Damn, Melania hates the loud-mouthed fatberg she married for money and a green card! Check out how she avoids holding his tiny, damp hand as they’re lined up to meet the Macrons at the White House:
Melania fending off Trump's pinky advances here is just brutal. pic.twitter.com/ag4PkxLYbO
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) April 24, 2018
The facial expression — or lack thereof — tells the story too. Still, no pity. She chose the rotten bastard. We didn’t.
Major Major Major Major
And she can leave whenever she wants, unlike us.
Patricia Kayden
She didn’t hate his birtherism. Or his money.
dedc79
And she will eventually inherit a whole lot of his money. We will not.
Meanwhile, if the Clintons had ever been caught on tape in a similar situation, Fox would be running it on an endless loop like it was the Zapruder film.
trollhattan
Quoting our French exchange student from last summer, “Ooh, she hate him.”
Ze French know, and have known.
Garbo
I would pay big bucks to listen to an audio feed of her inner monologue. NSFW, obviously.
aimai
She looks like she wants to barf. And though I have no pity for her I also think he probably beat her at some point. She looks terrified.
germy
Can any lip readers tell me what he says to her when she finally accepts his hand?
Does he mention the pre-nup?
I’m guessing she signed a contract stating
• She would never appear in his presence without makeup or heels
• In public she would cheerfully accept all displays of affection
Lapassionara
@Major Major Major Major: I am not sure she is free to leave. I don’t know what their arrangement is, but I think she may be stuck in a way we don’t understand.
In any event, I don’t waste my pity on her. I focus my concern on the victims of Trump’s policies.
Kay
They don’t seem like happy people, though, do they? Apart from the marriage. Just as individuals they always look either miserable or angry.
PaulWartenberg
she kept that hat on almost the whole event. like she was trying to use it to block eye contact?
The Ancient Randonneur
She’s still upset he had the porn actress spank him with a copy of Forbes magazine. She knows a real man would have picked Field and Stream or better yet Guns and Ammo.
Major Major Major Major
@Lapassionara:
I don’t really get what possibilities you’re alluding to.
trollhattan
@Lapassionara:
It’s simple: Barron. She leaves and he stays behind.
piratedan
her relationship with him is like his relationship with America, he wants her to love him and to allow him to fuck around on her all she wants, and while a good portion of America is okay with that, she’s plainly uncomfortable with it (post the discovery that she’s nothing more than a prop). For all we know, she’s held in place by Vlad himself as some kind of backdoor conduit to give him a heads up when Donnie goes off the rails (or his meds).
Mary G
I feel bad for Barron, He’s in a horrible situation. Melania should just grab him and take off for Paris or someplace. The tree planting ceremony was funny, though. Mme. Macron looks like she’s tensed up and ready to run if Trump swings his shovel at her.
Garbo
The difference in her affect between the funeral(!) and any time she is with Trump tells the whole story. Narcissists don’t have to physically abuse to crush a person’s spirit. She made her bed, but it’s costing her more than she’ll ever inherit.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
The small victories in life.
trollhattan
@Mary G:
Heh. What are the odds Sessions is underneath that tree?
The Moar You Know
@Patricia Kayden: Exactly. I hate this woman and I hate the people trying to make me feel sorry for her even more. I never will. She not only chose this course of action but thought it was a good idea.
I will give this and only this: she surely thought he’d be dead by now. She should have realized that people like him live into their nineties, because hell doesn’t want them. Nobody likes them or their shitty, whiny company.
@trollhattan: I’m sure that’s the arrangement, but you can’t tell me a woman who would subject a child to having Donald Fucking Trump as its father gives a flying fuck about the welfare of that child in any way, shape, or form.
JPL
Betty, You should add this picture..
https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/988862200583405568
southpaw is right .. Holy Matrimony.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
seriously what the hell man
Kay
Melania is probably the least-known First Lady ever, in my lifetime anyway. Did she ever have another job, other than as a model? Was she married before Trump? Does she have siblings?
I read an interview with her during the campaign where I thought she was really ungenerous to immigrants, especially considering she is one, but that is literally all I know about her. That’s she’s kind of a jerk regarding immigrants.
Cheryl Rofer
Trump and his body language and that of those around him is an enormous subtext to all his state functions. The stuff with Macron was weird too.
Yarrow
@aimai: That’s awful. Wonder what happens if he assaults her now? Does the Secret Service step in? They protect the First Lady but also the President. Hmmmm…
Mike J
@Garbo:
I’d smile too at any Bush family funeral.
