taxes through their rent.

The owner of the rental will likely pass on all costs to the renter.

[Brian]

Just wait until our taxes are paying for all our food, clothing, and shelter.

[Ray McKigney]

Problem solved!!!

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Keep the fruits of their labors, but give them a bit of food, rags to wear, and a hut.

I think I've seen this movie before.

[JesseAz]

Journalists wrong again. Turns out people dont love journalists as much as they love themselves.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/the-newseum-journalisms-monument-to-itself-to-shut-down-at-end-of-year

Shikha and Welch will never be immortalized now.

[John]

Maybe building a grandiose building on one of the most valuable piece of real estate in Washington DC isn't the best plan for a niche museum? The failure of that museum is not so much about people hating the media as it is about the media thinking it is a lot more important than it is. Sorry kids, but dinosaur skeletons and the Hope Diamond and the original Declaration of Independence and Abe Lincoln get places on the National Mall not the hacks for the local fish wrapper.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

It would have worked out a lot better if the national media companies simply built an historical archive, similar to the National Archives, with searchable research kiosks so people could look up articles from historic newspapers from across the country going back to the colonial era.

[John]

That would be pretty cool. I would have gone to that. But doing that wouldn't have fed their egos and who would want that?

[lap83]

I don't think I'd ever go to a museum about the news. But I will happily take my grandchildren to the National Clickbait and Spambot Museum in 40 years.

[mad.casual]

These 10 exhibits are must see! No. 8 will scare your grandchildren and blow your mind!

[John]

100 not safe for work amazing pictures from history.

[BLPoG]

It's actually a decent museum, but per John's comment, "grandiose" and "valuable piece of real estate" and "niche" pretty much get the core of its problem.

[Fats of Fury]

They should have tried going with "Fake Newseum" as a last resort.
"Remember the Maine"

[Ray McKigney]

It must kill them that the D.C. Museum of the Bible is doing just fine.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

More bad economic news.

Charles Koch lost $616 million yesterday, dropping his net worth to a pathetic $59.7 billion.

In fact, every single one of the top 30 richest people on the planet lost money yesterday. Koch / Reason libertarianism's primary objective is to increase the wealth of these individuals, and Drumpf's tariffs and immigration restrictions are preventing that. This global economic meltdown would not be happening under a Hillary Clinton Presidency.

#StillWithHer
#VoteDemocratToHelpCharlesKoch

[geo1113]

And what about the well-beings of David Koch's heirs???

[loveconstitution1789]

Beijing Launches New Rule: Residents Must Pass Facial Recognition Test to Surf Internet

Lefties get super boner!

[Don't look at me!]

Sales of Winnie the Pooh masks skyrocket.

[loveconstitution1789]

You said pooh.

[JesseAz]

Pooh is yellow... subtle racism there.... #woke

[Anomalous]

Oh bother.

[Ray McKigney]

Hullo

[loveconstitution1789]

Hawo!

[Finrod]

I'd go with Guy Fawkes, myself.

[Griffin3]

Interesting article, especially how it points out that facial recognition is already in use: automatic tickets for jaywalking, student monitoring, even toilet paper dispensing. I don't know how much of it I believe, though: facial recognition algorithms are still notoriously faulty. And it can't be any better in China, where they all look alike [no, really -- not nearly as much ethnic variety there. False positives must be through the roof.] Also consider the problems of aging, lighting, temporary facial changes (swelling, getting punched in the face, surgery). I imagine the bulk of the mis-identification is swept under the rug of the gov't not caring about individuals (we got plenty more where those came from) and the rules not applying to the people in power.

Still, it seems like the solution would be pretty darn easy in the case of phone internet use: masks. As long as you use the phone with a mask you never wear in public, you would be golden. Bonus points to start making cheap masks that recognize as Xi Jinping or anyone else in power.

[Don't look at me!]

Yeah, Winnie the Pooh.

[mamabug]

I don't know about higher end facial recognition, but lower end (like what is on phones) is very faulty. My son has it on his phone and it didn't recognize him twice - once when he had swelling from a tooth extraction and once when he was so tired he had suitcase-sized bags under his eyes.

[mad.casual]

And this is just passive failures on a closed system. That is to say the phone fails to recognize the handful of faces it should recognize. Actively thwarting open-ended 2D facial recognition software is trivial with pencil and paper or a digital printer. Moreover, the issue is largely with the phone. Unless it has 2 cameras to capture 3D images (huh, the new iPhone has 3 cameras, weird) the software frequently mangles extrapolation of a 2D image to the shape of a face.

[mad.casual]

Ni Hao! Oah in! Ni Hao!

[Fats of Fury]

But! But! But! They all rook arike.

[Vernon Depner]

But they all look alike.

[Vernon Depner]

Oops. Sorry. Should have scrolled before I typed.

[hpearce]

"This week, we've crossed into mad medieval king temporary. The president reportedly wanted to keep unauthorized refugees and migrants from crossing our southern border by building a goddamn moat full of alligators and fortifying it with electrified spikes."

And @Reason is sucking it all in without much question. Including the 2 whistle-blower complaints.

[The_Unknown_Pundit]

Anonymous sources report that Reason editors practice ritual sacrifice of migrant children on the summer and winter solstice.
Now we know why Reasonoids are for open borders.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Well, libertarians do rely on orphan labor. We just assumed that they were actual Americans, and not a bunch of kids dragged up from Central America to be used as meat shields for refugee claims.

[mad.casual]

Well-fed American orphans for heavy labor in the salt mines. Smaller and more dexterous foreign orphans for monocle polishing. I thought this was libertarian common knowledge?

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The foreign orphans have those tiny little fingers to reach into small spaces, so you can have them do vehicle maintenance as well.

[ravenshrike]

Someone's got to maintain Charlie Bucket's train.

[Finrod]

Don't forget the part where they drink their blood. That's the most important part.

[Mike Laursen]

It’s a funny story, and it is corroborated. That makes it the perfect type of news item to quote in a gossipy morning blog.

[JesseAz]

The alligators are not corroborated. The shooting part was. And given the timeline it relates to the BP officer being killed by crossers with rocks.

Learn to read.

[Mike Laursen]

Yes, you are right about the alligator part.

[De Oppresso Liber]

It's really special how every person who leaves Trump's cabinet has said what an absolute maniac he is, yet you guys still put your fingers in your ears and scream fake news every time someone reports another crazy thing he said. At least one of these crazy things was corroborated by a second source. He says crazy shit. He lies about easily disproved things. He has been a known liar with settlements and judgement against him for fraud going on 40 years. Why do you give him any benefit of the doubt? Oh, I think I know: tribalism.

[loveconstitution1789]

Lefties don't want bureaucrats leaving. They should be chained to their desks and make whatever the government tells them they should.

[Mike Laursen]

Well said.

[Mike Laursen]

I’m starting to see that loveconstitution1789 has everyone in this world neatly categorized into broad political groups, and has revealed insights into the motivations each has in their hearts: liberals, Reason, the “MSM”...

No considering a writer’s views as that of that individual writer, lots of interpretation of what they didn’t say, magical insights into what motivations are in their hearts.

[De Oppresso Liber]

I've been commenting on here for 3 days this year. All I've ever expressed here is a distrust of Trump and I mentioned that I was previously in the military and corrected the record when I was called a buddy fucker (common slang in the military for a piece of shit soldier). Within the first hour I was called a sockpuppet, a pedophile, a bad soldier and barracks lawyer.

