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The Stormy Daniels story is not about Stormy Daniels

The Stormy Daniels story is not about Stormy Daniels

It’s about #TheResistance

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stormy-daniels-describes-her-alleged-affair-with-donald-trump-60-minutes-interview/

I didn’t plan on watching the 60 Minutes interview of “Stormy Daniels.” And I didn’t watch it when it first aired.

But I did later read the transcript, and some things jumped out at me that led me to watch at the 60 Minutes website.

If you want to lose 26 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back, head over to the links and watch.

Some observations, in no particular order.

1. Anderson Cooper did a good job. He asked the right questions about her credibility and that of her lawyer Michael Avennatti (a former Rahm Emanuel oppo researcher and obviously someone seeking to make name for himself as a hero of #TheResistance). Cooper conducted himself as professionally as possible given the subject matter.

2. This is not Bill Clinton stuff. No allegation of sexual harassment or assault (Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick, etc.), or abusing power over an underling (Lewinsky). It’s not even Al Franken territory of alleged non-consensual sexual touching. According to Daniels, there was a single encounter in 2006 that was completely consensual.

3. No minds were changed about Trump as a result of the interview or the story itself. Trump allegedly cheating on a wife is a Casablanca moment. No one actually cares about the story, it’s just political posturing.

4. The Stormy Daniels story is not about Stormy Daniels. It’s about removing Trump from office in one of two ways:

(a) getting Trump under oath in the hope that he will lie, providing a basis for impeachment should Democrats regain control of the House and Senate, or prosecution.

(b) providing material for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to use to try to pressure Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen into turning on Trump.

It will take time to percolate, but I have zero doubt that this is not about clearing Stormy Daniel’s name, as she claimed, or about righteousness, as Avenatti claimed was his motivation. It’s about #TheResistance.

As such, this non-story holds great danger for Trump.

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Comments

And Stormy’s mother said she would vote for Trump- Again. And hopes the interview doesn’t harm him.

    It is what it is. if Trump is ever questioned under oath he better just refuse to answer any questions about Stormy or Karen McDougal. Neither affair, it is self, hurts him (except with Melania). Lying under oath, however, that becomes a bigger deal.

      rabidfox in reply to EBL. | March 26, 2018 at 7:39 am

      Correct. I don’t see the relevance of either woman’s story either since – if they happened at all – they happened before he even thought about running for President. Unlike a former President, he hasn’t pulled any shenanigans while President.

      Exiliado in reply to EBL. | March 26, 2018 at 8:29 am

      Standard reply:
      Those are private, personal matters from long time ago, unrelated to my work as President. Next question?

      MarkSmith in reply to EBL. | March 26, 2018 at 12:35 pm

      Karen McDougal! Lucky dog. Don’t know what Stormy looked like 10 years ago, but she might have been out of Trump’s league even back then.

      Since CBS is know for manufacturing stories, I am starting to have my doubts. I didn’t before, but I do now.

      At least he does not have a guy saying that he gave him a Lewinsky in a limo like with Obama. Have not heard of a Love child either.

      Jackie in reply to EBL. | March 27, 2018 at 8:57 am

      If Cohen sues her for breaking the agreement does a leftist Judge rule that the agreement is invalid? Pretty silly to think someone who is basically a Prostitute would abide by any agreement.

inspectorudy | March 25, 2018 at 9:19 pm

We all can guess at how much money wink, wink, she got through her attorney and Soros. This was nothing burger except for Melania and the family. But hey, they all know the Don!

The left would try to impeach Trump over a stale sandwich if they could. We have heard that towering intellectual giant Maxine Waters do nothing but cry for impeachment over nothing. Nothing has changed. Mueller is acting just like his handlers want, Gestapo tactics, and stopping at nothing to try to fit a crime to bring down the President. I want to know how Mueller, who has had tons of horrendous investigations which under his leadership botched, has a “sterling reputation”. As soon as I hear that term these days I immediately know they are garbage.

