While “Michigan Man” and “Ohio Man” are not always on speaking terms, they do attend many of the same family reunions. I spent fifteen years as a Michigander, but when I first ran across this story, I could only recall Lapeer as a signpost along I69 between Lansing and Sarnia. So I called upon the Spousal Unit, Michigan native, for his opinion. He read the article carefully, and announced “The only way it could be more Lapeer is if the two of them turned out to be cousins.”
Per the Detroit News:
Lansing — State Rep. Todd Courser planned the distribution of a fictional email alleging he had sex with a male prostitute in a bid to conceal his relationship with Rep. Cindy Gamrat, according to audio recordings obtained by The Detroit News.
Courser, a Lapeer Republican, said on one recording the email was designed to create “a complete smear campaign” of exaggerated, false claims about him and Gamrat so a public revelation about the legislators’ relationship would seem “mild by comparison.”
Interviews with former House employees and the recordings show freshman lawmakers Courser and Gamrat, R-Plainwell, used their taxpayer-funded offices to maintain and cover up their relationship. Courser, 43, and Gamrat, 42, rose from the ranks of tea party activism, battled establishment Republicans to win seats in the House last year and formed their own legislative coalition…
The pair are socially conservative legislators who often invoke their Christian faith in pursuit of new legislation governing gun rights, abortion and marriage. Their political alliance dates back to Courser’s unsuccessful 2013 race for Michigan Republican Party chairman when Gamrat ran as his vice chairwoman…
Twenty-five years after I left town, it’s kinda nostalgic to know that the Capitol Building in Lansing is still surrounded by pawn shops, flop houses, and titty bars for all tastes.
Also, I think we can now replace the phrase “hiking the Appalachian Trail” with “forming their own legislative coalition… “
Baud
Looks like someone needs an emergency manager to take over their affairs.
cmorenc
WTF? This scheme is so convoluted and insane – cover up a heterosexual affair between two hard-right talibangelical legislators by concocting a false smear campaign against the male half of the affair for having a gay tryst outside a bar? This is stuff from the loonysphere.
Were they each married to other people? That’s my assumption, but I can’t find that element anywhere in the linked stories – maybe I overlooked something?
Waldo
To be fair, a god-squad GOPer patronizing male prostitutes is way more plausible than hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Botsplainer
Courser: “My wife is a good woman, but she focuses so much on the kids, she ignores my needs as a man. Cindy, you’re so vital and alive, a helpmate and partner in every way. I wish so much that I’d met you first..,”
Gamrat: “Oh, Todd, you make my body respond in ways my husband never really did. You take charge and respect me – he never sees my contributions, nor respects me as a woman like you do.”
OzarkHillbilly
@cmorenc: He is, not sure about her.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Too many crazy people are in elected office. :-(
As a change of pace, if you have the time this weekend, check out Subnormality – ‘comix with too many words’. It’s long, there’s lots of interesting detail in the drawings, there are too many words, but it’s a thought-provoking strip.
Indeed.
Cheers,
Scott.
Marc
What is all that noise I hear about defending ‘traditional marriage’? What is more traditional than a cheating spouse in a (R) marriage? Yes, the answer is two cheating spouses and their fake rent boy!
JPL
Wow! Let’s plant an obscene story that no one will believe, in order to deflect from the reality. It’s the republican playbook. They learned their lessons from Rove.
Botsplainer
Watching the dumbest movie EVAR. Flight WWII, a direct to video extravaganza about an international flight that winds up in WWII.
It’s on Netflix.
JPL
The RNC communication director, refused to condemn Trump’s remarks on the Today show. He’d rather wait for clarification from Trump. They are so afraid he’s going to run as a third party candidate. Even if he doesn’t run as a third party candidate, Trump’s absence could cause some to stay home on election day. imo
VidaLoca
Even if the hired help hadn’t gone blabbing to the press, it still doesn’t seem like they had the end game thought through well at all. It sounds like the underpants gnomes’ approach to covering up an affair.
MattF
The story itself is great, but the fact that that it was revealed by an ex-aide who made recordings is just… special.
Botsplainer
Oooh – now some of the passengers want to land the plane and kill Hitler.
“There will be a Nazi flag flying from the White House because YOU want to be a hero.”
MattF
@VidaLoca: ‘Clarification’? Ha ha.
debbie
He’d have probably have gotten away with his subterfuge if the rumor was that he secretly rooted for Ohio State.
Botsplainer
Now German jets are dogfighting the passenger plane.
It’s a shame that it’s morning. I should be having beer and pretzels.
Gimlet
Open thread topic
Might be a useful link for the campaign season. It aggregates various sources checking truthfulness of politician claims.
http://www.politifact.com/curation/national/archive/
Elizabelle
“more Lapeer”.
Since this is a midwest-themed post: my parents are both Hoosiers. Mom had this expression she said was from the Polish: “mowpah” (mow like cow), which is a diss. “That’s so mowpah” means that’s so backward, or country, or unchic — you get the idea.
Have you guys ever heard that expression? Do you know how to spell “mowpah”?
Any more good midwest digs/zingers out there?
OzarkHillbilly
@Botsplainer: It’s happy hour somewhere.
Elizabelle
RE the overnight threads: I can’t care very much about Megyn Kelly. She’s not that much better than Trump. She looks better, and that’s about it.
Didn’t Trump immediately move on to slams against Rosie O’Donnell, and then Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi?
Gimlet
@Elizabelle:
There’s a bunch involving “Yoopers”.
oldster
@JPL:
My first thought, too. This is just how Rove thought through the problem of Bush’s lack of service with the Texas Air National Guard. There’s a damaging story out there; the best way to suppress it is to create a fake version of it, and then when people fall for that you can discredit the real version. I don’t think even Rove thought he could destroy Dan Rather’s career in the process, but sometimes you get lucky!
debbie
@Elizabelle:
Unsurprisingly, they rush to the defense of a helpless damsel.
