God knows there are more serious problems in the world, but as an American who still retains fondness for our national colors, I must speak out on the ongoing molestation of the American flag by one Donald J. Trump. He’s been creeping up on Old Glory since well before the election and putting his hot, sticky, undersized mitts on the red, white and blue in a distressingly sexualized manner. Here’s a still photo depicting a creepy assault on the flag at a Florida campaign stop:
And here he is getting grotesquely handsy with Betsy Ross’s handiwork at another campaign event. What in the wide world of fuck is that all about? Look at the perverted smirk on the villain!
But today’s assault on an innocent flag took the weirdness to a whole new level:
Pres. Trump hugged an American flag at the conclusion of his remarks to the National Federation of Independent Business, during which he aggressively defended his administration's immigration enforcement policies. https://t.co/kNXigzk6H4 pic.twitter.com/cJil7GuZkf
— ABC News (@ABC) June 19, 2018
I know it’s painful to subject oneself to Trump’s hideous visage, but watch the GIF to the end. He’s humping the goddamned flag like a horny chihuahua sexually assaulting someone’s leg. It’s disturbing and gross, and someone should stop him from ever doing that again.
Open thread.
terraformer
Goddamn this guy is a buffoon.
Feebog
Seeing those pictures made me nauseous. If any thing, he should be embracing a Russian flag, as that is where his loyalty lies.
MoCA Ace
I Love Flag
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
A few years ago, Drumpf was asked by Steven Colbert what do the stripes on the flag represent, he replied he had no idea.
Seriously, that’s basic knowledge drilled into everyone in grade schooler.
waspuppet
Well, it was a more chaste embrace than the one he gave his daughter at the Republican convention.
Mary G
It riles up the base and makes them think of big scary black men in football uniforms.
debbie
Gross but not surprising. Must not have been any pussies in the room to grab.
Elizabelle
Somebody suggested the flag is now part of the #metoo movement.
Roger Moore
It’s so typical. He doesn’t give a damn about anything the flag stands for, so he feels compelled to go way overboard in behaving as if he cares about it in public. But he doesn’t understand how normal people think, so his going overboard in caring about the flag seems creepy and weird rather than anything like the way a normal person treats it.
Yarrow
Fascism wraps itself in the flag.
realbtl
I read that as Desolation Row. Grim music for grim times.
Elizabelle
What a strange, strange thing that he feels the need to hug the flag.
I think, ever more, that he is a Russian asset, trying to distract attention from that. Mueller is living in his head, but good.
And he gets, on some level, that more people detest his border separations policy (you know, the one foisted on him by Democrats) than support it. So he’s humping the flag to show that he’s patriotic and protecting us.
Trump’s only allegiance is Trump.
TenguPhule
Gee thanks, its not like I needed to eat lunch or anything…..
zhena gogolia
I wouldn’t watch that for all the tea in India.
JPL
I’m not watching unless you promise to me that he didn’t hump it.
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
Internet won.
Chyron HR
Is he talking about the “Democrat law” that the Democrats in Congress are FORCING him to follow?
Yarrow
@Elizabelle:
Yep. You are also correct that he’s a Russian asset, as he has been since 1987. His apparently allegiance to Putin is all part of his allegiance to himself. He knows if he crosses Putin he’s hurting himself.
Betty Cracker
@Roger Moore: That sounds about right. Yet another failure to mimic non-sociopath behavior.
TenguPhule
I am shocked, shocked, to find that Republican tax cuts did in fact make our deficits worse.
KXB
Reminded me of an episode of Mad Men. Flashback to when Roger and Don met, when Don was working at a furrier. Roger says, “I can’t say I know my furs that well. I know my mother had a Chinchilla, I was always on the verge of a romantic relationship with it.” Got the same vibe here.
Betty Cracker
@JPL: He humps it. I swear to dog, at the end of that GIF, he humps the goddamned flag.