JPL
@Kay: Does it count that she was an escort?
Yellowdog
@Major Major Major Major: He may get custody of Barron of she leaves or divorced him. No mother could allow that
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
It’s likely, Weasel Face being who and what he is, threatened to revoke her immigration status and deport her back to whatever unintelligible language country she came from
Mary G
The best lawyer strikes again, not having learned from the shouted conversation on the patio of the restaurant, Ty Cobb is informing all around him of his strategy for defending Twitler:
That mustache is ludicrous. I thought Trump didn’t like them?
Planetpundit
I have some empathy for her and Barron. Anyone how much longer we must suffer until the next Lily update?
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@Mary G: Has to be sabotage. Just has to.
Schlemazel
@trollhattan:
that is it I think
she agreed to no contact as well as no money
plus she is not too old & famous to return to her back for bucks, nobody want that for the amounts that would support her in the style to which she has become accustom
Kay
@TenguPhule:
They all seem miserable. That whole administration. Ivanka and Jared are so carefully marketed and groomed their faces don’t “say” much of anything- I think they long ago lost all capacity for spontaneous, natural expression, but would you describe them as “happy”? I wouldn’t. They don’t even look happy when they’re skiing and skiing is just a very happy thing – lotta smiling on ski slopes. Not those two.
Lapassionara
@Major Major Major Major: I am not sure what it could be, but it is clear she is miserable and would like to be anywhere but with him.
Cheryl Rofer
@efgoldman: I’ve been thinking lately about the fact that two of Trump’s three wives have come from Communist or former Communist countries.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I just don’t know what to think about her. It does seem clear that she can’t stand the bastard (I like “fatberg”). But, yes, she went into this with her eyes open. It isn’t like nobody knew about his cheating on wives and cheating in business, and she went along with it anyway. Maybe she thought she could change him. I guess I can’t fault her for that; lots of people go into marriages thinking the same thing. But she did stick with him through seven excruciating years of racist shit he said about Obama, she stuck with him through the vile campaign, she’s stuck with him through this tire fire of an administration. Shit, she spoke for him at the Republican convention.
I don’t know what to think. I just don’t understand why she doesn’t walk away. If he ends up in disgrace–well, it’s a little late for that, I guess–or in jail, I guess she’d stand a much better shot at getting his money if she’s still married to him. Maybe that’s her plan, to wait out the inevitable downfall (and I choose that reference knowingly) and then take what she can.
sdhays
@JPL: That makes me smile.
eric U.
Trump reportedly tried taking Uday (or Qusay, I forget) and it lasted about 10 minutes before Trump’s goon brought the kid back.
I thought there was video evidence of Melania acting approvingly of the birtherism. But she does seem really happy in any picture with Obama. And any other time where she’s not with Trump.
Mary G
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Yeah, PLEASE FIRE ME. He’s dressed really shlumpy, which Twitler will hate.
The observer also tweeted:
Major Major Major Major
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): I hated that episode of Black Mirror.
Garbo
@Mike J: Ha!
Corner Stone
@Schlemazel: Want to try that one again but in English?
TenguPhule
@Kay:
These are the most opaque intruders in the White House, ever.
Its as if they all have no real pasts before taking over. We get bits and pieces. but the overall picture has far too many blank spots on it. All these scandals popping up over and over again are because there is ZERO in depth and comprehensive investigation of their history. Its too consistent to be considered coincidence.
Jeffro
@Cheryl Rofer: Jeez what an ass.
Spaniel
Did I see her scowl and reprimand before he finally grasped her hand? I wonder what the Mama Bear have to say about this behavior?
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@Major Major Major Major: Never watched it.
@Mary G: Wilford Brimley has really let himself go.
Jeffro
Wait…why should Melania be so resentful? Trumpov SAID everything bad (Stormy, Kate, the pee tape) is ‘fake news’ and also he’s a very stable genius. Who am I not to believe him?
LOL
bemused
@germy:
Just guessing but to me it looks like he said “thanks you”.
Glamour has a video closeup of the hand holding. Makes me cringe. I don’t feel sorry for her but she tried her discrete best to ignore him.
Schlemazel
@Schlemazel:
That should read “NOW too old” not, “not too old”
She could go back to the oldest profession but not at the rates she needs to make for her upkeep.
I need to stop trying to type with one hand while cooking
kindness
You have to wonder what is in the pre-nup. No doubt something strong enough to keep Melania married.
JPL
@sdhays: Like Betty said She hates him
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
I asked this in the dead thread downstairs. Is liberalism/social democracy ideologically compatible with authoritarianism?