Speaking of unselfawareness:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-stein-obama-mental-health
JPL
@Elizabelle: Megyn Kelly was invited to take Trump’s place. I don’t know if she will but let’s remember that Steph gave to the Clinton Foundation.
Trump said he meant whatever, not wherever. He should tweet Bqhatevwr, then everyone will just think it’s a republican thing.
Elizabelle
@debbie: Ben Stein. What a sad ass.
Elizabelle
@JPL: Good morning. I don’t understand your first paragraph. And who’s Steph?
AndiG
(Longtime lurker, first time poster.)
Uh, yeah, Lapeer is special, even in these parts.
Earlier this week I was talking with a coworker from Lapeer, just talking about family stuff in general and how complicated (or uncomplicated!) it can be in this area.
She was having some issues with the local school system because all three of her kids had different last names, but didn’t realize they all came from the same “family.”
Someone the topic of cousinhood came up, and she just casually mentioned that she had a first cousin and second cousin that married, and she didn’t know how to “describe” the relationship of her kids to their kids in terms of their cousinhood.
I resisted the urge to say “f’ed up” and walked away from the conversation at that point.
(Compared to the rest of the crew I work with, she’s actually quite pleasant to work with. But yeah, Lapeer.)
OzarkHillbilly
@Elizabelle: Definitely off his meds.
JPL
@Elizabelle: Megyn Kelly was invited to take Trump’s place at the Red State Convention. Fox News has brought up the fact that Stephanopoulos, donated to the Clinton Foundation. Because of that, he is a partisan hack who should not report the news. It was a poor attempt on my part, to show the hypocrisy of Fox News. Time for coffee.
Schlemazel
@debbie:
Ben Stain is an artificial fart. Noisy, may stink the place up, but neither genuine nor useful. He hit his peak in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Peale
Discussing this story last night, I came to the conclusion that this scheme would never work for me. I don’t have any enemies I could plausibly point to as trying to destroy me with vicious rumors. I also don’t have any friends trustworthy enough to spread vicious rumors about me. The only thing I have going for me is that I’m pretty certain I have friends who’d believe falsehoods about me. I guess for me it would just make sense to have sex with the rentboy. I might as well enjoy the sex since I won’t escape the scandal, mainly because I have friends who are dishonest in all the wrong ways.
Chris
“And on the fourth day, God created the Remington semi-automatic, so that man could fight the dinosaurs.”
“And the Homo Sekshalls.”
“Amen!”
beltane
The conservative uproar over Megyn Kelly is solely based on the fact that she is a valued employee of Murdoch/Ailes. That’s it.
Emily68
Maybe the guy really is gay, maybe without even realizing it himself. So having sex with a male hooker is a pretty exciting thought for him.
RSA
@JPL:
I have sex with inflatable barnyard animals, as Broadway show tunes play in the background.
Whew! I’m glad that’s out there. Just in case.
MattF
@Schlemazel: As well as famously wrong about a long list of things. Felix Salmon, when he was blogging for Reuters, had a ‘Ben Stein Watch’ where he would point and laugh at Stein’s howlers in personal finance and economics.
JPL
@RSA: It’s okay. You need to watch Lars and the real girl.
Gvg
@Elizabelle: mopar is what parts for Chrysler, dodge parts are called. Back before foreign auto companies took American owners loyalties, families used to be partisan and only buy from one of the big American companies. It was like football team fan loyalty. weird frankly. I didn’t associate it with country, just old time car buyers. My Uncle is a Mopar loyalist and a really good home mechanic, but he is a Florida native. I also had the impression that the loyalist was more intense in the Midwest near the traditional auto plants. I can’t remember what the other brands part supply names were.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gvg: I know some guys who are still that brand loyal. Delco is to GM what MOPAR is to Chrysler. If I remember correctly, Ford uses only Ford parts.
MomSense
The pup is sleeping so sweetly this morning. She looks like an angel. It’s a hard life for a pup when you wake up in the middle of the night and eat some walls while the rest of the family is definitely not dreaming of spending a gorgeous Saturday spackling.
What in the world????
GregB
Even when they are having sex with women, conservative men are thinking about sex with men.
WereBear
@GregB: I needed that laugh!
Amir Khalid
So this conservative Republican politician figured it would look less bad to be cheating on his wife with rent boys than with another woman? That’s probably not it. My guess would be that he planned to let the rent-boy story spread; and then once it was debunked, the media and whoever else would assume he was all clean and let him alone to pursue his affair with the lady. (I don’t think this would have worked, either.)
MomSense
@Amir Khalid:
I’m actually a little sad he didn’t get away with this bizarre scheme just long enough to cry crocodile tears about liberals trying to persecute him and ruin his marriage. Isn’t that where he was planning to go with this foiled charade?
Elizabelle
I want a weekend that is not dedicated to talking about Republicans.
Craving a banh mi sandwich. Might head to Eden Corner in NoVA today or this weekend. Restless.
Elizabelle
A Basic Introduction to Vietnamese Food
So much to learn.
geg6
These two are the perfect distillation of the Teahadis. Stupid and vile and it would be hilarious if they weren’t representative of about 40% of voters.
BobS
Courser seems to be the first tea party rep who embraces the ‘teabagger’ designation.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
I like Song Que, which, sadly, is closing next month.
I try to stay away from Eden Center on the weekend, because the parking lot is a madhouse. But I have the luxury of going there during the week, since I live under a mile away.
Amir Khalid
@MomSense:
We have a similarly bizarre scandal going on in Malaysia right now, involving the Prime Minister and a buttload of money (2.7 billion ringgit, or about US$700 mil) that was parked in his personal bank accounts earlier this year. He has yet to offer an explanation that makes sense. This is the same schmo whose administration’s dealings with the MH370 families for the past year and a half have been plagued by so much highhandedness and needless secrecy.