JPL
Dan Drezner said that everyone needs hugs, and Trumps come from inanimate objects.
M4
I can’t believe I broke my no-trump-video rule for this.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: I bet he left a stain. ugh
TenguPhule
@Betty Cracker:
New Flag, new White House. Anything else we need to add to the list?
satby
@Yarrow:
this. As foretold.
Betty Cracker
@TenguPhule: Just get Canada to come back and burn the White House down again so we can start from scratch once he’s gone. There ain’t enough Ajax in the world to remove the Trump stains.
Princess
Apparently 27% of Americans approve of the policy of separating children from their parents at the border. 27%. That number again. It’s uncanny.
ruemara
I’ve never had a drug problem but I feel like I’m having the worst LSD trip ever.
WaterGirl
This man is not well in any way I can think of. Not physically. Not mentally. Not emotionally.
No heart, no soul, no morality, no humanity. This pathetic excuse for a human being was elected as President. It still boggles my mind.
lamh36
The muthaphucka is fuq’n crazy.
BTW, Who wants to bet, DHHS/HSA have no idea where the girls and toddlers are!
That’s why they need “two more days” watch then it’ll be Friday or a news dump late Friday. or it’ll be we’ll have it after the weekend
john fremont
@Betty Cracker: ..and the flag will let him do it, because he’s the star of the show!
The Ancient Randonneur
@Chyron HR: Yea, too bad those mean ol’ Democrats couldn’t make him defend the ACA in court
satby
I had to leave the market earlier than I normally would have because I was getting more and more angry and unable to contain that anger with the low info red state morons there.
I’m becoming much less of a nice person, as if I was ever nice to begin with. I’m not in the mood to let any of them think their bigotry and cruelty is universally shared.
Emma
OK. That last paragraph made me nearly hurl. Especially since there wasn’t an iota of exaggeration in it.
schrodingers_cat
He doesn’t even smile like human beings do, even his smile is a dominance gesture, he bares his fangs and scrunches his eyes.
Amir Khalid
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
The original 13 states, right?
geg6
@JPL:
Don’t watch then!
schrodingers_cat
@lamh36: Nelson was told to wait for two more weeks. WTF is going on here?
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule: Air Force One. Fumigated like you cannot believe. It appalls me that Trump and Miller and Bannon and others have been jetting around on it. Le gag.
Wag
Is that a TELEPROMPTER in that gif? Who in god’s name needs one of those?
schrodingers_cat
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Its a question on the naturalization exam.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Heh, and Trump was born on Flag Day.
trollhattan
Sam Bee has the forbidden Stephen Miller audio. Enjoy!
M4
@Elizabelle: on the off chance he leaves office in Marine One and not some more disgraceful method, we’ll need a new helicopter too.
delk
That gif can be used in place of ipecac.
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
New electorate.
lamh36
Roger Moore
@lamh36:
They need two days to arrest enough more to set up a Potemkin site.
Yarrow
@schrodingers_cat: He’s an ill person.
Completely OT–I saw your question about how to make leaf mulch and that you got several answers. You can spend money and get something to grind the leaves up into smaller pieces and it’ll mulch faster. You don’t have to do that, though. Nature doesn’t. You can just pile them up. Make sure they stay damp and toss them from time to time. Air helps them break down faster too, so that’s why tossing it helps. If you have a larger enough yard, designate an area for a big leaf pile or pen and just make sure it gets some water. Remember the top layer can dry out and serve as thatch to keep the rain from going down into the pile, so that’s why tossing it can help.
Mary G
People on Twitter are already organizing a boycott and shaming of businesses that belong to the group he was speaking to.
jl
OMG, the gif won’t stop. Help!
The hostage drama has taken spotlight off other dirt, incompetence, dishonesty and mayhem over the last few days.
Tenughule mentioned one, above. Let them bring on Medicare and Social Security cuts for the midterms if they want to.
