Clinton describes to Ellen what it was like to debate a rancid slab of toupeed spam that was all hopped up on wounded vanity:
She might want to request a shark cage for the final debate.
Florida woman, still rocking a punk rock ethos in the 2020s, which is kind of sad. Betty Cracker has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2012.
by Betty Cracker| 118 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Assholes
Clinton describes to Ellen what it was like to debate a rancid slab of toupeed spam that was all hopped up on wounded vanity:
She might want to request a shark cage for the final debate.
This post is in: Open Threads, Assholes, General Stupidity
Didn’t know the noble truth-tellers at WikiLeaks had their own merch shop on Twitter:
Check out our new novelty Bill Clinton bimbo poll tee: https://t.co/6gt9AtQ9Lm #WikiLeaks pic.twitter.com/EAmYiuI5NM
— WikiLeaks Shop (@WikiLeaksShop) October 13, 2016
The Twitter account for the shop is followed by the verified WikiLeaks account, so it appears to be an actual thing, not some false flag cooked up by an organization that wants to make WikiLeaks look bad. And given the clumsiness of the copy on the shirt, it looks like WikiLeaks is outsourcing its snark; it’s probably much funnier in the original Russian.
The only thing that’s “transparent” about WikiLeaks is its role as an avid supporter of authoritarians who would harm the U.S., both domestic (Trump) and foreign (Putin). Any media coverage of WikiLeaks-published stolen documents should come with a warning label to that effect.
by Betty Cracker| 129 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Assholes, General Stupidity
Some folks theorize that Donald Trump originally conceived his candidacy as a brand-building exercise. There’s some evidence for that, including the fact that he often uses media coverage of his campaign for advertising purposes, as when he turned his “birther renunciation” presser into an infomercial for his DC hotel.
But if that’s the case, Trump has proved as inept at spinning political coverage into commercial gain as he was at hawking steaks, running an airline and operating casinos. New York Mag:
Donald Trump’s D.C. Hotel Shows His Brand Is Sinking Along With His Poll Numbers
Trump’s biggest disaster of the campaign — the revelations of a lewd tape in which he boasted about sexually accosting women — has led critics to throw more shade on his businesses. Fellow celebrity-billionaire Mark Cuban tweeted this on Friday night:
Every single @realDonaldTrump hotel and golf course is toast. Done. Over. Bernie Madoff now has a better brand.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) October 8, 2016He might not be wrong. Take Trump’s latest, most lavish venture: the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., which has become a focal point for grievances against the unconventional Republican presidential candidate…
For a five-star hotel in downtown Washington to have vacancies during major IMF meetings is a little like having empty rooms when the Super Bowl is in town. “The reason why there were vacancies is the political atmosphere. People don’t want to go there for fear that they would be asked, ‘Why are you staying here?’” says Ada Pena, a travel agent with ABA Travel in Washington, D.C.
The explosive tape of Trump boasting of sexually assaulting women will only “aggravate that feeling, especially when there are other options,” she says.
The hotel not only has a prime location and swank interiors, it boasts a branded Ivanka Trump spa, and tourist attractions related the building’s old function as a post office. But none of that seems to be attracting guests.
“You don’t see taxis stopping by like they do at the Marriott or the Willard, which are nearby,” says Pena, who works in the area. “It’s dark. There is no feeling of hospitality.” Locals aren’t eating at the restaurant for lunch either, she says.
“It’s a shame that it is called Trump because it’s a beautiful property. But overall, his brand is hurting,” the travel agent adds.
This is a real problem for Trump since his entire business model centers on licensing the Trump name to convey a Liberace-themed notion of conspicuous consumption. Unfortunately for the Trump brand, overt white supremacists are decidedly downscale and thus unable to afford luxury items.
Maybe Ivanka can cut a deal with Walmart for a discount shoes and accessories line, and Donald can peddle clip-on ties and wife-beater undershirts. Made in CHI-nuh, of course.
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Assholes
Went down to the beach for the sunset and saw the ultimate asshole golf cart:
What a dick. Open thread!
by Betty Cracker| 172 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Woman in the Whitehouse 2016, Women's Rights Are Human Rights, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All
Yesterday, as we were jointly consuming barrels of popcorn while watching the Trump campaign reap the whirlwind, some of y’all mentioned Rush Limbaugh’s odd Trumpologia, which centered on the concept of consent. Here’s the mind-blowing quote from that ass pustule which sparked the conversation:
You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is? One thing. You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element. Do you know what it is? Consent. If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine. Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.
FSM knows Limbaugh wasn’t the only Trump apologist saying absurd things for broadcast consumption yesterday. One of his more ridiculous surrogates went airplane armrest truther to try to discredit one of the women who accused Trump of non-consensual groping on a flight.
But I think Limbaugh’s failure to grasp the role consent plays in regulating behavior between human beings is telling. It’s an explanation for his own serial depravities, certainly, but perhaps it is also a portal into the wingnut worldview that can help us decipher their thinking and behavior more fully.