LarryB
When I first saw this story I thought it was a teaser for a TV movie. The dude is a dead ringer for Bill Paxton.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone:)
Got Peanut and her grandmother off to the Bud Billiken Parade, complete with lunch.
I’m off to swim and run errands.
rikyrah
@LarryB:
I read it a couple of times to believe that it was a real story.
Truth continues to be stranger than fiction.
Iowa Old Lady
@JPL: So Trump alludes to menstruation, and he’s disinvited because woman stuff is icky.
OTOH, Walker says “Let them die,” and that’s fine.
My anger over this is actually growing.
jl
@JPL:
” The RNC communication director, refused to condemn Trump’s remarks on the Today show.”
Are you effing kidding me? The era of the troll on BJ is dead, killed by the arrival of the BJ practical joker.
Don’t say stuff like that if it isn’t true. It isn’t true, right?
Gimlet
@Iowa Old Lady:
It sounds like a failed attempt at a clever quip. Comes up as an awkward gaffe. Most of the time it’s recognized as a stupid-fail and life goes on.
Sounds like people are trying extra hard to eliminate the Donald.
Josie
@MomSense: (Chuckles knowingly). This too shall pass, when she is about two years old.
Amir Khalid
@Iowa Old Lady:
The Donald is saying now that he wasn’t referring to menstruation at all.
jl
@Elizabelle:
” She’s not that much better than Trump. She looks better, and that’s about it.”
Trump would go apeshit over that kind of insult on Twitter. If you have an account, stay away from it until the urge passes.
Iowa Old Lady
@Gimlet: I don’t care what Trump said because he’s preposterous and will never be president. But Walker is taken seriously by the Republican party and voters. He’s a sitting governor. In a sensible society, people would shun him.
Josie
@Elizabelle: Last week I finally, after three tries, succeeded in making decent bread for banh mi sandwiches. They are so good. I will probably gain a few pounds from this victory.
MomSense
@Amir Khalid:
There are seemingly lot of people who seek public office for the power and personal benefits rather than for altruistic reasons. I bet we could create a profile of the politicians who have been involved in massive corruption and criminal behavior and find some common traits. The problem is that some of these politicians are really good at selling themselves and we want to believe them when they tell us what we want to hear.
satby
@Iowa Old Lady: this society stopped being sensible 40 years ago.
I agree with you though. It’s just mind blowing that statements like Walker’s barely get a notice from the press now.
MomSense
@Josie:
It’s getting a little depressing though especially since she has also eaten furniture. I had one of those cleaning the house pity parties where I was broadcasting how I can never have nice things. I remember my mom doing that when our Saint Bernard ate all the things and we kids couldn’t pick up our wet towels or wash a glass to save our lives. Some things never change.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
If you’re going to be a thief, dammit..
BE A THIEF!!!
Amir Khalid
@MomSense:
The PM we have now, our sixth, is in politics because it’s the family business. He is the eldest son of our second PM and a nephew by marriage of our third. He’s never been as popular as his dad or his uncle, though, and has been seen throughout his career as a player within the ruling party’s machine rather than as a leader of integrity or vision.
satby
And since it’s an open thread: anyone else suffering from Saturday ennui? I have had 5 cups of coffee and can barely be bothered to consider changing out of my pjs. It’s not like I don’t have a million things to do, either.
Gimlet
@Amir Khalid:
Follow the money.
Josie
@MomSense: Yeah, the corgi also ate pillows and furniture, in addition to walls, shoes, video games, rugs and probably other thngs I have repressed. I just kept telling myself to try and remember what is really important, but it is difficult when you are living through it. I did pen him up at night for a long time, though, so that I could sleep without worry.
rikyrah
I could give two shyts about what Trump said about Meghan Kelly. She has sat up there, without fail, while countless other females, including the First Lady and her daughters, have been insulted, and she hasn’t said shyt.
So, no…I don’t give a phuck what Trump said about her.
Botsplainer
@rikyrah:
Go big or go home. Steal enough money to stage a quick exit to a place that won’t extradite, and live in splendor there.
MomSense
@Iowa Old Lady:
This is what gets me. What Walker said was truly apalling. What he is advocating is forced death for a woman whose life is in danger because of pregnancy complications.
NotMax
@RSA
Who doesn’t?
;)
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Josie:
Recipe?
jl
@satby:
” It’s just mind blowing that statements like Walker’s barely get a notice from the press now. ”
Walker says stuff that is infuriating and frightening, but I think it is for the best. If he is the nominee, I don’t see how he does not destroy himself for the general with his outrageous statements. A commenter familiar with the WI scene (Omnes?) said that Walker simply cannot shift to the middle for the general. I wasn’t sure what that meant when I read it. I now suspect it means that Walker is psychologically unable to say anything but the most asinine and/or viciously extreme thing he can think of.
So he will babble about no abortion even if dire threat to life or mother or surely fatal fetal deformities right up to election day.
And he can bash unions, so knows exactly how to deal with IS.
And whatever insane stuff wanders through his head that he can blandly intone with a blank stare.
RaflW
It should be obvious to anyone with a brain (ie: not GOP primary voters) that if you are a ‘family values’ Republican, you are almost certainly screwing around on your wife. The more you protest gay marriage, the more we’re gonna think you have skeletons in your closet you need to hide.
satby
@MomSense: @Josie: My last rescue wasn’t a pup, she was 3 years old when I took her. Two rooms with holes in the plaster, 3 area rugs, 2 comforters, the leg of a vintage ottoman and another table, 2 plastic crate trays, and countless beds, pads, towels and sheets later, and she’s crated if I am not in the house or while I sleep. We’re all much happier. Now I go buy old flannel sheets or towels at Goodwill when there’s a 50% off sale, put them in the crate, she slowly shreds them over the course of however, and I change them out when there’s nothing but cloth ribbons. She works out her anxiety, my belongings and my wallet are spared more trauma.