Trump has queued up tariffs on another $400 of goods for trade war with China ($200 B now and another $200 B if China does not surrender). I guess trade wars are easy if all you have to do is sit your obese ass in a chair and order up lists of goods from your flunkies. Trumpsters are not targeting the goods at all, which will mean maximum disruption with smaller chance of success. So, yeah, if you are going to do a stupid policy, why not do it in a stupid way. No low energy dumbshit stuff for Trump.
Wilbur Ross lied about his divestment, and is corrupt and has massive conflict of interest.
Stone and his pals caught lying about contacts with Russians during Trump campaign (though I think BJ covered that).
lamh36
The grifiting begins.
Elizabelle
Wonderful T storm (gentle one so far) rolling through. Dropped the temp at least 20 degrees, rapidly. We were under a heat warning today (mid 90s; felt like 101).
Applause for almost summer thunderstorms.
This summer is gonna feel like murder weather, with all the tension and flag humping going on.
Jeffro
@schrodingers_cat: He looks pretty demonic, even to this atheist. That picture of him meeting post-election with Mitt Romney was like seeing the devil himself receiving visitors.
jl
@trollhattan: As long as she doesn’t call Miller something rude, that is OK with me.
Chyron HR
@trollhattan:
The 15-minute version of Fly Like An Eagle?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
IIRC it took five years for somebody to get to “Go fuck yourself, Mr Cheney”
Elizabelle
@M4: I like your thinking. “More disgraceful method.” In cuffs. Escorted by unsmiling folks who look like Men in Black extras.
Tumbrels, of course. And there is always the hearse, for when he strokes out … le sigh.
schrodingers_cat
@Jeffro: Isn’t the devil supposed to be charming? You said demon, not devil.
Ohio Mom
@lamh36: You can be pretty sure she isn’t the only incarcerated child with a disability; Down syndrome facial features are just very well known, there are many more disabilities that can escape an untrained eye.
For one, if at least one in 100 kids have autism, well do the math. That’s a lot of autistics in those cages. In our public schools, something like 10-12% of students are on an IEP., so ahould give you an idea of how common disability is.
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: That was a photo for the ages. Cat who ate the canary and is looking at the next bite.
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: Musical, even. Plays the fiddle, if the Charlie Daniels Band is to be believed.
Trump is the troll under the bridge.
jl
Oh, and I forgot, Trump wants another military space command. Not the Air Force, he wants different branches to join the fun. Coast Guard and Navy? Some SciFi productions have spaceships that look a little ‘navaly’. Trump been watching Starship Troopers. Looks like Mattis lost that one, he didn’t think a good idea.
Edit: will the new force be named “TrumpStar Troopers”? Will there be hot chicks?
I heard a tape of Trump babbling nonsense when he signed his Starship troopers order, and when he signed some order about what appears to be a good initiative on cleaning up space junk (I guess something from the competent technical people left in the administration). I wonder if he has any ideas at all about what he was signing. Trump babbled about waste fraud and abuse, and ‘politics’ and bureaucracy was causing space junk. Made no sense.
The Dangerman
I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump WANTS to get 25th Amendmented out of there; there are lots of golf courses to play and lots of places where he’d like to place his balls. He got his tax cut and he sure as hell isn’t getting a wall; he might be breaking down.
Mary G
@jl: Yep, Politico is up today with a long article about Ryan Zinke’s wife and foundation and the CEO of Halliburton are trying to put together a development in Whitefish, MT that “some say” (should be every ethics official we talked to) is a massive conflict of interest in any number of ways. Zinke’s foundation is donated part of a park they gave to the city for a parking lot. What slimy swamp creatures all these people are. I need a shower just from reading it.
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: Slander! What have kittehs done to you. No animal deserves to be compared to the Orangosity.
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
I still expect there’s a decent chance he heads to Russia instead of America at the end of one of his trips.