Stormy looks like trash. And used up. That happens to whores, which is exactly what she is. Porn Stars are whores, selling their bodies for profit, and this is a non-story she is whoring herself for to get notoriety and I’m sure money is involved. In this case she is like a whore who steals the John’s wallet after being paid the agreed upon price. That’s if she is even telling the whole truth about this.

Stormy is a whore. She just gets paid by many people for having sex once, making her a smart whore.

    Dimsdale in reply to Matt_SE. | March 26, 2018 at 9:59 am

    That was established the second she said to herself “Okay, here we go,” it was an admission that she has done this before. She could have simply said no, but she didn’t. If she recorded it, then she is liable for blackmail or at least making a recording without the permission of the participants (depends on state, I am told).

“Trump allegedly cheating on a wife is a Casablanca moment. No one actually cares about the story, it’s just political posturing.”

Well, color me disgusted, Prof.

First, there’s nothing “alleged” about T-rump being a serial adulterer. To a believing Jew, I think that’s still a bad thing.

Second, there’s no doubt about the verity of this story.

Third, T-rump…via his lawyer…paid to suppress this story, and he’s lied about it.

Fourth, he’s done likewise with others, some against their consent.

This is like Rush giving up on Undeniable Truth No. 7 the other day.

You really SHOULD know better than to write this apologia.

    Rags, you sound like a diarist at Red State! What’s next, Evan McMullin chiding!

      Ragspierre in reply to EBL. | March 25, 2018 at 10:16 pm

      I see the attack on me. I don’t see a defense of Duh Donald.

        Tom Servo in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 9:02 am

        You don’t see anything. Just yesterday our kind host put up an entire post about how you have become a personal embarrassment to him and to his blog, and you were too stupid to even get that, although everyone else did.

          Ragspierre in reply to Tom Servo. | March 26, 2018 at 9:43 am

          This from one of the most execrable liars here.

          Our kind host has my email address. He wasn’t talking about me, stupid.

        I am concerned about the status of the country now (I am not happy with that Omnibus atrocity), not whether Trump banged a porn star seven years ago. If he did, it was consensual. Not good behavior (I am sure Melania is none too happy), but it is not going to make me wish Hillary won.

        But if Bill Kristol is still running them, you might consider a Weekly Standard cruise. I am sure they invite fun like minded folks that you can sit around with and talk about how bad Donald Trump is.

          MAB in reply to EBL. | March 26, 2018 at 5:58 pm

          Yes, how bad DT is, while gloating about how well their portfolios are doing. Will all Trump haters give back what gains their investments have made because of the improving economy? Nah, I didn’t think so.

          My bad. Twelve years ago.

    One need not defend Trump to understand that the people attacking him could care less about his infidelities.

    If they were sincere, then their acts could be taken seriously on merit. But they are not.

    Further, Trump is free to change his behavior and be forgiven. Some will never forgive, however.

    This post cut through the clutter. It’s interesting to see that these latest two women who he was unfaithful with still like him.

    Rags, I very much dislike the way you’ve framed your critique here (the prof is one of the most admirable, deeply decent human beings I have ever known, and you can be disgusted all day long, but the tone of this comment is way out of line). That said, you have a point, and what I find truly fascinating about this whole Stormy thing is the way it has been received by both ardent Trump believers and less-ardent, somewhat skeptical Trump supporters: no one cares that he had an adulterous one-night stand with a porn star. And by no one, I mean no one. No one on the left cares about adultery and think porn stars should be revered as strong feminists making a choice to become a “sex worker.”

    The outrage the left is trying to drum up is targeted at people just like you. The #Resistance’s useful idiots who don’t get that Trump can’t be Alinskied in terms of holding him to the former “family values” GOP platform, people who–despite all evidence to the contrary long before Election Day–somehow still want to stomp their feet and wail that Trump is an immoral human being (D’oh), people who want to latch on to any and every opportunity to shriek #NeverTrump and hope that it peels off right-leaning Indies so Democrats can regain control of government.