I used to read the comments under Reason articles and be very surprised by the depth of knowledge some of the guys here had and their eloquence. Now it's mostly blind Trump devotion and way out there conspiracy theories touted as gospel. Everyone who doesn't toe the line is part of the (((deep state))).

[Mike Laursen]

I know. That’s why I’m giving 1789 a hard time.

I don’t want people coming here to learn more about libertarianism thinking he is representative of the Reason readership.

[loveconstitution1789]

Let me know, mikey, when you have Lefty groups troll you because they are scared shitless of you spreading dissenting commentary.

[Mike Laursen]

I think I can handle it.

[Echospinner]

It is really a shame about all the trolling. I don’t really care if someone is a Trumpy, left right or any of that.

[Dillinger]

smacks of effort. bucket-fulls of effort.

[loveconstitution1789]

mike Laursen is not aware how a spectrum works.

We get it- everyone is an enigma and cannot be grouped for any reason.

Humans are wired to sort things for a reason.

[Mike Laursen]

So, MSM is a spectrum now? A statement like:

"They don’t want Socialism associated with Nazism. That is the reason the MSM never mentions it. Its all part of the Propaganda machine. Lying through omission."

doesn't seem to recognize much of a spectrum among journalists.

[JesseAz]

"Every part of this paragraph from the excerpt is so chilling:"

The most chilling part is idiots still believe anonymous sources from the New York times.

[Don't look at me!]

I’m literally shaking.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rudy Giuliani says he is looking to sue The Swamp.

Trump Administration v. Quagmire.

[$park¥ is the Worst]

Giggity!

[Ron]

LOL

[loveconstitution1789]

North Korea May Have Taken Step Toward Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile

Must suck to constantly live under the threat of Socialists wanting to destroy South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.

Socialism!

[joeyb]

It's adorable that you think North Korea is socialist.

[damikesc]

There is little difference in socialism and communism. It's why the USSR called itself socialist and not communist.

[loveconstitution1789]

+100

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

[Last of the Shitlords]

It’s even more adorable that you don’t.

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

Your erudition is profound and Deep! The wisdom we have all been looking for, is here now among us! Humbly seeking wisdom, I beg of You, can I get a star on my homework?

Coding (even the most difficult codes) must be trivial for a Great Mind like Yours! So, I bet that it would be a trivial task for You to perfect the following codes:
Include Me_righteous, You_Scumdawg, Begin Sub-Smegmatroid Module_Call CallGirl WillYaBeMine {[(Exceeds if-not-else 32'hLove_Bytes $$ 32'hLove_Handles) || Dword_Wise_Booty_Call (Not_Me[31:00]) ^ D_Word_Mask[31:00]) && (Tired_of_Ya[31:00]) || Go_Away_Bird[31:00])]} else
DisplayModuleCall "Needs more cowbell.", end; end module ;

Now if You will only PLEASE help me get this code to compile, You might be able to win a kiss from Hillary!

[Fist of Etiquette]

There have been so many wild, inaccurate and offensive fake news characterizations...

...that one of them is bound to be true.

[Sevo]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[Anomalous]

(insert Bill Clinton joke here)

[Don't look at me!]

Hah! Insert. I see what you did there.

[Rat on a train]

Have you seen the price for humidors?

[SQRLSY One]

(insert Bill Clinton joke here)

From http://www.gluckman.com/harry/clintontestimony.htm , see this:
Clinton's Testimony according to Dr. Seuss
I did not do it in a car
I did not do it in a bar
I did not do it in the dark
I did not do it in the park
I did not do it on a date
I did not ever fornicate
I did not do it at a dance
I did not do it in her pants
I did not get beyond first base
I did not do it in her face
I never did it in a bed
If you think that, you've been misled
I did not do it with a groan
I did not do it on the phone
I did not cause her dress to stain
I never boinked Saddam Hussein
I did not do it with a whip
I never fondled Linda Tripp
I never acted really silly
With volunteers like Kathleen Willey
There was one time, with Margaret Thatcher
I chased her 'round, but could not catch her
No kinky stuff, not on your life
I wouldn't, even with my wife
And Gennifer Flowers' tale of woes
Was paid for by my right-wing foes
And Paula Jones, and those State Troopers
Are just a bunch of party poopers
I did not ask my friends to lie
I did not hang them out to dry
I did not do it last November
But if I did, I don't remember
I did not do it in the hall
I could have, but I don't recall
I never did it in my study
I never did it with my dog, Buddy
I never did it to Sox, the cat
I might have-once-with Arafat
I never did it in a hurry
I never groped Betty Currie
There was no sex at Arlington
There was no sex on Air Force One
I might have copped a little feel
And then endeavored to conceal
But never did these things so lewd
At least, not ever in the nude
These things to which I have confessed
They do not count, if we stayed dressed
It never happened with cigar
I never dated Mrs. Starr
I did not know this little sin
Would be retold on CNN
I broke some rules my Mama taught me
I tried to hide, but now you've caught me
But I implore, I do beseech
Do not condemn, do not impeach
I might have got a little tail
But never, never did inhale

There was a computer animation of Bill Clinton as Cat-in-the-Hat, reciting the above poetry. I have a copy, but it won’t play any more (Op. Syses upgrades), and I can’t find it on You-Tube, or anywhere else…

BONUS points for anyone who can find ANY kind of video link to the above poetry slam!!!

[NashTiger]

Trump is so dishonest and corrupt, he is bound to have done something we can impeach him for, amirite?

[Chipper Jones]

But enough about what Democrats were saying in late 2016.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Three felonies a day!

[Finrod]

They're up to 90 "reasons" to impeach Trump:

https://lists.grabien.com/list-things-democrats-have-said-trump-could-be-impeached

[JesseAz]

"Fox News corroborated the shooting bit. "A source who was in the room at the time confirmed the conversation about shooting migrants in the legs to Fox News late Tuesday," it reported."

Hmmm...

[JesseAz]

Oh that's right....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5100891/Border-Patrol-agent-killed-rock-throwers-ambush.html

Why should we let BP defend themselves.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Reason comentariat in 2016: "Barrack Hussein Obama's border patrol is illegally stopping people within the border zone! This is outrageous!"

Reason commentariat in 2019: "We want the border patrol to shoot people!"

[JesseAz]

Your leaps of logic are worse than a 5 year old. Your straw man creation is even worse.

[De Oppresso Liber]

You just equated Trump's request that border jumpers be shot with "BP defending themselves" and linked an article that has nothing to do with either argument, yet I'm the one strawmanning? BP has always been able to defend themselves, that's why they have guns and shoot people every year. Trump was requesting that BP shoot people not in self defense, but to prevent border crossings. Don't strawman and then project, please.

Go ahead over to the archives and search for "border patrol" during the Obama years. You will see that I'm correct.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Wasn't the complaints about stopping people within the border zone from US citizen not that close to the border?

[loveconstitution1789]

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled his plan to combat gun violence, which includes banning the sale of assault-style weapons and an optional buyback program.

2A: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Fuck off Biden and check your windows for the FBI raiding your ass.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Time to buy futures in the 3-D gun industry; wonder what the cost to print one up would be vs. the "buyback" price?