Amir Khalid
@Botsplainer:
I suspect that 2.7 billion ringgit was from his party’s slush fund, rather than money stolen for personal enrichment. But it was still stupid of him to be connected with it.
jl
Watching the GOP cower in front of Trump will kill off the old Vaudeville ‘Aristocrats’ joke.
The punchline will be ‘GOP Bigshots!’.
MomSense
BTW I never thought it would be possible that the Republicans would attack Trump to the point where a billionaire can play the underdog.
Josie
@Steeplejack (tablet):
http://danangcuisine.com/banh-mi/recipe-86-banh-mi-vietnamese-baguette/
This is the one I finally settled on. There is a very helpful video and recipe. I did increase the recipe to three cups of flour with everything else proportionally more and made six buns from it, since the buns were too small for us at first. It is pretty much like making french bread. The hardest part is getting the slit done correctly.
scav
But, should we really be insulting the deep convictions of their O!-so professed faith?™ I’m sure they both heard the baby Jeebus calling upon them to indulg in aldulterous behaviours and lie and misuse state funds and jerk their employyes around. God brought them on this planet to be adulterous liars introducing bills to mock the love and commitment of others while trashing thier own.
Also getting a bit of a something to discover the bridge somewhat near too far chez R isn’t insulting an entire nation and its natives (leaving aside a military vet or ha! a mere president), blah blah, blah, just don’t go after the blond girl. The other one, sure, but hands off the blond.
satby
@jl: hope you’re right. But it’s depressing that he’s considered a serious candidate in spite of his crazy views. If the press did it’s job he wouldn’t have gotten that far.
Amir Khalid
@jl:
Just curious: is Walker one of those who would like to make it a felony for a woman to suffer a miscarriage?
MomSense
@satby:
All the furniture is now covered with the old sheets and bedsoreads. It’s like the downscale version of closing up the summer cottage for the winter.
She really fooled me wih her cuddling through the night with her brother for the last few months so it will be back to the crate from now on.
Mike J
@Amir Khalid: The money was just resting in his account.
jl
@MomSense: The GOP is now full of incompetents who lose to any reality that they cannot buy with $ or manipulate by brute force, and are dangerous mostly because in the US election results are particularly susceptible to those means.
GOP progress towards 2016 general election will be a series of prat falls, face plants, and Courser-Gamrat gambits and we lesser people just have to hope that is enough to cost them the election.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: Thank you. I will go to Song Que on a weekday. Highly recommended.
Do you have any faves in Annandale?
MomSense
@Amir Khalid:
I confess to great ignorance about your political system. Did he simply benefit from popular affection and loyalty to his family? Is it just really difficult to unseat his party?
jl
@Amir Khalid: I don’t know if it is part of his explicit policy sewage.
debbie
@MomSense:
Nothing sneakier than canine subterfuge.
JPL
@MomSense: It’s unfortunate that Trump doesn’t read this blog. All he has to do is point out that he wouldn’t let a woman die during child birth.
satby
@MomSense:
OMIGOD, you just described my house’s constant state.
I have an antique sofa and chair that I only see when I change the double covers on it. Paid a lot of money for that beautiful upholstery too, back 10 years ago. I never even get to sit on the sofa, it’s covered arm to arm with dogs.
Josie
@MomSense:
I had to laugh at this. it is exactly what my house looked like for two years. He is three now, and my son and i were commenting the other day that he never chews on anything any more. We have moved to a house that has a pecan tree in the back yard, so he gets his chewing exercise from cracking the pecans.
Josie
@satby: We should form a club.
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: Prezactly.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: Wonder if Korra is getting into her rebellious teen years. Don’t (particularly, big) dogs go through a naughty stage, where they’re challenging their people? Once it seems their training is down pat. But, not.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Mike J:
Resting for a good long time.
Amir Khalid
@MomSense:
Najib Tun Razak is president of the lead party in a coalition that has never been out of power since independence in 1957. He and that coalition won the 2013 general election despite getting fewer votes than the opposition coalition. (Yes, we have a gerrymandering tradition in Malaysia too.) His Barisan Nasional coalition has been losing popularity in recent years to the opposition, and he himself has never been all that popular with the public. Nobody here is particularly impressed that he’s a golfing buddy of Barack Obama, for instance.
Mike J
No football talk on opening weekend?
Bournemouth is looking pretty good against Avril Lavigne.
MomSense
@satby: @Josie:
Ultra shabby chic? Derelicte Maison?
Ralphie;
I live in Wisconsin. Michigan stupid can’t hold a candle.
Benw
@jl: Walker may not survive a presidential election, but what is so infuriating about his “let the mother die” position (and those other candidates who agreed with him), is how it shifts the goalposts again. Now we aren’t fighting to keep abortion legal, we are soon fighting to keep a few medical exceptions to *illegal abortion*. And the press either blindly or happily follows along, reporting on who would or wouldn’t allow exceptions. The point should be abortion must be safe and legal for all. Period.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
I think it is mostly puppy with a good dose of not having a job to do. She is a bundle of working dog drive and ambition without enough to do. Walks and swims don’t cut it for her.
scav
@MomSense: Casper, the friendly couch?
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: There is nothing to compare with street food in Vietnam. And the coffee is to die for. I have attempted to duplicate the Hanoi coffee experience for years now, with no success.
MomSense
@Amir Khalid:
Wow some things are truly universal, even gerrymandering. It’s amazing how effective election laws can be in preventing fair elections where the outcome matches the will of the people.
MomSense
@scav:
Ha!! But I’m a friendly couch it says as the dog gnaws on it.