Major Major Major Major
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Good, don’t.
efgoldman
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
I don’t, ever, until someone brings her up. We are equal; I don’t give a shit about her, nor she about me.
bemused
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Trump is losing his fixers so maybe she is waiting until trump is on the skids and and has no one, no real power left to intimidate her not to leave.
SFAW
Amazingly enough, Melania’s predicament stirs my formerly-dormant compassionate side. I can only imagine what Hell she must be going through. Were I the weeping kind, I would weep for her.
I think I should get some kind of award for typing the above paragraph without erupting into howls of derisive laughter or a major league fit of the giggles.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
Democracy and authoritarianism can co-exist, but inevitably the former must bow, kneel, and then finally prostrate itself before the latter.
Liberalism and authoritarianism are like oil and water, they normally don’t mix but a third party can force them together which lasts only as long as that third party is present.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Kay: Being who they are is both their crime and their punishment.
Kay
@TenguPhule:
It’s odd, isn’t it? With Melania is comes off a kind of exaggerated politeness, a deference, a “well, we won’t go there” as if there’s always been this understanding that no one knows anything about the First Lady but that simply isn’t true. It’s like there’s no normal biographical detail- as if it’s “scandal!” or “nothing” and there’s no other option.
I know so much about Michelle Obama. I know her parents basic biographies. The NYtimes did an entire long piece on her ancestors like they had to trace the genetic line back to great great grands. I’m having disclosure whiplash. We went from the kerning on Obama’s birth certificate and CNN sending a team out to his grade school to these …blanks.
Betty Cracker
Of all the hand-avoidance maneuvers Melania has deployed, I like the one where she tried to stab his hand with her pointy index fingernail. She should file her nails to razor-sharp points.
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
293 pounds of fat humping her once a month from behind.
Chet Murthy
@Lapassionara:
Oh bullshit. She’s an American citizen. Even the Shitlord can’t take that away from her. All the rest? It’s just haggling over the price. She’s staying b/c she wants her parents to have a place to live in the US? Or a visa? That’s part of the price. She’s haggling over the price. There’s no way she’d lose custody of Barron. And no way the Shitlord would survive trying to keep him.
Ben Cisco
Thanks for making that point. She was all in on the birtherism, and I give not one fuck for any discomfort she’s dealing with now. People running with that “poor Melania” foolishness can shove it.
Steve in the SFO
@JPL: you beat me to it!
Timurid
@kindness:
She’d be losing out on Trump’s money. But the book and movie deals would be worth a king’s ransom.
Brachiator
Great quote! I had read about this incident between Trump and Macron, but had not seen the clip until now. Trump looks like a fool, although I’m sure that his idiot supporters will think he looks like a dominant male during this little shit show.
bystander
Given what we know about the lack of mutuality in twitler’s NDAs, I’d be surprised if their pre-nip isn’t similarly one-sided. I just wonder if there wasn’t a fidelity clause that favored her as well as him that she’s invoked once his infidelities became public. I don’t like thinking about it too much. It’s like cheering for one scorpion over another.
Mary G
Somebody will probably front page it, but @darth’s version of the two c
ouples standing together is pretty funny:
Chet Murthy
@Schlemazel:
Custody of a minor child is not a “privilege” AFAIK. It’s a responsibility, in the child’s interest, not the parent’s. The parent can’t “sign it away”, just like a mother can’t sign away a father’s child support responsibilities. Maybe she agreed not to contest custody in exchange for $$. In which case, again, she’s just haggling over the price.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Also frustrating and rather rage inducing. As you say, we went from every hour of the Obama’s past being examined and reported and speculated to….nothing.
We get articles about Trump’s bad dealings…and no followup, no overarching story arc like “The Emailz!” that ties everything into a simple linear timeline of everything going on with the Trumps.
Its as if every news organization took their cue from the FYNYT and just assumed everyone in America already knows because Trump was a NUU YOOOKA and on tv. Hell, we know more about the pasts of most modern movie stars then we know about the Trumps.
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy:
Actually, if she lied anywhere on her application, he can.
trollhattan
@Brachiator:
BBC has it front-paged: “Trump brushes dandruff off ‘perfect’ Macron.”
The world watches.
Captain C
@dedc79:
Assuming there is any. I wouldn’t be surprised if either he’s underwater, or if his assets get confiscated by the Feds or New York State.
mad citizen
@Mary G: I can get you a toe.
Major Major Major Major
@Steve in the SFO: Are you really in the SFO?