[Ray McKigney]

Corn Pop hardest hit.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled his plan to combat gun violence

Is it dancing knife fights, a la West Side Story? Please tell me it's dance fights!

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Senator Kamala Harris has written to Twitter CEO @jack calling on him to suspend President Trump’s Twitter account

Harris again demonstrates why she's always been my top choice for 2020 (or at worst, tied for first with Elizabeth Warren).

#LibertariansForHarris
#BanDrumpfFromTwitter

[Don't look at me!]

But Trump is the authoritarian Nazi.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Well, yeah. Orange Hitler is running literal concentration camps. I guarantee Democrats will abolish them after retaking the Presidency.

#AbolishConcentrationCamps
#VoteDemocratForOpenBorders

[Finrod]

Bored now.

[loveconstitution1789]

Kamala Rouge.

[mad.casual]

Yeah, just remember that it's only Trump making our illustrious democracy look like some sort of systematically corrupt third world banana republic.

Seriously, a Presidential candidate asked a private party to have the sitting President's Twitter account shut down. An account that he himself, by law, can't block people from willy nilly.

They make Banana Republics look like reputable, well-oiled machines.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Banana Republics look like reputable, well-oiled machines.

The visual on that is a guy in a generalissimo outfit sliding on banana peels in a hang-ten pose. I like it!

[Dillinger]

lol. you know she's already imagined the uniforms.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

she’s already imagined the uniforms

And they include the 5 inch fuck me pumps.

[Ray McKigney]

Not bad at all.

[loveconstitution1789]

+10

[loveconstitution1789]

Another whistleblower has apparently come forward alleging that 'inappropriate' steps were taking to influence an audit of Trump's taxes

There was a song about blowing whistles.

[JesseAz]

There is no deep state - baby jeffrey

[JesseAz]

State IG didnt want to be left out and apparently ran to talk to House democrats this morning.

[Ray McKigney]

It was on a Chieftains album.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators...

Because America needs more Florida.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

water-filled trench

Did anyone explain the Rio Grande to him?

[Dillinger]

the Rio.Grande. is big enough for Trump?

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Deep enough. I think you meant to ask if it's deep enough.

[Halykan]

I grew up in Florida, and I kinda miss the state government tbh. Other than their unreasonable zeal for the drug war, they did a lot of stuff right.

[Alan Vanneman]

Am I the only one who's getting the idea that Elizabeth Nolan Brown is getting a little tired of Donald Trump? Don't get all SJW on our asses, Lizzie.

[Ryan (formally HTT)]

I will say that the roundup is meant to be a mashup of the days news and scuddlebud, so if the media is covering it, it fits in here.

However, if we're going to go after the president, at least from a libertarian perspective, it would make sense to go after him for the continuation of illegal wars, drone strikes, and driving up debt.

There could also be pieces about the large beaurocracy attempting to overthrown an elected official against the will of the people... Instead we get garbage from bootlicking Suderman and the rest of the insane lib posse about the wonders of the CIA

[De Oppresso Liber]

"There could also be pieces about the large beaurocracy attempting to overthrown an elected official against the will of the people"

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/02/trump-impeachment-poll-support-016403

A plurality supports impeachment now. Support for impeachment polls much higher than positive support for Trump. The will of the people tilts toward impeachment. Those are just facts.

A coequal branch of government exercising their constitutional right and duty is not an "overthrow".

[JesseAz]

Didnt bother to look at the sampling data I see. Nor the 2/3rds who believe it is politically motivated.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Tried and true tactic of sticking your fingers in your ears and stamping your feet. "Fake News!" said the Trump supporter for the 7,890th time.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I think part of what he is pointing out is that polls are not facts.

But that could be projection on my part.

[De Oppresso Liber]

He is pointing out something is not there. It is an attempt to refute the source without actually doing any of the work that that would require. It's lazy reasoning. Which poll is he even critiquing? The article cites 3 different polls, all of which had over 2000 data points.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Tried and true tactic of sticking your fingers in your ears and stamping your feet. “Fake News!” said the Trump supporter for the 7,890th time.""

This comment was brought to you by the letter P.

[John]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45650462

Woman billboard removed after transphobia row

But reason assures me the trans movement is about "Rights" not an Orwellian attempt by the Left to control the language and by extension people's thoughts.

[Ryan (formally HTT)]

you want more crazy leftist jargon? Look up "terf"

hilarious

[Ray McKigney]

I assume it doesn't refer to horse racing?

[Finrod]

If someone had told me 20 years ago that lesbians would be finding common ground with social conservatives, I would have laughed in their face.

[The_Unknown_Pundit]

Progressives espouse a secular religion masquerading as political movement. This lady is guilty of being a heretic under this new, secular religion. The writers at Reason have yet to figure this out.

[lap83]

Good grief, it's not even an especially precise definition, much less controversial. It doesn't even say anything about sex organs. It's almost like they just object to the very idea of a dictionary because it prevents them from completely reinventing words whenever they feel like it.

[John]

Pretty much that. They are insane. There is no other way to describe it.

[loveconstitution1789]

Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 to address concerns of the 9/11 Commission, which found that it was too easy for people to obtain driver's licenses, posing a security risk.

Starting Oct. 1, 2020, when the REAL ID law takes effect, you'll need a star at the top of your driver's license if you plan to fly anywhere in the United States. Essentially an enhanced driver's license, it will be required at the airport gate, unless you have another accepted form of ID. And officials are worried that one year out, many people don't yet have one.

See, it was never about driving ability.

Clearly Americans are resisting the Socialists in their attempt to identify and track everyone. Who else got passport/drivers license photos with a disguise, like I did?

[Don't look at me!]

When will the star migrate from the license to your sleeve?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Essentially an enhanced driver’s license,""

There is something called an enhanced drivers license that allows you to go to Canada and Mexico for a few extra bucks.

[Echospinner]

Sucks. You are going to have to get the equivalent of a passport for domestic travel.

The power of the state keeps growing and there is no stopping it.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Who else got passport/drivers license photos with a disguise, like I did?

Anne Frank?

[Fist of Etiquette]

As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the….

Words don't get a pass from being rendered meaningless just because they're French.

[Cyto]

I'll play! Let's see what The Oxford has for us:

coup
/ko͞o/
noun
1. a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.
"he was overthrown in an army coup"

Similar:
seizure of power
overthrow
takeover
ousting
deposition
regime change
bloodless coup
palace revolution
rebellion
revolt
insurrection
mutiny
revolution
insurgence
insurgency
rising
rioting
riot
coup d'état
jacquerie
putsch

Opposite:
election

[John]

You can have a bloodless coup. A coup is just when the bureaucracy, usually the military, overturns a lawful election and installs their own leader. That looks pretty close to what they are trying here.

[Cyto]

That's among the synonyms.

Which I really found interesting in combination with the fact that they only listed one antonym. Election.

Perfect symmetry.

[Griffin3]

If they overturn the election, and install Mike Pence as President, I don't think that is the same thing as a 'coup'.

[John]

Depends on the circumstances. If they install Pence because Pence was in on it, then it is in many ways a coup.

It is not a perfect analogy. The point is that removing a lawfully elected President from office on entirely bogus reasons is an illegitimate action and a direct attack on the Republic akin to a coup if not meeting the full definition of one.