Trump views women as objects he can grab and manipulate for his own ends, and we’re seeing a fraction of the results of what happens when a man lives 70 years on the planet with that mindset. He’s not done yet, of course: rounding up the women who’ve accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse and displaying them at the recent debate was another example of Trump using women as a commodity.
If reports from the Trumpenbunker are to be believed, he plans to double down on that strategy. And if Hillary Clinton were to respond in kind, she might have to charter a fleet of 747s to transport Trump’s accusers to the next presidential debate.
But the problem isn’t just obvious creepers like Trump and Limbaugh: Apply their boggled view of consent beyond Trump’s serial molestations to actual GOP policy practiced by so-called respectable Republicans, and it explains a lot.
Mainstream Republicans like governors Scott Walker and Tom Corbett, as well as a number of House GOPers, support legislation to force women seeking an abortion to undergo invasive transvaginal ultrasounds. It may sound like “state rape” to you and me, but if women are merely fetus-bearing vessels without an claim to consent, what’s the problem?
Even the “Never Trumpers” are revealing their views of women as they criticize Der Gropenführer. Here’s the godly and upright Erick Erickson on Twitter this morning:
Donald Trump is Having a “Bimbo Eruption” and his supporters are behaving as they accuse the Clinton’s of behaving. https://t.co/BI21dDNI8B
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) October 13, 2016
See what he did there? In the featured article, he even helpfully links to a Wikipedia page describing the role of Bill Clinton campaign operative Betsey Wright in quelling rumors of Bill’s extramarital affairs, i.e., “bimbo eruptions.” Erickson unconsciously conflates consensual affairs with non-consensual groping, which is telling.
People like Erickson are going to solve the Republicans’ Trump problem? As my old ma used to say, “Bullshit!”
Anyhoo, as many have pointed out, 2008 taught us a great deal about America’s crushing problem with racism. And 2016 is revealing the depth of our misogyny problem. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
Consent: The Rosetta Stone to Decipher the Wingnut MindPost + Comments (172)
This post is in: Open Threads
I dozed off for a bit there. What did I miss?
Open thread!
by Betty Cracker| 239 Comments
This post is in: Politics, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Republicans in Disarray!, Assholes
Trump is currently losing his shit, appropriately enough, in Florida, where much of the nation’s meteoric crazy comes to flame out after the roads end at the water’s edge:
Donald Trump blasted House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans on Wednesday, suggesting that they’ve turned their backs on the GOP nominee because “there’s a whole sinister deal going on” behind his back.
At a rally in Ocala, Florida, Trump warned supporters “this is the last time you’ll ever have a chance to save our country.”
“It’s not gonna happen anymore. You won’t be able — the numbers will be too great. Already, the Republican nominee has a massive — a massive disadvantage, and especially when you have the leaders not putting their weight behind the people,” Trump said. “They’re not putting their weight behind the people.”
“Instead of calling me and saying, ‘Congratulations, you did a great job, you absolutely destroyed her in the debate like everybody said,’” Trump began, trailing off to boast about how Pat Buchanan called his performance against Hillary Clinton during Sunday’s debate “the single greatest debate performance in the history of presidential politics.”
“So wouldn’t you think that Paul Ryan would call and say, ‘Good going?’ In front of just about the largest for a second-night debate in the history of the country,” Trump said. “So, you know, you’d think that they’d say: ‘Great going, Don. Let’s go. Let’s beat this crook. She’s a crook. Let’s beat her. We gotta stop it.’”
But Ryan doesn’t do that, Trump lamented, floating a conspiracy about a backroom deal. “There’s a whole deal going on there,” he said. “I mean, you know, there’s a whole deal going on. We’re gonna figure it out. I always figure things out. But there’s a whole sinister deal going on.”
Crickets from his fellow Republicans so far. Valued commenter Jeffro:
Hey Paul and Mitch and Reince: if you don’t mind, we’d kind of like to avoid Der Trumpster taking the whole democracy down with him…could we at least get a joint statement attesting to the legitimacy of our elections and the legitimacy of whomever is elected President? Thank you.
Yeah, what he said.
When I think about Al Gore offering his concession after a Republican-loaded Supreme Court handed the presidency to a past president’s wastrel son based on highly questionable vote totals compiled in a state governed by said wastrel’s brother, I could weep with admiration at the patriotism on display — not phony slap-a-yellow-ribbon-magnet-on-your-SUV patriotism, genuine fucking love of country, respect for its institutions and care for its people.
Sack up, Ryan, McConnell and Priebus; it’s time to kneecap your own goddamned strongman before he slays you — and takes the rest of us down as collateral damage.
ETA: Oh figgity fuck — I’ve bigfooted a fundraiser, which is like drunkenly stomping on a Make-a-Wish kid’s sandcastle. $10 from Slytherin into the ActBlue pot! Dig deeply, fellow sorcerers!
[H/T — valued commenter AMK]