    The prof is quite right that no one cares about Stormy or Trump’s adulterous one-night stand. Well, almost no one (and let’s face it, you’re pretty much the living embodiment of almost no one). Why don’t people care? That’s the interesting question here, but instead of tackling that truly fascinating question (one I have no doubt will confound presidential historians for centuries to come), you just stomp your feet and flail your little fisties around.

    The prof notes that the one-night stand over a decade ago was a consensual encounter between two consenting adults. It had nothing to do with power, with abuse, with harassment. And it didn’t occur in the Oval Office. My sense is that these points matter to Trump supporters, they matter to me.

    When the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky thing unfolded, I was initially kind of outraged that it happened in the Oval, that she was only 22 (or whatever), and that it left him open to blackmail, etc. from foreign powers (who all knew about it long before the American people did). I thought it was a moral question, a point about his lack of character. But we also knew about his sexual exploits before he was elected, and he was elected anyway. I think, in an odd way, his abysmal immorality–well-known while he was still governor of Arkansas–protected him through the whole Lewinsky scandal. We knew what we were getting, and even those of us who didn’t vote for him, knew that his base character had been litigated during election campaigns. Yes, the right was outraged, rightly so, since we didn’t vote for his skanky butt, so when the Lewinsky thing came out, it was a huge deal. Not because the nation was shocked that Bill was a disgusting pervert but because he did these things in the White House, as president of the United States. He disgraced himself and the Office of the president.

    Trump is also skanky, and everyone knew that from the Marla Maples scandal right up to the Access Hollywood tapes. He was a serial philanderer and a disgusting perv who bragged about grabbing women by their genitals. And it didn’t matter come Election Day, so the American people are not let down by Trump’s ancient one-night stand with a porn star. Now, if that were Mike Pence, we’d be outraged in the extreme. We’d see him as a hypocrite as well as a porn-star-screwing degenerate. Pence, we expect to be decent and moral and good. Trump? Not so much.

    Does that make his behavior okay? Well, yeah, in a weird way it does. You expect someone whose affair broke up his first marriage to be a skeezy cheater, and when he turns out to be a skeezy cheater, you can’t be all outraged and shocked. Well, I guess you can be, but it makes you (yes, you, Rags) look ridiculous. ZOMG! Trump committed adultery! Well, NSS, he did that with Maples, and it ended in his divorce from Ivana. Nothing to see here, Rags.

      Trump bought a prostitute.
      So?

      Oh my! Rags. Wow. You’ve reached a brand new level of self-inflated delusion. Do you honestly think, even for the splittest of split seconds, that the prof will actually respond to your demand for a defense of his clearly-stated position? Wow. You are seriously impaired.

      Milhouse in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 26, 2018 at 2:02 am

      But we also knew about his [MH: Clinton’s] sexual exploits before he was elected, and he was elected anyway.

      No, we didn’t. We knew about some allegations, but he vigorously denied them, his campaign, especially his wife, actively worked to discredit them, and I think a lot of people believed him. To the best of my knowledge Trump is the first person ever elected president despite being a known adulterer. (No, Grover Cleveland was not even accused of adultery; at the time of his (perhaps falsely) admitted affair both he and the lady were single.)

        Maybe it was just a thing in the South, but we all knew that Bill Clinton was a, to use the terminology of the day, “horn dog.” And everyone with access to a radio or television knew full-well about Gennifer Flowers and her allegations before the first vote was cast in 1992. How anyone could listen to those taped calls and still believe his “vigorous denials” is beyond me, but I guess it’s possible. Me? I believed her. But I wouldn’t have voted for him even without her coming forward with her story because I already knew he was as corrupt as they come (we all knew about Whitewater and the good old boy crony network he built in Arkansas).

          Fuzzy, as usual you have clearly defined the issues. And, as usual, Rags has demonstrated his blind hatred for the President and making personal attacks using his usual foul mouth. As you said, Rags has a point (that Trump has personally despicable personal traits) but he doesn’t know how to translate that into intelligent political discussion. We all know about Trump’s personal character, but he is still better as President than Hillary would have been. We, as a nation, have to find a better way of choosing candidates. The old smoke-filled room did a better job, IMHO. We very much appreciate the professor’s insights (saves me the trouble of watching the Stormy interview, which I recorded because I was not available to watch in real time).