The Moar You Know
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Experian and Equifax taken to the next logical conclusion. And it’s coming here.
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy:
I’d respect her more if she went back to turning tricks honestly.
sixthdoctor
It really would’ve been nice if this joyless, resentment-laden financial agreement that’s technically a marriage was a private drama and not the face of America. Thinking about THAT gets me reaching for the Jameson…
Kay
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
They always look so stiff and uncomfortable but, Jesus, both of these people have been photographed for decades- she was photographed for a living and he has made a career out of using media to sell his garbage. You’d think they would have gotten comfortable with being in public in formal clothes by now.
Chet Murthy
@TenguPhule: Ehh, c’mon. You and me, yeah, they can take it away. Her? C’mon. So she married into mobster royalty. It’s still royalty. They don’t live by the same rules we do. I’m not excusing — quite the opposite, I’m saying that I don’t buy that she could be worried about that, b/c it’s not a realistic possibility. No, it’s about money, plain and simple.
What she needs to do, is get herself Michael Avenatti for an attorney, and go to town on Putinfluffer’s ass.
Garbo
Oh shit. EXCLUSIVE: Comey Has Brought On Former U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald As One Of His Lawyers via @TPM. Are we going to be tortured with Fitzmas again?
rikyrah
@Patricia Kayden:
Tell it
Schlemazel
@Chet Murthy:
Toe-may-toe / tah-mot-oh
she agreed to not contest custody, I assume for a lump sum settlement of a pre-agreed price.
I have no more sympathy for her than I have for anyone who sells their soul to the devil. I am sure the devil’s deal sounded good before the details hit & there is no way out any longer. It is possible to pity them without feeling sympathy.
TenguPhule
@Chet Murthy:
Federal Court case history is pretty clear on this. Lying on your citizenship application in a material way gives the government the grounds to revoke it after the fact. There is no time limit.
We’ve revoked it for former Nazis caught decades after the fact.
Once you’re out of the mob’s good graces, you’re vulnerable.
ruemara
I honestly don’t care. I’d trip her off a cliff too.
Amir Khalid
In some ways, Melania’s situation is much like America’s: stuck in a bad marriage to a horrible, selfish, and inadequate husband. I do sympathise, a little, with her. She doesn’t seem to be in a position to walk out on him, for whatever reason. But I don’t think she matters enough to deserve hate: she’s not even his most powerful enabler. Throw her out of the White House, and Donald Trump will still be the problem. Stay focused on him.
rikyrah
@Kay:
They traced 44’s ancestry all the way back to the first slave in America . And, now…nada
TenguPhule
@Schlemazel:
To be fair, the Devil is a man of his word. Most of his customers try to cheat him instead.
TenguPhule
@ruemara:
I always found that a good hard shove to the back to be most effective.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
I agree with this analysis. It would take very special circumstances for that kind of of ideology to take hold, especially here in America. Not that I would want it to. I understand too well that letting any individual or group of individuals too much power is an invitation for disaster.
For every decisive genius there is also a maniac/idiot who would fuck everything up. Concentrating power into one person/position is always a Bad idea.
p.a.
Eh. Sorry for the kid. She knew his CV.
PaulWartenberg
I’m just hearing now about the Toronto terrorist who drove a van into a crowd, killing 10+ people.
He’s part of some online community called “incel”.
THIS IS HORRIFYING TO ME.
I am so sorry.
SFAW
@dedc79:
From whom? I’m guessing Shitgibbon’s net worth, while not negative, is nowhere near what he pretends it is. I’m also wondering what percentage of his “wealth” came from his post-inauguration grifting.
The Moar You Know
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Ideologically compatible? No, not really, but liberalism/social democracy is so easily corrupted into authoritarianism that one could make an argument that it’s merely a necessary step to the end game of an authoritarian regime.
FWIW, that’s an argument I’ve always believed. The Roman Republic/Roman Empire is the penultimate test case, but almost any given authoritarian regime started from a democratic base. Every society gets lazy, sooner or later. Freedoms get taken for granted; the “responsibilities” part of “rights and responsibilities” gets forgotten and ignored. When the vigilance is dropped, there’s always some asshole with a master plan who is ready to “go there”.
trollhattan
Speaking of how Trump attracts the bestest and brightestest:
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@PaulWartenberg:
Yeah it is. It originated on Reddit I believe, the cesspool of the internet. I used to keep up with this stuff but I believe “incels” refer to “beta-cucks” or something. These men are supposedly angry that women won’t screw them and be their slaves.