Yarrow
@Roger Moore: The people flying Air Force One will not fly him there.
zhena gogolia
@The Dangerman:
You put on your rose-colored glasses this morning, didn’t you?
hellslittlestangel
He’s bragged about sexually assaulting women. At least the flag is an inanimate object — just a great big Kleenex, really.
JPL
@lamh36: I used up my allotment of f’s today, but just fuckem . .
raven
@Chyron HR: Gangster of `love is better!
Roger Moore
@Jeffro:
The one with his hand on the glowing globe was really freaky, too.
Ohio Mom
This post reminds me that at the last demonstration I attended (Trump was at a machine tool shop in my neighborhood touting his tax cuts), the Tea Partiers were across the street waving flags, occasionally shouting out, “Where are your flags?”
After that, I bought half a dozen small flags, about 8” across, to take to my next demonstration (looks like it will be a week from Saturday). I will not let those thugs claim the flag for themselves, or disparage my patriotism. I say, let’s all take flags with us, if for no other reason it will confuse those low lifes.
dm
@ruemara: gosh, this episode of Black Mirror sucks, and feels like it’s never going to end.
NotMax
May have been mentioned earlier; not entirely up to snuff on all threads (emphasis mine).
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore: That would be fascinating. A good end to this saga, if not Trump in prison for life, along with all his grafty shitty associates. Trump flying off to Russia.
Ryan
Most terrorists use human shields, but I guess he’s realized the awesome power he has to wreck everything we love.
Brickley Paiste
The flag thing – that Trump, he’s a bit of an odd fellow.
trollhattan
@Chyron HR:
Just so long as there’s no funky shit goin’ down in the city.
NotMax
“Red and white are too mundane as far as colors go. Change them to gold and silver. Bigly classy. Let’s get right on that.”
JPL
@NotMax: Nelle said some have been living with relatives, who chose not to call in. I wonder why.
waspuppet
@Elizabelle: My two big Trump post-presidency predictions have been, and remain:
1) About 50-50 he lives out the rest of his life in another country;
2) Almost certain that he will say he never actually meant to win. (Mind you, this will not come in the form of a confession or an admission. It will either be intended to make his “accomplishments” look even more mighty; or, more likely, be delivered in the manner of a high-drama pre-adolescent screaming that he didn’t ask to be born before slamming his bedroom door.)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: We get an allotment of f’s? Who made that rule(my bet is jl)? Fuckem.
BoDiddleySquat
@lamh36: HHS/DHS have blocked several Senators and Congresspeople from entering Trump’s Children’s Concentration Camps.
How can this possibly be allowed?
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@NotMax:
That 6,000 figure, that’s part of the ones that were separated from their parents, right? We know from the SecHS that we have 10-12,000 in custody. That’s a 50% loss!
TriassicSands
Trump “loves” the flag…and absolutely none of the positive things it is supposed to represent.
NotMax
As it’s an Open Thread, am elated to find the 1994 BBC production of Martin Chuzzlewit is on Amazon Prime.
Have wanted to rewatch that for ages. Paul Scofield is always excellent (duh!); Pete Postlethwaite is frickin’ amazing. Every bit as fine a production as memory from nearly 25 years ago recalls it.
trollhattan
@BoDiddleySquat:
I dunno, hard to believe congresscritters and utterly powerless to access federal facilities on demand.
We seem to be getting into “How many divisions does the pope have?” territory. Maher (I know) had a good New Rules a few episodes back where he speculated it wouldn’t matter how far up the authority ladder efforts to remove him from office went, no matter who he’d just say “Fuck you, I’m not leaving!”
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Brickley Paiste:
Hi Steve!
Mandalay
Somewhat OT, but I find it surprising that nobody seems offended by the use of the Stars and Stripes as an underwear design. Not that it bothers me, but with all the reverence for our flag, how come it is apparently OK to put it right by your shit hole?