Botsplainer
Bun bo Hue is my favorite variation of pho. I’ve created a home version, but to be honest, it’s cheaper to purchase at my local Vietnamese places.
Josie
@MomSense:
Canine Coutoure?
Hal
Post GOP debate and no one is talking about Kasich, Christy or Carson all that much. Trump, Rubio, Jeb with a little of the Huckster. I know there were four other people in that debate but I can’t remember who.
jl
@Benw: I agree, but I think one tactic in that fight is to force them to state their real beliefs. Attacking any effective form of contraception, and then forcing women with a life threatening illness to die, or a fetus destined to die at child birth to be delivered, no matter what, are part of their true beliefs and I think better that they be forced to admit it. Walker just blandly admits it and looks like he is patiently waiting for his ‘nice dog, here’s a cookie’ reward, and it is infuriating to hear, but people need to know that what they want is far ‘ickier’ than anything that would happen under Democratic policies.
gene108
@MomSense:
For the the media to acknowledge Walker’s abortion statement, it would mean acknowledging the fact the “moderate” Republicans like Walker are just as nuts as the “legitimate” rape Senate candidate from Missouri.
The media really does not want to read the writing on the wall, from all the anti-abortion legislation state governments have passed over the last four years, that a Republican President with a Republican Congress will make anti-abortion legislation the first thing they pass.
And they will keep pushing until abortion is illegal in all cases, and then go after birth control, from slut pills to rubbers.
bemused
Trump’s latest “blood coming out of her wherever” comment is stunningly obnoxious, one of his most disgusting public remarks yet. There’s not a damn thing the establishment GOP can do about Mr. Shock and Awe that I can see. Will Trump “tell it like it is” fans love him even more?
I think we all know or have encountered Trump characters somewhere along the way. There is that guy always at the local bar that everyone in town knows, loud and outrageously opinionated, a carbon copy of Trump. Bar patrons would be divided among those who studiously ignore the blowhard, those who who think he is an idiot egging him on so they can laughingly jeer at him and a small percentage of locals who love the way the guy says exactly what they think.
Trump is the asshole idiot bloviating at the bar.
MomSense
@Josie:
Yes! Dogfugyourhouse.com. I should totally start that website. Wonder if the fug girls would mind?
Steeplejack
@Josie:
Cool, thanks. If I could make those at home they would be great for a lot of things.
Ralphie;
@Hal: Walker was there. More criminals know about Walkers secret e-mail router than Walker does.
Josie
@MomSense: Who are the fug girls? I am woefully ignorant of this website.
ETA: Sounds interesting
jl
But, what do expect from a dope who says he will start a genocidal bombing war his first day in office?
My nickname for Walker is ‘Dopey the Death Machine’.
He would get a lot of people killed here and abroad while he tweets out that he just picked up some swell hot rolls and ham and blandly shuffles through one disaster after another.
I want this ass to say exactly what he thinks during the campaign, not after he wins another election.
Edit: and if his less honest fellow GOP pols and the corporate media scum say nothing, explain to anyone you know what that says about those tools.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: Giving some real thought to an extended stay in Vietnam.
Did you use the Lonely Planet guides? (Or maybe your tour agent was Uncle Sam?) Do tell.
Schlemazel
@MattF:
dang, sorry I missed that. It would almost be a whole career keeping track of Ben’s flubs though.
Ralphie;
@jl: He will never state what he stands for. Stand with Walker, you’ll fall for anything.
MomSense
@gene108:
It is maddening and depressing how terrible the mainstream media are in covering issues. Even if they do discuss the issue it is only in the “how will this play” sense. They don’t discuss what would happen to a woman who is forced to possibly die because she can’t have a safe, legal abortion. It was pretty appalling to me all the issues that weren’t covered in that debate. I don’t recognize the world they want to lead. We haven’t even discussed the #blacklivesmatter debate segment, brief as it was.
Elizabelle
@Josie: Congrats! Sounds delish.
I miss Orange County, CA and its good Vietnamese delis and restaurants.
gene108
@gene108:
Also, the fact Walker said he’d get us into tip-toeing the line into a shooting war with Russia also has been entirely ignored.
Arming Ukraine and putting missiles in Poland will just do wonders for peace on Earth.
MomSense
@Josie:
Gofugyourself.com. They review celebrity style hilariously.
Josie
@MomSense: Ah, thanks. I will go explore.
germy shoemangler
The GOP debate, songified:
We Need Brain
jl
@Ralphie;: Dopey Death M does seem to be more explicit about his extremism, and just blandmouths out the most extreme specific policy proposals and statements of any of the candidates.
I hope the idiot keeps thinking that crushing unions is a sure sign he knows how to deal with the likes of IS, and keeps bragging that crap every time he speaks.
Schlemazel
@Elizabelle:
Little Mekong is having their festival this weekend. St. Paul has the largest community of Hmong in the US and dozens for decent little Vietnamese restaurants – perhaps the only good thing to come out of our misadventure in SE Asia is the improvement in our local dining options.
jl
@gene108: None of the Democrats currently running would ignore it in the general election.One of HRC’s current hobbies seems to be fine tuning policy and issues based attack ads. I think she has found a great hobby and hope she spends a lot of time on it.
WereBear
@Elizabelle: That’s kind of true; their brains develop more, and they think of new ways to get around the rules.
Schlemazel
@Ralphie;:
Well the bleed-over of stupid across the UP/Wisc isthmus certainly makes it difficult to pick a ‘winner’ in this contest.
PaulW
Shameless plugging here.
My local writers group decided on a group project: write a themed set of short stories and self-publish an anthology. Which we did: Stories for All Seasons is now available. Kindle-only, I’m afraid, if you have EPUB readers I will see if we do get that formatting done. My story “Where the Snow Is Grey” is towards the back, but wheeeeee it feels fun getting published again.