mainmata
@germy: It looks he’s saying a gruff “Fine!” as in “Glad you stopped making things difficult.” But, she clearly looks like a hostage, which is her messaging, of course.
eric
I dont see the incongruity of saying simultaneously that she brought her circumstance on herself and I pity her for the public ridicule it brings upon her being with such a pig. She would not be the first person I pulled from the burning building, but I can feel sympathy. Without a welcoming heart, the prodigal child will never come home. That is what separates us from the true beasts (ie, the GOP)
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: My extremely cynical take on this is that every form of governance inevitably bends towards tyranny, some forms simply take a longer path then others to reach the same final destination. Once enough bad people have the power to change things, they do.
hellslittlestangel
I have no sympathy for Melania,but if she ever puts a pillow on the old man’s face that could change.
Brachiator
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
Much like the characters in a French novel that Macron may have read, Zola’s Thérèse Raquin.
TenguPhule
@eric:
If she couldn’t afford to pay for my services cash in hand, I’d throw her back inside.
trollhattan
@eric:
Yup, there’s a lot of sentiment she weighs the same as a duck. I can’t imagine her life. I can well imagine she has restricted access to resources and is surveilled 100% of the time. She should grab Barron, “go for a little walk” and head for the Ecuadorian embassy.
Mnemosyne
@Kay:
It’s the Botox. They can no longer move their facial muscles.
And I’m not joking about that, either.
Raoul
@aimai: I suspect he yelled his ugly, evil head off at her after she got home from Barbara Bush’s sendoff, and he’d seen the ‘smiling with Barack at a funeral’ photo get wide play on twitter. I don’t much care for her, but I’d imagine he has her access to their son very much as a divorce-prevention-threat.
donnah
Someone posed the question the other day that asked if anyone has seen Trump laugh a genuine laugh. He smirks, he puts on that big shit-eating grin, he has a close-mouthed smile, but he never seems to laugh or look truly relaxed or happy. Imagine posing every day of your life, unable to feel or express emotion. Not that I feel sorry for him, just glad that the fat bastard is seemingly miserable.
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
Unpossible! Every physician in the entire world has stated that he is in the bestestest condition of any president, ever, and in better shape than Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Ivanov, Jerry Rice, Abebe Bikila, and Rafer Johnson — combined! — ever were.
Or so I’ve heard
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: incels are “involuntary celibates” since obviously the onus is on other people to screw them, not themselves to become screwable.
It was only a matter of time before the MRA’s started getting people killed.
hitchhiker
Back in the day, my girls and I used to hate-watch America’s Next Top Model. I liked the photo shoots, where these young women’s faces, hair, and clothing would be excruciatingly arranged just before they had to go do weird shit. Like stand inside a meat locker, or balance on a rock covered with slimy seaweed in high winds — stuff like that.
While getting their picture taken.
That’s how Melania always looks to me, like a wannabe model hoping to take a good picture while cursing herself for agreeing to be part of this stupid show.
The exception is the funeral, of course, where she was allowed to just be a person for a few minutes.
Garbo
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Incels are men who are INvoluntary CELibates. Which is all the wimmens fault. Check out @ArshyMann on the Twitter for his thread.
The Moar You Know
Americans are fucking awful people.
mai naem mobile
I have zero sympathy for Mel. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s connected to the Russians and I wouldnt be surprised if she wasn’t. I am guessing Barron is the one she’s hanging in there for. He probably can’t make his own decision till he’s twelve. I can’t believe any of the pre WH NDAs and pre nups can still be in effect practically. I think the stuff would be too much of a PR disaster for Dolt45. Also,I think she could write a tell all in a ‘fictional’ novel form and she would make a gazillion dollars off it. If Dolt45 used Cohen for his pre nip or NDA with Mel,it will be full of holes. For all we know, Mel may just be a stupid gold digger who thought she could make a million bucks for a year long marriage and maybe got stuck because of her immigration status.
eric
@trollhattan: She would not make my top 200 in nasty ass right wingers. My god, think of D’Souza, O’Keefe, O’Reilly, Dobbs, Cruz. I save my vitriol for that ilk. I just dont think she has earned this level of vitriol.
It strikes me that her two big sins are marrying him and the birtherism. I think she married him for her parents as much as for herself. That seems modestly admirable. As for the birtherism, I think it was wrong and certainly engendered racist overtones.
ruemara
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Ask the DSA trolls who think they can find common ground with the alt-right ( some who’ve gone full nazi) because they too hate oligarchs (Jooooos) and banksters (JOOOOOOOoooooo).