[Dillinger]

Pence is the fucking poster-boy for Establishment. It's literally what they want, so yes same thing.

[Halykan]

The establishment, on both the red and blue teams, just likes being in power. At first the red team leaders didn't like Trump because they didn't think he could win, and he was pushing out their preferred candidate. After he won though, they were happy to fellate him and back up all his crazier drivel since they thought he was their ticket for occupying the seat of power, and doling out the political favors that keep them in that sweet rent-seeking cash. If they should ever turn on him (unlikely, in this case) it'll only be out of self-interest, more likely because they think he's going down and don't want to lose influence defending him than because they think it would be somehow beneficial to them.

It's also worth noting that none of these folks on either team are masterminds. They're just some self-interested jackasses trying to carve off as big a slice as they can get for themselves in private while publicly spouting whatever they think will keep them near the pie with their hands on the knife. They're sloppy, their motives are largely transparent, and they're no different than any other cadre of morons that's hung out in the corridors of power since the Stone Age.

Our goal as libertarians is pretty much to universally resist these creeps at every turn; to take away as much of those fancy titles and shiny perks as possible, to diminish not only their potence but also the respect they claim from those they purport to rule, and to reduce the favors they can bestow and benefits they can claim to a tiny fraction, so that they will scrabble in the dirt and knife one another over the trickle that remains, and the rest of us can breathe a sigh of relief under a far lighter burden of government.

As such, I welcome any proceeeding that shows to the public these jackanapes for the crudely self-dealing, illogic-riddled blowhards they so obviously are. A pox on all their houses.

[Don't look at me!]

My hero!

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Couldn't agree more.

[JesseAz]

Definition of coup (Entry 2 of 2)
chiefly Scotland
: OVERTURN, UPSET

[$park¥ is the Worst]

building a goddamn moat full of alligators and fortifying it with snipers and electrified spikes.

Too badass for real life.

[John]

Pretty much that. There is no way Trump said this or if he did he said it in jest. Regardless, I can't understand how the media thinks this will hurt him.

[Don't look at me!]

Perhaps miscalculated how many like the idea.

[ShotgunJimbo]

The media outlets reporting on this as something that will hurt him is full on jumping the shark, as if they hadnt already.

If he DID say it, I honestly love it. It just made me like him a little bit. Odds are it was in frustration or a complete joke. But I still love it. And I dont give a damn about the wall.

But thinking this is damning evidence of some kind is very, very sad.

[newshutz]

Jumping the shark with frikin laser beams on their heads.

[loveconstitution1789]

This robot can make 300 pizzas in an hour

Those pimply kids working at McDonalds better learn to code.

They will find learning code with Gillespie, Boehm, ENB, and Ron Bailey a real drag. It will be constant "reason was great back when and it failed for some reason".

[Don't look at me!]

Only the one guy at Dominos can make the boxes fast enough to keep up.

[lap83]

It's not a real pizza unless it's got a minimum of 3 hairs and smells vaguely of cigarette smoke

[mad.casual]

This robot can make 300 pizzas in an hour

That's like three lifetime supplies of shitty Seattle pizzas.

[Dillinger]

>>Seattle pizzas

OT: ever seen "I Love You to Death"? If not, do so today.

[Cyto]

Does anyone else think that it is bizarre that we are now living in a world where every question the president asks in some meeting is reported on the nightly news as "Trump wants to X"?

We've come a long way from the era when reporters covered for the Kennedy brothers and their dalliances.

[John]

It is totally bizarre. And it is even worse than that. They don't even have to hear it to get it reported. They can just make it up and the media will report it as fact from "anonymous sources in the White House". These idiots will believe and report anything.

[Cyto]

And just because I can't leave well enough alone.....

I'll note that when AOC announced an actual policy proposal in the form of "The New Green Deal" and published it on her own website, criticisms of that policy proposal were derided as unfair or even lies by the media, because her staff later claimed that it wasn't supposed to get published.

[Rich]

Yep. And note how much is "BREAKING NEWS", however dated or speculative.

[$park¥ is the Worst]

Does anyone else think that it is bizarre that we are now living in a world where every question the president asks in some meeting is reported on the nightly news as “Trump wants to X”?

No, seems like it follows perfectly from the direction things have been going for the past 10 years or so.

[Cyto]

Only if you are one of those nutcases that has noticed that the national press has moved from "leans left" past "biased toward team D" and fully into "propaganda arm of the progressive left".

Normal people looked at things like NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and PBS coordinating a week of coverage of "Vietnam issues" with the Kerry campaign and their planned advertising push on those same themes and promptly ignored it. Drudge had the story 2 weeks in advance, but nobody noticed. (this particular one fell flat because CBS got caught faking their story)

Only conspiracy theorists and cranks remember what the news covered last week. Normal people know that the press has always been fair and unbiased.

[Azathoth!!]

We’ve come a long way from the era when reporters covered for the Kennedy brothers and their dalliances.

Have we?

Seems like the same people covering for the same failures.

60s--media shilling for the Dems
10s--media shilling for the Dems.

(and in case you're wondering about the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s, just put 'media shilling for the Dems' after each and you'll be fine)

[The_Unknown_Pundit]

*cough* Reason *cough* once again linking to "news" items that come from anonymous sources. ENB is a water carrier to the totalitarians, so it seems.

[The_Unknown_Pundit]

Oops, my bad, some are sourced. Oh well. So much is anonymous and unsourced these days, and ENB has linked to them in the past.
I have to wonder, are some of the things reported said in jest. IOW, DJT was never serious about them.

[Griffin3]

Or the Donald was intentionally trolling.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

And they lick it up like Stormy Daniels at a, oh nevermind.

[JesseAz]

Refs in UK women rugby leagues quitting due to number of bones broken due to men with beards claiming they are women.

[JesseAz]

https://pjmedia.com/trending/uk-referees-quitting-over-transgender-players-breaking-womens-bones/

[John]

"Women's sports" is something that never existed until the 20th Century. I guess it is going to cease to exist now. It had a nice run. But, if women are not willing to stand up to the trannies to keep their sports, I guess they didn't really want them that badly in the first place.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

The East German Olympic team was ahead of their time.

[Rich]

Kelly Morgan, a biological male who plays on a women's team, is hurting his own teammates, the BBC reported "She's going to be a good, good player for the next few years," said Brian Minty, Porth Harlequin coach, "as long as we can stop her injuring players in training."

How about simply asking her to wear a cute sheath skirt in training?

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

“She’s going to be a good, good player for the next few years,” said Brian Minty, Porth Harlequin coach, “as long as we can stop her injuring players in training.”

Yeah, and if I played against female college basketball players, I'd look like a superstar, too.

We should really do full integration of all sports, including athletic scholarships, and just let the chips fall where they may. About five years of athletically gifted women getting the piss beat out of them, and losing scholarships and endorsements to trannies, would result in Title IX becoming the nation's first trans-exclusionary law.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Unintended consequences of obviously retarded decisions.

But keep it up regressive boneheads like Arthur!

You'll get your utopia of nattering negative nabobs and fools yet!

Mike Lafontaine: 'Wha happened?'
Ref: Tranny be breaking bitches arm!