        Edward in reply to Milhouse. | March 26, 2018 at 8:13 am

        OK, there were people who knew* and many more who knew the “rumors” (are they rumors if they are true?) and believed the rumors to be true.

        * I was working out of Little Rock at the time and knew people, known to me to be honest and believable, who saw him coming out of Gennifer Flower’s apartment, his state car parked at her apartment complex, etc.

      snopercod in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 26, 2018 at 7:28 am

      Your long rebuttal was excellent, Fuzzy. Thanks for taking the time.

      mailman in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 26, 2018 at 8:46 am

      Fuzzy, you had me right up to the grab em by the kitten comment. For anyone who can actually manage to rub two or more brain cells together, they understand that his comment was about what women let celebrities do. And lets be honest, groupies WILL let me do what ever the hell they want to them…because thats what groupies do!

      DuxRedux in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 26, 2018 at 9:12 am

      Kudos, Lashown!

      Finally, someone with the insight and courage to state the obvious about the 2″ root of Rags’ evil. (But 2″ is a generous assessment – most likely a gross overstatement, erring in the spirit of kindness.)

      When a man is confident about himself and his endowments, he doesn’t carry on like this historically sorry specimen.

      Fuzzy Slippers, that is an awesome comment. Well said!

      Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | March 27, 2018 at 11:51 am

      Their relationship lasted well over a year. She just didn’t have sex with him but the one time. Not for his lack of trying.

    Milhouse in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 12:53 am

    “Trump allegedly cheating on a wife is a Casablanca moment. No one actually cares about the story, it’s just political posturing.”

    First, there’s nothing “alleged” about T-rump being a serial adulterer.

    There’s nothing “alleged” about his being an adulterer; he’s openly admitted and bragged about it. That’s a bad thing, but it’s one we’ve known forever and has no shock value. But this story isn’t about that, it’s about a specific instance of his allegedly cheating on a wife. He hasn’t acknowledged it, so it depends on her word. Prof J’s point is that nobody cares about it, because if true it’s completely consistent with his character that we already know.

    Fourth, he’s done likewise with others, some against their consent.

    How do we know this? Unless you’re relying on allegations made in divorce papers, which is never a good idea, I’m unaware of any evidence he’s ever done this.

      tom_swift in reply to Milhouse. | March 26, 2018 at 2:58 am

      Prof J’s point is that nobody cares about it, because if true it’s completely consistent with his character that we already know.

      That’s not why nobody cares about it.

      It’s because any functional adult intelligence realizes that in geopolitical terms it’s of no importance whatever, and—even worse—isn’t even interesting.

    carabec in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 8:18 am

    Your point about NO consent! …….unless you were the target , you have no why of knowing! That point calls into quest everything you wrote!

    Recce1 in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    Ragspierre, the article is not a apologia about Trump. Sadly, he has acted more than once like a cad, as quite a few of our previous presidents have. Nor is this an excuse for those like me who voted for him. Or perhaps I should say couldn’t vote for a corrupt adulterous murderous traitor.

    What this is about is the motivations behind the reasons for the Lefts’ insatiable dredging up of his past. They’re looking for any evidence that could give them cover for impeaching Trump in the House, even if they’re unlikely to convict them in the Senate and even if the reasons had nothing to do with his actions in office.

    Furthermore, these salacious hunts and also other witch hunts such as the false Russia collusion will go on in an effort to gain seats in the midterm elections and in the 2010 elections. This is about trying to overturn a duly elected president. I consider that not treason as some claim, but rather sedition.

      Conservatives have learned to use the worst arguments available. If Barry or Billy happened to commit an immoral act – the flag has not been changed and it really cannot be moved. Morality is what it is.

      There never was an upstanding argument to justify the abandonment of conservative thinking in order to vote for a man who has ignored the law and who continuously makes up his own rules about everything.