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@eric:
The problem with this is that she knew what she was signing up for. She had a choice. She didn’t have to marry him. She was a model right? Did she really need the money Trump offered?
I know women (and anybody really) will do alot if it means they can get out of horrible circumstances. I don’t know what her previous life was like before Trump.
I do feel sorry for the son, though. He didn’t have a choice. Also, you can feel sympathy for someone’s situation yet still not really feel sorry for them.
SFAW
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
I believe “incel” is short for “involuntarily celibate.”
ETA: As MMMM already noted.
schrodingers_cat
AFAIK Melania got her GC before she got married to T, on the basis of her modeling portfolio, magazine covers etc.
Captain C
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: It’s short for for “Involuntarily Celibate.” It means they can’t get laid, even though they feel entitled to (free) sex from super-attractive women (who presumably have no say in the matter). Never mind that they could either go to Nevada or Amsterdam and hire someone, or just learn how to be a decent human being such that someone actually wants to sleep with them.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@The Moar You Know: Some would say deplorable even.
SFAW
@Major Major Major Major:
If I understood correctly the report I heard today, apparently Toronto asshole was not the first. Some guy in California — Elliot Rodger? — beat Toronto moronto to it, back in 2014.
JPL
@Captain C: Well if they were wealthy like Trump, it wouldn’t be a problem.
just sayin
eric
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I dont know what she knew. I am not saying she makes my top 200 most deserving souls either. I just think that the vitriol is disproportionate to her actual sins of commission. Laura Bush KILLED a man and she never got this level of vitriol.
rp
Is this a low point for Greenwald? Or maybe a high point — peak Greenwald.
Ms. D. Ranged in AZ
@TenguPhule: Was that entirely necessary? I don’t get offended very easily but that made my gorge rise.
ruemara
@Captain C: Except they hate prostitutes even more than they hate beautiful women who won’t sleep with them. And the worst are white women who betray decent, kind (white) guys like them to go be with brutish black men. But seriously, they hate prostitutes.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
@Captain C: @SFAW:
@Garbo:
Wow. I was off a little. These men are probably assholes anyway.
I can understand being lonely. I know I do, but you can’t be an entitled shit expecting women to sleep with you. Sometimes it takes effort and sometimes it hits you out of no where without even really trying (you meet someone and strike up a conversation; you both hit it off). The common thread here is that being an asshole/creep is not going to get you closer to getting laid.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yellowdog:
Wasn’t there a story. — I’m vague on the details — that during their divorce Donald once threatened Ivana with custody of the kids, and she basically said “Fine, here they are, have fun” and walked out, and after only a few hours in the company of young Uday, Qusay and Lucretia, he called Ivana and begged her to come back and take them. He seems to know or care nothing about his offspring until they’re at least 21. He might threaten to use Barron as a cudgel against Melania, but he is as inept at parenting as he is at presidenting or businessing or human beinging.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@SFAW:
That’s right. They like to complain about SJWs and “tumblerinas” ruining everything. I don’t understand why all of this started happening around 2013-2014 but that’s when a lot of this reactionary garbage started getting traction.
Feathers
She’s like the aging femme fatale in an old film noir. Thought she was making a clever, clever deal, but now there’s no way out.
You really need Ross MacDonald or Raymond Chandler to tell her story. She’s one of the “angels with a broken wing” who’d sleep with Travis McGee, only to end up dead by the end of the novel. If the lot of them were pulling their scams in a small Texas town, rather than Manhattan, it would be pure Jim Thompson.
“She can’t be all bad. Nobody is.”
“Well then, she comes the closest.”
– Out of the Past
dedc79
@SFAW: I don’t think he has anywhere near the wealth he claims to have, but he doesn’t have to in order to still have an obscene amount to get split up among his heirs.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@The Moar You Know:
Disgraceful that the NRA was willing to amass 2.4 million in a single month from predominately small-time donations.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
Also, an obsession with getting laid. There are other things to do!
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
That has actually struck me for a long time as well. Not quite sure what it signifies, if anything, and I don’t have quite enough tinfoil on hand to make a useful hat, but it’s … interesting.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
Exactly! I think that has something to with associating manhood with sex. Virginity (for men, and more recently for women) is seen as a negative. They’re losers, in society’s eyes. The trouble is they’ve bought into that masculinity narrative, without realizing that toxic masculinity is just as damaging to men as it is to women.
zhena gogolia
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
Yeah, and I gave donations to two OTHER of the SIX HUNDRED gun-control organizations. This my gripe. We don’t have a single, central organization to donate to, like the NRA.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
And yet we have a fucking parade of Republicans in Congress showing us that this is just not true.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
is that what they call Russian money these days?
schrodingers_cat
@SiubhanDuinne: Is T, Martha*? And is Melania his KGB handler?