[Nemo Aequalis]

Trump Wanted Snipers and Electrified Spikes to Defend Border Moat Full of Alligators and Snakes, Says New Report

You can’t blame the man for trying! Maybe we could even throw a few journalists into that moat, as well.

[The_Unknown_Pundit]

So he's serious about controlling the border, who knew?

[Rich]

And put some (fake) *heads* on those electrified spikes, too!

[Sevo]

"...Maybe we could even throw a few journalists into that moat, as well."

Quit trying to poison the 'gators!

[Rufus The Monocled]

It's been reported Trump asked for the construction of 235 Iron Maiden's.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Iron Maiden torture devices.

It's a new style of comedy. Fucking up the punch line.

[Don't look at me!]

It’s ok. Nobody likes their music anyway.

[$park¥ is the Worst]

I hope you literally die you fucking traitor!

[Dillinger]

you need iron maiden w/pumped-in iron maiden.

[Ken Shultz]

Yesterday, I posted two exhibits of the news media getting things ridiculously wrong. Here's another one!

Exhibit 3:

"Tonight, "60 Minutes" has obtained a letter that indicates the government whistleblower who set off the impeachment inquiry of President Trump is under federal protection, because he or she fears for their safety."

----60 Minutes, September 30, 2019

Sounds pretty scary, doesn't it? The poor whistleblower fears for his or her safety so much (maybe because President Trump is scary like a mafia boss), that it was necessary for the whistleblower to enter the witness protection program!

Unfortunately for 60 Minutes, The whistleblower's attorney, Mark Zaid, says 60 minutes is "literally making stuff up".

"Are you now asserting you have a source other than the letter our legal team sent to @ODNIgov?

Because if you don't, and I know you don't, then you're literally making stuff up. That helps no one, especially the #whistleblower.

The media should always accurately report facts.

https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1178508741890756608

You see, the whistleblower's attorney is concerned about maintaining the credibility of the whistleblower, and it's hard to maintain that when CBS News and 60 Minutes are out there making stuff up about his client--that turns out not to be true. If everyone thinks he or she is in the witness protection program and that turns out not to be the case, rightly or wrongly, that may impact the whistleblower's reputation.

Just remember these two formulations of this principle:

1) The credibility of a witness depends on whether the evidence corroborates their claims.

2) If the evidence contradicts the witness' claims, the witness' credibility suffers.

So, for instance, if 60 Minutes claims that the whistleblower is in fear for his or her life to the point that the whistleblower is now in the federal witness protection program (as if Trump were like the head of a mafia crime family or something)--and that turns out to be false--then the credibility of 60 Minutes legitimately comes into question.

Notice, it's completely unnecessary to attack the motives of 60 Minutes. Regardless of their motives, why should we take 60 Minutes' word for anything if their claims are shown to be false?

On the other hand, if the whistleblower's claims are contradicted by the evidence--and we have already seen the evidence that contradicts the claim that there was a quid pro quo--then there isn't any good reason to take the whistleblower's word for other claims either.

There's a word for when you hold a trial to find evidence of guilt. It's called a "witch hunt". And anyone who thinks the evidence we have already is more than sufficient to impeach President Trump is advocating for a witch hunt by that definition.

[Cyto]

I don't know what you are on about....
They said they were going to impeach him the day he was elected.

They've been casting about for a reason for that impeachment ever since that day.

So just let it go. You sound like a conspiracy theorist. They said they were going to impeach him. They are going to impeach him. They just need to find a reason that will stick in the public eye. They've only tried a dozen or so different reasons. Maybe two dozen. Whatever....

The point is, questioning congress is unconstitutional. You should know this by now. I know that you think everyone spent the years from 2009 to 2017 telling you that you had to respect the president simply because he was the president and there was no right to criticize the executive when he took actions that went beyond the constitution. But that is because you were practicing wrongthink.

[John]

George Will said yesterday that Impeachment is Congress asserting its supremacy. God what a pathetic old fool he has become.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Kramer: I don't find him all that bright.

[John]

But he thinks wearing dorky glasses and a bow tie will keep people from noticing that.

[Cyto]

I dunno.... that sounds about right.

I mean, it isn't actually "congress" so much as "democrats" deciding that they are in charge, regardless.

When Obama was president and the Republicans had the Congress, it was "I have a pen and a phone" and the congressional democrats were just fine with that.

Even when folks 'round these parts and some Republicans warned that someday there will be someone you don't agree with in that office, they didn't care.

Just like they didn't heed that warning when they pulled out the "nuclear option" to avoid consulting with republicans on judicial appointments.

One might posit that they are failing to learn from their mistakes... but that presumes one thing - that they actually believe in our constitutional form of government.

I would suggest that the evidence shows that they believe in being in charge - and they are not the least bit interested in the constraints placed on the government to ensure that we don't have a tyrannical form of government.

[John]

If Congress were impeaching Trump for ignoring something they demanded, I would agree with you. But they are not doing that. They are instead trying to impeach Trump by carrying the water for the Bureaucracy and establishing the precedent that the bureaucracy is accountable to no one and can over turn an election it doesn't like with the help of Congress.

[Cyto]

My quibble was with "congress" asserting authority, although it is in fact congress, I'm arguing that it is the Democrats.

They asserted that "Elections have consequences" when Obama was president, and argued that it was perfectly fine when he acted without congressional authority and went beyond the powers of his office.

Now they are asserting that Congress gets to decided "orange man bad" therefore "overturn election".

There was not even 5 minutes between these two antithetical positions.

Which makes one ask - why?

Well, because they are not antithetical. The common theme is "democrats are in power". Whether that be the executive, legislative, judiciary or unelected bureaucracy. The only constant is that whichever of those is controlled by team D is the proper and just seat of power. All others are usurpers.

[Dillinger]

if Scott Pelley says it ... fact. have you heard his voice it screams "truthteller".

[Sevo]

Screw that 'awaiting moderation' for two links:

“…then the credibility of 60 Minutes legitimately comes into question.”

That bell was rung a LOOOONG time ago.
60 Minutes, Alar:
https://www.acsh.org/news/1999/02/01/an-unhappy-anniversary-the-alar-scare-ten-years-later

[Sevo]

60 Minutes, Audi 5000:
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/manufacturing-audi-scare-5665.html

[Rufus The Monocled]

I would soooo love to hear the context to which he uttered that. It's not like the media doesn't misrepresent what he says, right?

Did he for alligators with fricken laser beams?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw

[Rufus The Monocled]

ask

I don't think that edit button will be coming at this point.

[Azathoth!!]

I read the latest outburst of absolute insanity from Reason and it's, sadly, leftist masters---snakes and alligators, really? Not one of you bright enough to....never mind.

There is going be a civil war.

Buy ammo.

[loveconstitution1789]

[phone]

[Ken Shultz]

"After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That's not allowed either, they told him."

----New York Times except from book

Has anyone verified that it's illegal for soldiers--under order of the Commander in Chief--to shoot people who are attacking them with rocks while trying to cross our borders by force?

Customs and Border Protection fired tear gas at rock throwing migrants on the border in January of 2019 when they tried to storm the border fence.

"TIJUANA, Mexico — U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried to breach the border fence in Tijuana.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement later Tuesday that the gas was used to target rock throwers"

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/u-s-fires-tear-gas-across-mexico-border-stop-migrants-n953641

I know it was at the end the of May 2019, when Trump threatened Mexico with tariffs. He subsequently won Mexico's cooperation in fighting the flow of asylum seekers across their territory.