Amazon link is here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013FBFK4Q/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_JYFXvb0CG29TZ
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
Sorry. Living so close to Eden Center is like living in Vietnamese food paradise, so I don’t really look for Vietnamese elsewhere. I have tried really hard, but I still haven’t eaten at all the places in Eden Center.
There is a place on Arlington Boulevard down at Annandale Road that was good the one time I went there, but I’m blanking on the name.
. . . Okay, just did a little Googling, and I think it’s Present, at 6678 Arlington Boulevard. It was good, but it has been over a year since I was there, because Eden Center.
danielx
From overnight thread…..like Donald Trump gives a flying fuck about Erick Son of Erick’s thoughts on any topic whatsoever, or cares about attending some RedState conference when he can be out on the links someplace. It’s what is driving them totally insane – Donald Trump does not care what other Republicans think. He’s never going to have to angle for a guest spot on Fox or a comfy sinecure as a “fellow” at AEI or the Heritage Institute, so there’s no leverage available to use on him.
jl
Soon will be time to start doling out nicknames.
‘Cherubio’, ‘Tromp’, sound good to me.
‘Blossoming Turd’ is a fine polysyllabic, and can be shortened to ‘B-turd’ or ‘B-tard’ when shorter is needed.
‘Dopey Death Machine’ is OK too, can be shorted to ‘Dopey Death M,, or ‘Death Dope’ when needed.
Amir Khalid
@danielx:
The Republican party is Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the Donald is that endless line of marching brooms, carrying their buckets and buckets and buckets of water …
jl
@danielx: I can see why Trump makes fake journalists like Chuck Todd piss themselves with fear, resentment and rage (very civilly suppressed rage, I hasten to add). Todd and his ilk always have to worry about what the GOP thinks.If they don’t play the corrupt corporate media news information product game correctly, they get culled, thrown out like the morning kitchen slop. And what the egregious GOP suits think plays a big role in that world.
Iowa Old Lady
@PaulW: Looks good, and I got a new kindle fire for my birthday to replace the second generation that was slowing down. Also, the price is right!
Amir Khalid
It’s his 64th birthday today, so Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal sang When I’m 64 at his first post-match press conference of the new Premier League season. (Tottenham Hotspur had been kind enough to concede an own goal and all three points.)
Schlemazel
@jl:
I prefer Tronald Dump or just “the dump” for short
@Amir Khalid:
agreed . . . except that’s not water in those buckets any more.
thus endeth my scatogical reading for the day
Schlemazel
@jl:
I prefer Tronald Dump or just “the dump” for short
@Amir Khalid:
agreed . . . except that’s not water in those buckets any more.
Schlemazel
@Schlemazel:
Thus endeth my scatalogical comment for the day
BTW – FYWP for not allowing me to put that in the original comment
Brachiator
@JPL:
Trump will be totally forgotten by the middle of the primaries. He will never be a factor in the elections. And as I noted in another thread here, the GOP should use this knowledge to their advantage.
Trump’s Achilles’ heel is that he is thin skinned, perceives minor criticisms as huge insults, and always fights back dirty. This may sometimes work in business and in his showbiz career, but is anathema in politics.
Trump is also stupid. He previously insulted Rosie O’Donnell, a comedian who knows how to deal with hecklers and who hit back hard at the Donald, making him look even more like a fool. And to insult Kelly, a news anchor with an audience and a microphone? Really?
The GOP’s smartest move would be to make sure to include him in the next couple of debates. His presence increases the audience and makes the other goobers look moderate by comparison. This early in the campaign, the GOP needs all the extra publicity it can get.
The network hosting the debate should have at least two women moderators, and maybe a Latino, and have them hit Trump hard with tough questions. Even go in for the direct jab and dare him to say something stupid about them.
Oh yeah, and when Trump comes out on the stage, they should play Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.” Loud.
And instead of dancing around Trump, the other candidates should attack him, belittle him and dispute the legitimacy of his even thinking about running for president.
Call his freaking bluff. He will then either slink away in a huge huff or self-destruct. The business side of his brain will take over and he will see the stupidity and waste of self-financing a third party run.
Maybe he will be able to get a commentary gig on Telemundo.
Mike J
Chrome extension replaces “political correctness” with “treating people with respect”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL5L1IWUMAA1f8H.jpg:large
(via BananaKarenina on twitter)
jl
@Schlemazel:
‘ Tronald Dump ‘
Thanks.It is done. Trump is a colossus, a multitude unto himself, and may need more than one nick name.
Tromp Dump might work too, since it pictures what he is doing the pile of turds that constitute the current GOP field.
Let’s see how they work.
“I can’t wait to see how badly B-turd flubs his attack on Dump’s sexist slur against Kelly. I want to see the Blossoming Turd in full flower”.
Sling some try outs with your ideas for nicknames, buddy.
sukabi
@VidaLoca: like he said, typical republican game plan.
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: Kind of figured things out on my own. I know that’s not much help.
SiubhanDuinne
@PaulW:
Just ordered and downloaded. I look forward to reading your story (as well as all the others). Congratulations on being published, and thanks for the heads-up.
Schlemazel
@jl:
Remember I rarely do subtle but some of these are too nice anyway:
Snotty Walker
Reverend Huckleberry
Ayn Rand
The biggest loser (Dumbbell-U calls him “tortoise” I have to think about using that)
Krust Krusty
Ted Crud
‘Ol Frothy
to me the rest are just “some random one of the 7 dwarves”
PaulW
well damn I can’t find it listed on Goodreads… :(
PaulW
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thank you! Please leave a review if you like any of the stories.
PaulW
@Iowa Old Lady:
Thank you! As I mentioned on the other reply, please leave a review if you like any of the stories. That goes for anyone else downloading. (I hope the ebook formatting went cleanly as well, it’s our group’s first epublish attempt)
jl
@Schlemazel:
thanks, noted.