Bigby
He’s hugging the flag because Miller or Bannon showed him the “Trump as Pepe the Frog hugging the flag” GIF that came out after he first creepily hugged the flag in 2016. He probably didn’t like himself portrayed as a frog, but he no doubt LOVED the screaming FUCK YOU to ‘libtards’ and screaming “Ich bin mit Ihnen” back to the Pepe/KEK deplorable shitlords eating his concentration camp stuff up with a spoon. Google the images of him as Pepe (or not, if you want to not retch).
Mike in NC
Trump is a degenerate: hugging the flag like a moron while he wipes his fat ass with the Constitution.
hilts
Betty, this is about Donald Trump being a vexillosexual (someone who wants to have sex with a flag). He’s one sick bastard.
NotMax
Even the mostly out of touch G.H.W. Bush announced afterwards that his photo op visit to a flag factory had been a step too far.
NotMax
@hilts
Well, he doesn’t have to shell out hush money to a flag…
;)
Vexillosexual, while precise, is too cumbersome. Howzabout flaggot?
satby
@JPL: the relatives are afraid they’ll be swept up and deported too, possibly. Even if they have a green card. Would you trust them if you were foreign born? I wouldn’t.
Kathleen
@TriassicSands: He pretends it’s Ivanka.
Paul W.
Betty, I just needed it to be know that I will never scrape that image from my head. It is a great turn of phrase though
NotMax
The man who wasn’t there.
Frantically trying to put icing on a nothingburger?
TenguPhule
@jl:
$450 billion. You missed the initial $50 billion that started the whole mess.
Out of $500 billion in total imports from China.
This does not end well for us.
hilts
@NotMax:
Yeah, that does roll off the tongue more easily.
In the unlikely event Trump ends up in prison, he’ll be scheduling conjugal visits with the Stars and Stripes.
TenguPhule
@trollhattan:
We’ve been there since Jan 21, 2017. Its just that now people are starting to realize Trump wasn’t joking.
Aleta
Gif didn’t play for me, but I think this is it (though earlier):
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1009134346442141696
He’s pretending so hard that he’s not a traitor. And this is what he comes up with. Forcing himself on the country and its flag.
Aleta
@jl: Tell him the space troops want to applaud him in front of cameras, put him in a rocket and wave goodbye.
VeniceRiley
@ruemara:
I feel like I fell into an Alternate Future History novel and can’t find my way back out.
MoCA Ace
When my son was like four years old he would salute eagles when we saw them on the river while fishing. This is how a toddler shows his patriotism!
Aleta
@trollhattan: Ack.
Seriously, 12 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woLQI8X2R6Y
Ruckus
Let’s see if I can get this right.
MOTHERFUCKINGASSFUCKINGSHITHEADASSWIPES.
Close enough.
I took an oath to serve this country. I didn’t take it lightly, nor was I happy about it. But serve I did. I did whatever was asked of me, went where I was sent, ate the crappy food. All because I believed in this country. I’m about done believing in it. I know we can recover. But will it be in my lifetime?
Ruckus
@Ruckus:
I hate to sound like or be a downer. I have to stay positive because of my health, falling off that cliff of despair makes me far worse than a normal crappy day. It makes me physically sick. Yesterday morning I couldn’t type. I tried but my fingers wouldn’t stay on the keys and I couldn’t control where they went. That’s my life, it’s OK, that’s how it is. No one did this to me, it isn’t anyones fault. It’s shit but it’s life. Some are better than mine, some are far worse.
But things we can control, things we can make better, even if only a little bit, to turn around and make those far, far worse because you are a sick fuck of a human being and you have to bring along a crew of like minded asswipes? And they don’t even seem to be in it for the money. WHATTHEEVERLOVINGFUCK.
SWMBO
He’s dry humping the flag like Peggy Noonan dry humped Reagan’s coffin at the graveside.
misterpuff
Just imagine what he’d do if it was The Stars and Bars……
mere mortal
Might I recommend a rolled-up newspaper? It seems he is far more afraid of newspapers than the chihuahua would be.