If Trump were weighing various options to stop the flow of asylum seekers between January and May of 2019, that wouldn't surprise me at all. In commercial real estate, we make contingency plans all the time. What if we do x, what if we do y, what if we do z?

When the price of oil was up near $150 a barrel, it briefly became less expensive to cover the parking lot of our industrial projects with concrete rather than asphalt. Concrete is usually far more expensive than asphalt because of the cost of labor in framing it, finishing it, etc. But, yeah, we did that analysis under those circumstances--even though it seems crazy today.

Incidentally, I expect the Trump administration to have a contingency plan in place in case it ever becomes crucial to the defense of the United States' to invade Taiwan and free it from Chinese domination. I'm sure there are plenty of rudderless and unmoored "journalists" who would be happy to spin that plan as evidence that Trump wants to win the trade war with a military strike, but more and more people are ignoring their silly voices anyway. The fact is that we need to explore options and formulate a plan for contingencies--whether it be a military response to China that never occurs or a plan to repel a wave of millions of bogus asylum seekers that is never implemented.

[loveconstitution1789]

The military leadership is irresponsible if they don't have some plan of military action for every country on the Planet, North Pole, and Antarctica.

[Dillinger]

"jaw suit" = plausible deniability.

[John]

Apparently Bernie had a heart attack and is undergoing surgery right now.

In other news, Hillary Clinton tweeted yesterday her sincere sympathy for Bernie's heart attack.

[Ken Shultz]

This seems to be impacting the stock market--along with Warren's latest rhetoric promising to break up Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2019/10/02/senator-elizabeth-warren-says-its-time-to-break-up-amazon-google-and-facebook-and-facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-fights-back/#6219bca86791

Warren's rhetoric didn't matter much when she was one for four likely candidates to win the nomination. It seems like the more likely she is to win the nomination, the more of an impact her statements have on the market--when FAANG stocks are still such an important part of it.

[John]

I wouldn't worry too much if I were the tech people. They will buy her off.

What is interesting is that the revolt against the establishment has come in the form of Trump and entirely from the right. The Democrats don't have a Trump. Not even Bernie is as anti establishment as Trump is. And you can tell that because even if Bernie were nominated there would be no "Never Bernie" part of the Democratic Party the way there was with Trump and the Republicans. The left has become one and the same with the establishment. That is a fascinating development and something which the typical Democratic and liberal voter somehow is entirely unaware.

[loveconstitution1789]

Very astute John.

The Democrats typically had to put forth candidates like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to find a middle ground for all the Democrats in that Lefty Political Spectrum. Unions, anti-military, Liberals, Socialists, Communists, blue collar workers, hippies, Black Americans, bureaucrats....

It was a big tent.

Now the Party of slavery is mostly SJWs, Socialists, and young Lefties who are generally dumb.

[Sevo]

John
October.2.2019 at 11:06 am
"Apparently Bernie had a heart attack and is undergoing surgery right now...."

So, like FDR in '44, if he gets nominated a vote for him is a vote for the VP.

[loveconstitution1789]

Just like FDR and RBG, Bernie Sanders will be wheeled to events to keep up the appearance of being needed by America.

[geo1113]

I searched and looked at a couple items and neither said heart attack. But you nailed it. If he was going in for a catheterization, we would have known ahead of time.

[Ken Shultz]

Are we all clear on the difference between the president asking about something, suggesting something, considering something, etc., on the one hand, and the president actually doing that thing, on the other?

Because considering something and actually doing something--that's actually two very different things.

[Cyto]

Only if it helps our team.

If it cuts the other way, then no, not at all.

Welcome to the America that was to strange for Orwell to imagine.

[Finrod]

Tell it to the leftists, who call the speech they don't like violent action and their own violent action speech.

[Bramblyspam]

Some commenter once said that Trump should be taken seriously but not literally, and his opponents make the mistake of doing the exact opposite.

This snakes & alligators thing is a prime example of this.

[John]

It absolutely is. Trump is a sarcastic New Yorker. His supporters get that and understand exactly what he is saying. The media are generally a bunch of over earnest dim witted nerds. What Trump says goes right over their heads.

[creech]

Obvioulsy NYT has never had a brainstorming session where the head guy throws in a little sarcastic humor to lighten the mood.
At least I hope that is what Trump was doing.

[John]

That is what he is doing. And honestly, I think the people who work at the Times are all somewhere on the Aspy scale and have never experienced it much less been the guy who does such a thing.

[Vernon Depner]

There's definitely a connection between leftism and feminism, and autism.

https://mattforney.com/feminism-mens-rights-autism/

[John]

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/463997-warren-passes-biden-to-lead-field-by-4-points-nationally-poll

Warren passes Biden in weekly national poll. So, the Democrats are trying to impeach Trump but instead are destroying the guy who is likely their best candidate to beat them.

Meanwhile Trump is prepping for his best reality show yet "Impeachment Trial" and he and the RNC raised $125 million last month.

I ask the same thing I asked earlier this week; is Trump the only guy here who knows how to play this game?

[Ken Shultz]

I think Warren is more likely to beat Trump than Sanders.

Do you think women in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are more likely to turn out for Warren or Bernie?

[John]

I think she is too. But she is much less likely to beat Trump than Biden. This is killing Biden not Bernie.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The media's putting their thumb on the scale for Warren right now because Hillary's flexing like she's about to get in the race. As much as the DNC owes her, I suspect the party bosses would have a fit if she did, because she'd immediately go about alienating everyone who might just be tired of the Trump circus and would be willing to go with someone else, but don't want it to be her under any circumstances.

Biden was indulged for the same reason McCain was in 2008--an old war horse whom the party felt an obligation towards for years of loyal service. But no one in the party establishment actually wants him running. He's an old, white, straight man, and the party is becoming increasingly hostile to that particular demographic. They wanted either Warren or Harris, and it's looking like Warren's going to be the Anointed One because she's a woman, she has a "plan" for everything, and she likes talking shit with Trump.

[John]

Warren alienates people even faster than Hillary did. She is a much weaker candidate than Biden who could have just run as a placeholder and a return to the Obama era. The Democrats best chance against Trump was a default we know he isn't crazy candidate. That is Biden. Warren is another Hillary only with even less intelligence and savy.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Warren is unlikeable, but she's far more of a populist than Hillary, which puts her in the same boat as Trump. Her biggest problem is the party's fat cat donor base doesn't like her, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll work to get Trump re-elected instead.

[Dillinger]

>>>which puts her in the same boat as Trump

T built his brand over 40 years. Warren is a blip.

[loveconstitution1789]

The DNC might cut their loses for Election 2020 and give it to Trump with little effort.

They can save their money and focus on a candidate that might win in 2024. This strategy would make sense since there is no Republican who is in an obvious position to carry Trump's "fighting spirit" torch.

Only an moron in the DNC really thinks that any Democrat Candidate will beat Trump. At this point, even a recession will take a few years to play out so Lefties only have less than 1 year to make an economic catastrophe happen. This impeachment nonsense wont work, so it will just harden Trump's supporters that the Lefties are out to destroy the USA.

[loveconstitution1789]

Hillary becoming an Election 2020 candidate would be hilarious!