*From The Americans.
TenguPhule
@eric:
Actually she did from some of us.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
That Jane Goodall quote is spot on!
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: Is it a real quote though? All the Google results are of that tweet.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
They have money/legacy and have some degree of charm. They have to in order to be politicians.
@TenguPhule:
The BBC article only mentions that the donations were primarily from donors who gave less than $200. That to me suggested that a lot of people donated to the NRA to reach 2.5 million.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
I have heard of The Americans, but regret to say I have never watched it so only vaguely get your reference.
Guess I really should break down and buy a TV one of these times.
M. Bouffant
@SFAW: Indeed. Matter o’ fact, the suspect allegedly called him “Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger” on the Facepuke post he made just before he went for his drive.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
or a lot of Russian bots.
LanceThruster
Need to look into the Vegas odds on her filing for divorce post presidency. The odds on her doing so before he leaves office depends on some truly insane disclosure on Mango Unchained.
Barbara
@JPL: That picture . . . just has to be seen to be believed. Lot of good responses on twitter but my favorite is “Pistols at dawn on one side, undying love on the other. A picture paints a thousand words.”
schrodingers_cat
@SiubhanDuinne: Martha is the secretary in FBI’s counter intel division. Her KGB handler marries her so that she will keep providing him info.
Feathers
@zhena gogolia: Yes, this. My father has done volunteer work with local anti poverty groups and he says the amount of wasted money and effort from people starting their own charity rather than working for a larger one in enormous.
He had to fight other board members of one org not to build their own daycare center for over a million dollars, instead of partnering with another local group to expand their center. He did the math and discovered it would cost $200,000 to serve the same number of kids. But he got major pushback. Yes, there was a consultant who came up with the build a center plan.
debbie
Has anyone heard about this rally? It’s from Time Magazine, but there’s nothing showing up in a Google search.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
I guess it could be made up, in which case, big props to Mrs. Betty Bowers. It does sound like JG, though like you I can’t find an independent source after 30+/- seconds of googling.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
That’s a possibility. Although that many small donations to the NRA does seem too obvious. Larger donations I would think would draw less attention. I have no idea what kinds of laws govern this so i’ m probably talking out of my butt.
thalarctosMaritimus
@Major Major Major Major: Jane Goodall worked with chimps, not gorillas–that was Dian Fossey.
I’m not saying she couldn’t possibly have opined on gorillas at some point, just that gorillas sounded a bit off for her.
debbie
@JPL:
Tell me, does it ring a bell? ;)
https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a24858/obama-michelle-inauguration-hand-kiss/
ETA: I’d bet that, while his love for his wife is certainly genuine, Macron’s hand-kissing gesture intentionally echoed Barak’s.
TenguPhule
@Feathers:
I think the first thing we need to do is bury all the consultants.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
Larger donations actually attract more attention from banks.
hueyplong
I like to imagine that Melania is Trump’s control agent and she gives him the back of her hand each morning as she gives him his orders from Vlad.
It’s the romantic in me.
Brachiator
@thalarctosMaritimus:
I thought it was Bob Fosse, who taught bonobos how to dance. :)
I knew I was tired today. I should have known better and caught the Goodall “quote.” It may not be authentic at all, but certainly fits the occasion.
ruemara
@debbie: Yes. In fact, saw the photos of cops pulling weapons on counter protesters & read the account of a journalist who was removed by the cops at the behest of the Nazis.
JPL
@debbie: Then they continued on to the British Isles. I remember because my son was visiting and I said he (Obama) needs to get his butt home and help us. That is when my son said he’s not our president now. That’s when I cried.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
The assumption was that wealthier RWNJs would provide the bulk of it since the NRA probably lies about it’s membership numbers.
Steeplejack
@debbie:
It was discussed here a bit.
I don’t know what you’re using for a Google search, but
will give you lots of hits from all the major news organizations.
debbie
@ruemara:
I’m shocked. I’ve seen zero coverage of this and only heard about it from an outraged FB friend.
debbie
@Steeplejack:
I didn’t include the city and state, but all of the hits were for past rallies. Plus nothing on the “News” page.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Yellowdog:
There is no family court judge in any urban area that would grant Deadbeat Donnie custody of a child, no matter how many bullshit prenups he waves around.