K-suck
K-bee (and more fully spelled-out variants)
should he rise himself into contention.
Edit: Ted Crud is going down, probably Dump’s first victim. Can start calling him the Loser Cruiser in honor of Dump’s victory.
Ralphie;
Listening to Dire Straits. They can’t approach my level of disgust. Close try, however.
Schlemazel
@jl:
I know they are not all winners but we have to start someplace. Schoolyard taunts work
jl
@Schlemazel: Still early in the cycle.Inspiration starts with perspiration. Their rightful names will be discovered and the dubbing will commence in due time.
Brachiator
@PaulW:
Looks like fun. Thanks for the link.
A couple of questions about what you do.
Does your group have any formal channels to help publicize and market your work? Is there anything in amazon that helps with bringing attention to your work? BTW, in running the cursor over the other author’s, there was nothing showing, but when I clicked the button to show all the authors and scanned your name (presumably) I saw further info about author’s pages and author central. Kinda hidden.
Also, what device and software do you use for your writing?
I am not a writer, but am just curious about how writers use and adapt to technology, especially given all the changes happening in the publishing industry these days.
srv
If the past 6 years have taught me anything, it’s realizing a huge segment of the population isn’t living in reality. Reading these last threads, I have to expand that population even further.
Cckids
@Elizabelle:
My mom (Nebraska) would say “That boy is dumber than a bucket of hair”. I always loved that one.
Brachiator
@bemused:
I don’t know. It actually seemed kinda mild, but it was certainly confusing.
Was he trying to say that the reporter was obviously mean to him and irrational because she was “on the rag?” Or what? Hell, if he is going to insult somebody, Trump should be more clear about it.
And for Trump, this kind of thing was crass, but it was more typically obnoxious than it was stunningly obnoxious.
And sadly, this is not just the kind of thing that you hear some jerk say in a local bar, it is the kind of thing that you read all the time in comments on the Internets.
Trump, however, is not some anonymous goober. He has chosen to get into the public political arena. And instead of going tsk tsk about his inopportune language, the GOP and the press should go after him with everything they’ve got. Keep him in the debates and humiliate him.
Democrats should sit back and enjoy the show.
Schlemazel
@Brachiator:
When the opportunity arises I thing Democrats should always ask “What, specifically, is Dump saying that is different than what the GOP has been saying for some time?” Sure, he may not say it as sweetly but it is what the party has been saying
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Trump’s Achilles’ heel is that he is thin skinned, perceives minor criticisms as huge insults, and always fights back dirty. This may sometimes work in business and in his showbiz career, but is anathema in politics.
I agree with you on this and that he will never be elected. Selected as the republican candidate though? Entirely possible. A good portion of the right likes the way he talks and what he says. He’s a rich and louder version of them. And there is nothing that the ptb of the right can do about it. Money? He has enough on his own, can’t be broke, most likely can’t be bought. A future? He doesn’t need a job, he did the reality show for a lark and a boost of his ego. What bigger boost can he have than president? Stupidity? The right likes this, it makes him one of them. As much as some don’t want to admit it, he is the perfect conservative candidate for the average voter. The powers that be hate him of course because he’s out of their price range and doesn’t give two shits about them. That and that he’s taken the wrapper off the obscenity that is today’s (and the last 60 yrs) conservative party.
Schlemazel
@Ruckus:
This should be carved in marble and displayed at the DNC. Well put!
Brachiator
@Benw:
@MomSense
People, especially Balloon Juicers, need to stop blaming the press or expecting the mainstream media to ride to the rescue. Traditional media is dying, and what’s less is being bought out or dominated by conservatives with a hard right agenda.
The larger challenge is that an increasing number of states have elected Republican majority state assemblies and Republican governors who then attack abortion and women’s reproductive rights from every angle.
And the weird thing is that a strong plurality of citizens in these states, if not an outright majority, appear to be OK with this. They certainly keep voting these fools into office.
Even though the right to abortion is settled law, there seems to be a shift in public opinion, and a retreat to the sick fantasy that if you control a woman’s sexuality, then maybe somehow old style morality will return. Or maybe middle and upper class women believe that they will be able to do whatever they want, including get an abortion, no matter what restrictions are on the books, a new age of hypocrisy.
But if people, men and women, think that reproductive rights are important, they are going to have to convince the prudes and moralists, and fight for them again.
Mike in NC
I’m seeing more and more Letters to the Editor embracing Donald Trump as one of those rare True Conservatives who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, unlike the RINOs who want to raise taxes for stupid things like schools and roads, and who allowed the precious Confederate flag to be mocked.
Kathleen Parker came away from the debate with a new heartthrob: Rubio! (She fell very hard in love with Romney in 2012 and gushed about him as frequently as possible. Time will tell how long this infatuation will last.)
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@jl:
The thing about Walker is that he talks the same way in his private conversations. He believes this stuff – it’s not just talking points to appease the rubes that he needs to vote for him.
The other night I listened to his conversation with ‘David Koch’ (19:58, with subtitles) again. He was joyfully relating all of his tactics to try to destroy his opponents. He’s dangerous.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
@Schlemazel:
I like T Rump, from the political cartoon the other day. Notice that it is a description that precedes where yours comes from as well as calling him the ass that he is. Both very appropriate. How to choose?
chopper
@Schlemazel:
let’s see, there’s creepy, baldy, angry, thirsty, trumpy, jebbie and baby doc.
trollhattan
@OzarkHillbilly:
Ford useta have Autolite. Today? No idea. A lot of the subdivisions blew up in the Great Recession.
I’ve switched to brands that all seem to use Bosch. Not necessarily the best brand as far as the wallet is concerned, but there ya go.