Trump would beat her by even more EC votes and the Left would still never understand why.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

But she would have sequel to her book.

[loveconstitution1789]

🙂

[Unicorn Abattoir]

The president reportedly wanted to keep unauthorized refugees and migrants from crossing our southern border by building a goddamn moat full of alligators and fortifying it with snipers and electrified spikes.

On second thought, I'll just stick with the white picket fence around my house.

[John]

i tried but do you know how much a good alligator keeper costs? Also, the insurance on those things is outrageous.

[Rossami]

I can understand some of Trump's frustration when you look at the "advice" he was getting. Take, for example, the claim that "When the president demanded 'flat black' paint on his border wall, she said it would cost an additional $1 million per mile."

That just doesn't pass the smell test. A mile long wall 10' high has 105,600 square feet. A gallon of paint covers 350 sq ft on average so that means you need 302 gallons. Flat black paint is pretty standard but even if you assume $50 per gal, that's only $15,000. Okay, the government will probably overpay at every level. Plus some labor and other waste. So double everything, then double it again. That's still a very long way from $1M.

[Chipper Jones]

The fact that million-dollar-a-mile paint is just a throwaway line should scare the shit out of everyone who loves government spending. But it won't.

[Bearded Spock]

ENB's current obsession with clickbait Trump Outrage Porn is causing her and the rest of the Reason staff to lose sight of the real story: Trump and the Republican Party just raised a mind-boggling $135 million during the last quarter, almost all of it from small donors.

Impeachment might be the new crack for Democrats, but it's going to spectacularly backfire on them. Trump will be impeached and then acquitted, and then will face a weak far-left candidate in the 2020 general election with 90% of the Republican electorate ready, willing, and able to crawl over broken glass to vote for him.

This will be completely unforeseen by those living in the bubble of the Acela Corridor, but it's pretty obvious to everyone here in Flyover Country.

[John]

And the 35 or so Democrats who won in swing districts that make up the majority that the Democrats now have in the House will be crash test dummies for the impeachment brigade. Come January 2021, you will have a re-elected Trump with a Republican Congress.

What will the Democrats do then? They won't have a Russian collusion hoax to try and derail his presidency. All of the Never Trump right will be out of office. Trump will be the 800 lb gorilla of American politics.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Come January 2021, you will have a re-elected Trump with a Republican Congress.

In the event that Trump wins, I don't see the Rs retaking the House, but I do think they'll gain back enough seats that Pelosi will pull everyone into a conference and tard-wrangle those who are left over into agitating for policies that will be broadly supported, as opposed to chasing another impeachment chimera.

Notice that AOC has been pretty quiet about dunking on "moderates" ever since Pelosi pulled her into that private meeting a few weeks ago. It's pretty obvious by now that Nancy told AOC to shut up and be a good soldier, because her Chief of Staff was about to be brought up on charges and the same thing could happen to her if she didn't start learning her place.

[John]

I don't see how they keep the House if Trump wins assuming they go forward with impeachment. Had they not gone full retard and allowed the Democrats who won in Trump districts to live up to their promises to be reasonable, I would agree with you. But they didn't do that. They are going full retard. And if Trump wins, those Democrats from swing districts are toast. No amount of "but I promise to be reasonable and work together this time" will save them from the consequences of voting to waste the country's time with impeachment.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Eh, i guess it's possible. The Kavanaugh shit-show likely cost the Dems the Senate and mitigated the House turnover to the historical average, even after the typical Dem election shenanigans in the close races.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

However, keep in mind that Clinton's impeachment may have hurt the Republicans in the short-term, but Bush still came into office with an R majority, albeit a slim one, in both houses.

[Finrod]

The GOP had a House majority in 2001, but the Senate was 50-50, until Jeffords switched and made it 51-49 D.

[BYODB]

Frankly I think the plan is for impeachment to coincide with the election.

[loveconstitution1789]

Additionally, if the economy does go south or we get into a military fracas with North Korea or Iran the Democrats might get blamed for Trump having to spend time on an impeachment fallacy than foreign policy that has kept US Military involvement to the lowest level in 18 years.

[loveconstitution1789]

Even if the GOP does not regain the House Election 2020, Census 2020 will shift numerous Democrat House seats to Red states. Then the Red states get to gerrymander those cities into a few Blue House seats while the rest of the state carries the remaining House seats as Republican.

It will mean that the midterm Election 2022, will fix all those GOP lost seats in 2018 for the next 10 years.

Lefties won't admit it but the USA is moving more GOP secure decade by decade. In fact, the GOP controls 33 state legislatures.
Jan 2018 Legislative Partisan Composition
The GOP only needs 1 more state to call an Article V Constitutional Convention. Then only 38 states have to ratify the Amendments.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

What will the Democrats do then? They won’t have a Russian collusion hoax to try and derail his presidency.

They'll have a Ukranian hoax. Barring that, they'll have a Latvian hoax. Barring that, they'll have a Croatian hoax. Barring that they'll have a Yugoslavian hoax...

[Colossal Douchebag]

TDS(ENB) = OMB

[Mike Laursen]

The Trump Detangement Syndrome function applied to Elizabeth Nolan Brown equals the Office or Management and Budget?

[Dillinger]

lesser-known Orenthal Matthews Band

[lap83]

The Reason Roundup headlines are getting a bit formulaic

Trump says/days something awesome + lame disapproval

"Trump promises sports car to anyone who helps build the wall, to chagrin of EU leaders"

[lap83]

blah, *does

[Brian]

This is how it is in the Age of Trump.

[Bearded Spock]

Reason has become the Brazzers of Trump Outrage Porn.

[Mike Laursen]

Disagree that what he said, if he said it, was “awesome”. More like idiotic and cruel.

[Zo]

"Hmmmm, they are still going after Biden, and the other fan fiction we made up isn't working. Let's go back to just outright lies with anonymous sources."

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

America is being trolled and we're taking the bait... every... single...time.

[icannotread]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaaWd1G8M9A
While I don't agree with Trump's suggestion I love him for suggesting it.

[Number 2]

“ At present, Trump has been suggesting that impeachment is a "coup"“

Hey, at least he’s backed off of calling it treason.

But I am waiting for some idiot law professor to claim that it is “clearly unconstitutional and presumptively impeachable” to accuse Congress of engaging in a coup.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I believe the Democrats called the impeachment of Bill Clinton a coup as well, and there was a major motion picture called The Contender that was an allegory for that.

[loveconstitution1789]

A few Republicans voted against various Articles of impeachment for Bill Clinton.

In fact, of 4 Articles voted on in the House, only 2 passed.

The Senate had a few Republicans who voted not guilty.

Bill Clinton lied under oath and the evidence was there for all to see.

[NOYB2]

But I am waiting for some idiot law professor to claim that it is “clearly unconstitutional and presumptively impeachable” to accuse Congress of engaging in a coup.

I think he's actually accusing the CIA of a coup through disinformation. For some reason, Democrats seem to believe that this is impossible and that the CIA would never bring down a government through disinformation.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Democrats seem to believe that this is impossible and that the CIA would never bring down a government through disinformation."'

Which is funny because that's literally what they do.

[Number 2]

I wonder if this “moats with alligators” story Will prove as accurate as the “Michael Cohen was ordered to lie to congress” story. Or the “the Russians hacked into voting machines to change vote totals” story.