That would be an incredibly empty threat, and destined to end badly for him.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
It’s already happened — that’s what the deal was with the guy who ran people over at UC Santa Barbara (Isla Vista). His manifesto was all about how his murderous actions were the fault of the women who refused to fuck him.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
Chavez, Lula, Peron, Correa may fit that model.
Steeplejack
@debbie:
Well, it’s not the latest “news” now, because it happened last Saturday.
New York Times story here.
Michael Harriot’s piece from The Root here.
Barbara
@Mnemosyne: George Sodini
The guy who went to a women’s Latin dance fitness class and shot three women. He was angry that women rejected him. A woman later came forward to say that she had dated him (he had a good job and seemed pleasant) and the only thing he talked about, the whole time, was his gun collection. She didn’t go out with him again.
And let me add, our world is so pathetic and fucked up that when I searched for “Pittsburgh mass shooting” I had to add search terms to find the right one.
rave
Take a fucking breath:
ruemara
@debbie: Because, honestly, the media only cares about whatever Donny is doing and Dems in disarray.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Barbara:
So, in other words, it was him and not “women”.
Mnemosyne
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
The NRA has been hiding its donors from scrutiny, so I suspect it’s Russian money in smaller, easier to deny amounts.
Gelfling 545
@Major Major Major Major: She could leave with nothing. She could lose custody of her child. Who knows what ghastly limitations are put on her? Though it’s hard to picture any halfway competent judge giving Trump costody of a goldfish – still.
Mnemosyne
@rave:
IANAL, but if the guy is not getting a psychiatric evaluation right now, I would be shocked. Still not a lawyer, but I would think that not passing a psych eval would override the “everyone gets bail” law.
Barbara
@Mnemosyne: He would be involuntarily committee as — duh — being a threat to others. But his commitment would be to a psych facility, which might not have the same security measures.
debbie
@ruemara:
Very sad. In my yokel area, I find I get more information from Colbert than I do from local news sources. Some of them seem to be turning against Trump, but still.
Viva BrisVegas
@schrodingers_cat:
She got her Green Card via the EB-1 program, while dating Trump.
‘EB1-1 is available to foreign nationals who demonstrate extraordinary ability in their field, whether the sciences, the arts, education, business, or athletics. Extraordinary ability is normally proven through showing evidence of “sustained national or international acclaim”.’
It’s also known as the “Einstein Visa”.
My guess is that Trump holds evidence to show that the EB-1 qualification was fraudulent. That is what he holds over her. She can hardly take Barron back to Slovenia with her.
JR
What is the Turd Estate?
TenguPhule
@Viva BrisVegas:
The sex couldn’t have been that good.
schrodingers_cat
@Viva BrisVegas: I know about EB-1a. And calling it an Einstein visa is a bit misleading because you don’t have to be necessarily a Nobel winning scientist to get a green card on the basis of extraordinary ability.
MoxieM
@Viva BrisVegas: Why the heck not? Lubljana is a lovely city, and Slovenia is in the EU. I’d go like a shot … but then we’re not talking about me, thank the cosmos!
Viva BrisVegas
@schrodingers_cat:
Do you think Melania could have qualified in any way shape or form without fraudulent documentation and/or bribery?
schrodingers_cat
@Viva BrisVegas: I am not an immigration lawyer nor am I familiar with Mel’s modeling career. Most of the EB-1a cases I know are of scientists. I can see how a top model could qualify if she could prove that she was at the top of her field (compensation, acclaim, awards etc..)
Viva BrisVegas
@schrodingers_cat:
She wasn’t.
satby
@schrodingers_cat: she wasn’t a top model. She did soft core porn.
Chris Johnson
@sixthdoctor: Nah man. It’s the face of Russia.
I still think Melania is the ‘KGB minder’. Dirty job, not least because the guy is ungovernable for good or ill. It’s not like he will even obey his proper owners.
schrodingers_cat
@satby: @Viva BrisVegas: That’s your opinion. By their very nature the EB-1a case decisions are subjective. I am not comfortable with using Miller lite arguments against Melania or her parents, who used the laws on the books for their immigration applications. I do not wish to re litigate the immigration status of Melania’s family.
I follow more than one immigration lawyer, who are of the opinion that she had a credible EB-1a case.
ETA BC has accused her of marriage fraud in her GC case.
psychobroad
@Kay: She’s anti-Semitic as hell, also racist, she defended Dump’s birtherism more than once. She, like Dump, is pure trash.