      And on a related front, when you track the Trump supporters posting favorably about our fat president with short fingers, the post counts have risen to 20,000 and above per individual poster. Most of these nom de plumes were not around three years ago. I have been posting comments for ten years or so and my posts on Discus are under 1000 and about the same on Blogger. So the bots have taken over Facebook, Twitter, and online gathering places. We need to open our eyes and determine who is moving the stone up the hill so often and for what reason. George Soros, Vlad Putin, Donnie Trump – perhaps all of the above with support from the world filled with progressives including Pope Francis.

      And Rags is right, you know. No one in his right mind needs to defend the actions, temper, poor decisions and downright stupidity of the elected president. He certainly is not defending the conservative principles we all pledged to uphold until our headcount expanded with the advent of the Millennials.

I was hoping the neverTrumper would come out. I was hoping it would be righteous indignation. I was hoping it would be as funny as it is.
.
I guess it’s just a bonus that our neverTrumper is as ‘disgusted’ as our other snowflake, what’s-his-name Hogg.

” this is not about clearing Stormy Daniel’s name,” I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything while reading this, saved my keyboard. The concept of “clearing” the name of a person who has sex for profit and peoples viewing pleasure, is an oxymoron. Channeling W Bush, “can’t do it!”

buckeyeminuteman | March 25, 2018 at 10:00 pm

A man who has been married 3 times and a porn star had an affair with each other? I’m shocked. Shocked I tell you. At least nobody was getting their pickle tickled under the desk in the Oval Office. Or being physically and sexually assaulted.

    Ragspierre in reply to buckeyeminuteman. | March 25, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    And lied about it to the American people, and sought SEVERAL times to deny publication of the story, against the First Amendment.

    Yeah. The Right’s Dollar Bill Clinton.

    Character used to matter. To many of us, it still does.

      Ratbert in reply to Ragspierre. | March 25, 2018 at 10:36 pm

      If character mattered to you, you would not have been such an ardent supporter of Hillary. Still mad about her losing I see.

        Paul in reply to Ratbert. | March 25, 2018 at 10:44 pm

        I must have missed that. Can you link back to one of Rags’ posts where he supported Hitlery?

          4th armored div in reply to Paul. | March 25, 2018 at 11:20 pm

          to me it is implicit in his #NeverTrump, you didn’t vote for him or didn’t vote was an invitation to the SJW warrior party to further betray us.

          Since the election of DJT, If you can’t see the furthering of Conservative agenda and strengthening our military, you have your eyes tightly shut and yellingg la, la, la.

          Ragspierre in reply to Paul. | March 25, 2018 at 11:43 pm

          Yah. I insist on objective reality. Ergo, I am the “enemy”.

          You know who you sound like, right, comrade…???

          Milhouse in reply to Paul. | March 26, 2018 at 1:00 am

          I must have missed that. Can you link back to one of Rags’ posts where he supported Hitlery?

          He didn’t. Ratbert’s making it up, completely without foundation. We have several liars here who enjoy repeating this slander just because it gives them thrills up their legs. And no, there’s no circumstantial evidence either.

          It’s not thrills, Milhouse. The idea is that because Rags is so vehemently (and occasionally irrationally) #NeverTrump that he must have supported Hillary. He did not.

          Rags lives in Texas, so his vote didn’t really matter anyway. And he knows it. Would he have voted differently if he lived in Florida or another key EC swing state? Who knows?

          [edit: I do not mean to imply he would have voted for Hillary. Ever. But would he have been moved to vote for Trump over her if his state hung in the balance? Who knows?]

          I am sure Rags did not vote for Hillary. He has principles. He had Evan “The Deadbeat” McMuffin to vote for!

          Ragspierre in reply to Paul. | March 27, 2018 at 11:48 am

          You’re stupidly wrong. Some more.