Congratulations, Trump haters. You have gotten us to the point with your stupidity that Trump could commit mass murder on national television and half the country would refuse to believe it because you cried “wolf” too often.

[Benitacanova]

Has the president been reading my draft letter to Santa?

[NOYB2]

I'm sure he did say that at various points. We call that "sarcasm" and a "running joke".

News outlets who take that seriously mainly expose their own gullibility and/or partisanship.

[Mike Laursen]

None of us were there. We don’t know exactly what he said. But that also means that if he did say it, none of us know whether he said it as a joke or not.

[darkflame]

Yeah, no. The media's lied about too many things for me to trust them on this. Hell, for all we know Trump said it in a joking context, and the media's reporting it as a serious statement. It wouldn't be the first time they've done that.

Take your anonymous sources and fuck yourself with it.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""The media’s lied about too many things for me to trust them on this.""

Exactly. They would tell us Trump lying all the time is a reason not to believe him, but they don't think that applies to their lying.

[Uncle Jay]

Dammit, Trump.
You forgot to the land mines...again!
How many times do you have to be reminded?
Land mines or nothing!

[Echospinner]

Even if he did say all or some of that stuff, meh. Sounds like hyperbole. The boss going off the rails because he is not getting what he wants. Nothing from Trump surprises me anymore.

My understanding is they finally got him to settle down and threaten tariffs, did some negotiations with Mexico and they started apprehending more border jumpers.

[icannotread]

"Even if he did say all or some of that stuff, meh. Sounds like hyperbole."

That's not allowed anymore so he obviously meant it.
How he was going to get large bodies of water for the gators in the desert is beyond me, but I believe in him.

[Vernon Depner]

How he was going to get large bodies of water for the gators in the desert is beyond me

You just pay for it.

[Echospinner]

You dig a deep concrete lined trench and put in a bunch of Komodo Dragons. Just throw in some chickens every now and then.

It could even be a tourist attraction. “OK kids, just grab your chicken by the legs and toss it in. Now watch what happens”

You have to know about a lot of things when you are president. I am sure he can come up with the proper animal to protect our border.

[loveconstitution1789]

Have the Senate remove Bernie Sander from the Senate if he doesn't release his medical records immediately!

[Echospinner]

Do not worry. He got his stents and is said to be recovering nicely. This is pretty routine now about 2 million people a year. He should be back to normal activity in a week or two and go on socialist-ing for a long time to come.

[Vernon Depner]

"Back to normal activity"? We're talking about Bernie.

[Echospinner]

Normal for Bernie I suppose.

He is pretty consistent if nothing else.

[tlapp]

Obama had made a sarcastic crack about a moat with alligators years ago, now they are saying Trump wanted it. When Trump says Fake News he can now include Reason.

[MoreFreedom]

I've never seen such a mutiny against a president by the political class, using so many anonymous sources, ever. That makes me support Trump even more (after voting for Johnson, but now Trump has earned my vote).

Really, we have a bunch of corrupt cowards in government. I guess it got that way by Obama successfully prosecuting everyone that exposed his corruption (if not successful in court, then successful in lawyering them to death and or ruining their lives). Then people starting looking the other way when corruption happened, and started doing it too.

It's just like Trump to claim he fired Mueller because Mueller was corrupt, oh wait, I meant Biden claimed he had the prosecutor fired using US money because his investigation of Biden's son was corrupt.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Yeah, that's going to get a lot of use.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Which cult would I be in? I'm not blindly devoted to any politician. Go ahead and point out which cult I would be a part of? The "makes rational judgements based on available evidence" cult?

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

JIMMY I WANNA HAVE YER BABY!!!!

Such erudition, I have never seen before! You ARE the Champion! Humbly seeking wisdom, I beg of You, will You be my Daddy?

Sticking strictly to the facts, logically, I bet that it would be a trivial task for You to perfect the following codes:
Include Me_righteous, You_Scumdawg, Begin Master_Override_31'h Bytewise 078Ah && Parameter_Conserve_Precious_Bodily_Fluids_31'h
PrintF "In Soviet Russia, Putin Loves Donald", end; end module ;

If You will please help me get this code to compile, I PROMISE that I will talk VERY sincerely, to Your mom, about her taking away, at least SOME of the bad things that she is saying about You!

[Nardz]

It's like every comment.
The amount of energy that must be expended on his denial has to be exhausting

[De Oppresso Liber]

Go ahead and point out when I do it, please. I'm serious. This is my only account, but I understand that conspiracy-minded nutsos mistake reptilian brain pattern recognition for broad conspiracies all the time.

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

Hi Jimmy of the Doors!

You're indeed the Wisest of us all! Please lead us to Glory! If it's not asking too much, can I be your comic-relief sidekick?

With Your superb mastery of the Cosmos, in the Sight of Goober-Mint (sneer) Almighty , I bet that You could debug the following codes in Your sleep:
Instantiate SourceFile Include Hormesis_Optimization Begin Allocate [ Vector ( Pitch[63:0], Yaw[63:0], Rolls_Royce[63:0] ), Flight_Envelope ] ; Loop_Count <= Loop_Count + 1'b1 ;
DisplayModuleCall "Fuck off, saliva-drooler!", end; end module ;

Now if You will only PLEASE help me get this code to compile, Santa Claus will bring us some Easter eggs!

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Which cult would I be in?""

Show us where he said you were in a cult?

[De Oppresso Liber]

He said I was practicing projection in regards to my comment about Trump's cult.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

So you think that means he's saying you are in a cult?

There's a word for that.

[Mike Laursen]

No, I was being flippant.

[Mike Laursen]

Chipper?

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

As shown right here in this thread, we (the Russian coders behind PutinTrump RussiaBot) are WAY more creative, lively, and flexible than YOUR pathetic code writers, who just barf up the same stupid short crap over and over and over again!

LEARN TO CODE, boring moron! Garbage in, garbage out!

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

LEARN TO CODE, boring-bot!

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

LEARN TO CODE, you're inducing narcolepsy in your target audience, boring-bot!

[PutinTrump LoveChild RussiaBot]

LEARN TO CODE, mindlessly boring-bot!

[TrickyVic (old school)]

There's a word for that.

[De Oppresso Liber]

You are scaring the kids at the library, sir.

[Finrod]

Fuck off, slaver.

[Finrod]

Fuck off, slaver.

[Finrod]

WrongFacts always trigger fuckheads like him.

[De Oppresso Liber]

In the same sentence he claims I'm talking to myself? Perhaps that's projections as well, as it certainly is not reality. Fantastical thinking and imaginary world building seem popular around here.

[De Oppresso Liber]

You are incapable of conversation. Sorry about that.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Not jeff, but you are free to debate ideas, if you are allowed. I know it just boggles the mind that someone does not agree with you on all things. These people who disagree must all be part of a big conspiracy! Conspiracies everywhere!

[De Oppresso Liber]

I'm not doing homework for you. I was part of the outrage mob back then, we all know it happened. I'm still against BP being able to stop Americans or anyone within 100 miles of a border. I know that reality and Trumpism don't jive, but you're not going to gaslight me into thinking that libertarians were ok with unbridled BP authority prior to Trump.

[De Oppresso Liber]

you win the ironic comment of the day contest, again!