Cckids
@Schlemazel:
I’m partial to Jon Stewart’s ” F*ckface Von Clownstick” myself.
bemused
@Brachiator:
You might not hear the loudmouth in the bar say what Trump said, not quite that crude, more likely to say”on the rag” but even then the idiot risks getting his ass kicked by the females there and knows it. Trump has no fear of that. So far R candidates, GOP nor media are far from ass kicking.
trollhattan
@srv:
You should go back ten years, minimum. And what the fvck does that moron #1 quote about moron #2 have to do with anything?
Josie
@Mike in NC: The MSNBC pundits who were commenting on the debates that night were also gushing over Rubio, in addition to Kasich. Both, interestingly enough, are more acceptable in a general election. It’s as though someone has given marching orders to favor these two. Their questions were easier and their answers were “strong” according to the pundits.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2015/08/the-fox-news-debate
trollhattan
@Mike in NC:
Swear to bog I heard NPR talk with Jen fvcking “I-love-me-some-Willard” Ruben this morning, sticking daggers into Trump. If she’s somehow upping her status as a go-to expert I’m going to stab the radio.
The instructions have certainly been circulated to off Trump at all costs, the sooner the better. This is the machine at work, in full view.
Brachiator
@Schlemazel:
The notion that Trump is just another Republican, and that they all believe the same thing, is just dumb. And even if it were true, this gets you nowhere.
The party hates and fears Trump. Even the Koch brothers left Trump out when they invited the other candidates over to kiss their butts. Democrats should sit back and let the GOP deal with this.
@Ruckus
You may be right about some of this. In democracies, some citizens have always been attracted to tyrants (in the ancient Greek sense of the term):
And Trump’s appeal is not just to conservatives. He appeals to non-voters and to lots of people who love it that he appears to be sticking it to other oligarchs like the Koch brothers. And I heard a caller to a liberal public radio show note that he liked both Trump and Sanders because they didn’t seem to be part of the Establishment, and were straight shooters.
But even as Trump’s poll numbers rise, his unfavorables rise as well. Conservatives DO NOT all see him as one of them. The Tea Party types and the most furious Republicans insist on purity. Their candidates must hate and be committed to destroying the Democrats. That Trump will contribute to and party with Democrats does not please them.
And aside from immigration, many in the GOP think that Trump is a moderate in conservative clothing.
But the bottom line is that Trump is still just a theoretical candidate without a record in political office who appeals to whatever delusions his fans have about him. And he will either self-destruct or get spanked in the primaries, where people actually commit to a candidate.
But if he does indeed start winning primaries, then it will be a whole new ball game. But I am still willing to bet good money that Trump will soon fade away and will not even be a third party candidate.
jl
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Precisely why it is better that Death Dope (aka Scotty Beam me the Clown Walker) say exactly what he thinks, if exactly what he thinks is likely to sink him. A guy like Brain Glasses Perry would be out of the highest bidder, and can be bought from from disaster from time to time.
@Josie:I don’t think ‘as though’ belongs in your comment. It was a crooked debate run by a crooked media news organization. The candidates were only slightly better, since, some of them at least, are nuts, rather than crooked, or both crooked and nuts.
jl
@Brachiator:
” But even as Trump’s poll numbers rise, his unfavorables rise as well. ”
There is evidence otherwise.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2015/08/03/poll-new-high-for-trump-new-low-for-clinton/
We’ll see if T Rump Dump’s latest stunt changes that.
I think it is true that there are few ways Trump differs from others. You are right that he is not rigidly ideological, he calls out the big money corruption of US politics, his only fixed political enemies are those he considers to be losers, not moderates or liberals.
But on the bigotry, the anti-science, and many other issues, he is standard GOP BS.
Brachiator
@jl:
I’m not sure why some people need to insist that Trump is just like the other GOP goobers. And you are willing to acknowledge some key distinctions.
But no matter. What is more important is that the GOP have deep fear and loathing for Trump, and fear even more that he may peel off third party votes if not sufficiently appeased.
As I noted, right now, I am not worried about Trump and am willing to sit back and enjoy the show.
He is really nothing more than a side show until he wins some primaries and gets some endorsements.
Uncle Cosmo
@Brachiator:
FTFY. The electorate whose votes the GOP depend upon, not so much at all. And that’s the rub-a-dub-Dubya: They’re facing the classic 1950s-monster-movie dilemma: You could nuke The Beast but you’d destroy your own city/country in the process. They’re still fumbling around for a method to kill off his candidacy that doesn’t discredit the party for the next generation. What Faux tried Thursday night sure as hell didn’t work.
Then again, Trump may in fact be The Monster From The GOP Id, sprung full-blown from Cheney’s brain amplified over the past 40 years by the Great Far-Right Krell Wurlitzer into a lethal thrat to the party itself….
Brachiator
@Uncle Cosmo: RE: the GOP establishment have deep fear and loathing for Trump
Until the GOP electorate actually vote for Trump in a primary, or select him in a primary, the depth of his appeal is theoretical. He is pleasing the masses now, but it doesn’t cost them anything to yap and applaud him.
Some folk used to insist that fawning over and becoming beholden to the Tea Party discredited the party. Nobody cares; the GOP never learned anything from its past debacles, and today even more openly embraces bizarre free market oligarchs like the Koch brothers.
I would love to see the GOP self-destruct, but it is not happening any time soon. And they have all these successes at the state level. They will have governors and senators to throw at the presidential nomination derby for years to come.
rikyrah
@Ruckus:
this this
a thousand times this.
he’s not saying anything that the rest of the GOP isn’t thinking.
he just does it in non-Frank Luntz approved language.
Schlemazel
@Brachiator:
T Rump says what the GOP says so it is a winner to remind people of that and/or make the articulate what the difference is. Sure, he does not say it as sweetly, couched in flowery language but just as mean-spirited, heartless, and evil. Make them own what they believe & not pretend to be any better than Dump simply because they didn’t call Rosie a fat cow out loud.