        Carl in reply to Ratbert. | March 26, 2018 at 7:59 am

        If character mattered to him he would refrain from the habit of personal insults (everybody is a “liar”) and vulgar language. His character is on his sleeve.

        mailman in reply to Ratbert. | March 26, 2018 at 12:02 pm

        Hahahahahagahhaa….BURN you little fucking fuck!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA 🙂

      Haverwilde in reply to Ragspierre. | March 25, 2018 at 10:54 pm

      For the record, I believe Trump is an ass; he is also the best president we have had since Reagan.
      If lying to the American people is cause for expulsion from office, we would lucky to have more than a handful left.
      As lies go, Trump’s lies about personal stuff fall far short of most of the lies we hear. Remember: If we want our Doctor, we can keep him; or there were NO WPD is Iraq (of course there were, just not nukes); or the government doesn’t spy on Americans…………. The lies are more frequent than the truth for ‘the swamps’ sake.

        That’s an interesting question, Haverwild….

        Imagine you’re the President, you go to a press conference and a reporter asks….”Mr President…did you bonk so-n-so?

        Realistically, what are you suppose to say? “Yeah, I F’d her, what about it”? Really???

          Milhouse in reply to tgrondo. | March 26, 2018 at 1:06 am

          You could say “that’s none of your business, or anyone else’s”.

          I totally agree Milhouse…and in a regular conversation you could say…”None of your bizz”!

          But when a reporter asks that kind of question, and you are Trump…a”None of your bizz/no comment” answer, ain’t gonna cut it!

          Now that I think about it…doesn’t matter what this President says, it will be turned into a GIANT deal…

          redc1c4 in reply to tgrondo. | March 26, 2018 at 5:23 am

          best answer: “why, are you jealous?”

          MarkSmith in reply to tgrondo. | March 26, 2018 at 2:39 pm

          I would recommend that looking at the master of handling the press aka Donald Rumsfeld:

          As General Joe Stillwell said, “The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind.”

          or

          “If I said yes, that would then suggest that that might be the only place where it might be done which would not be accurate, necessarily accurate. It might also not be inaccurate, but I’m disinclined to mislead anyone.”

          MarkSmith…You are right, of course! Especially the second quote….
          But Pres Trump doesn’t do…”Politician Circle Talk”.

      Milhouse in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 1:04 am

      And lied about it to the American people, and sought SEVERAL times to deny publication of the story, against the First Amendment.

      I missed his having denied being an adulterer. Or has he specifically denied this allegation? I haven’t been paying attention, since I have no interest in keeping an exact tally of his sins, so I could easily have missed it. But I don’t see why he owes the American people the truth on this. I also don’t believe the first amendment should be read to forbid the courts from enforcing a private NDA, freely entered into.

        Like you, I haven’t really been following and don’t care about the Stormy story. If he denied cheating on his wife with a revolting porn star (to be fair, she may have been more attractive a decade ago), um, so? Who wouldn’t deny that? When he denies it under oath, I’ll tune in.

        NDAs are legal documents and are binding. Signing one means you must abide by its terms. This is not a First Amendment issue, but Rags is a bit desperate.

          I don’t understand the whole Stormy thing…

          First she denied having an affair with Trump…
          Then it was…she signed a NDA and got a bunch of money…
          Then it’s…she wanted to give the money back so she could tell her”story”…
          Then it’s…the NDA was never signed and she never got any money….???

          So does a NDA mean…I won’t say anything unless I get a chance to be all over the media and be really, really famous?

          Oh who knows? I honestly haven’t been following this. I didn’t know she’d denied the one-nighter, but I did know she accepted some cash and signed an NDA. To me, that’s it. Done deal She is being sorely used by the anti-Trump media, and if she weren’t too stupid to know it, I’d feel sorry for her. As is, she’s gaining notoriety as a porn star who had consensual sex a decade ago with a known adulterer. Yawn.

          Honestly, I can’t summon up the mildest of outrages. This is Trump; we knew what we were getting. The shame here, I think, is that this nothingburger is being given such weight. The left loves adulterers, they love men who leave women to drown, they love men who disgrace the Office of the president with Oval Office BJs from interns. They aren’t even remotely outraged. The fault here lies with the hair-on-fire GOP. Because the GOP doesn’t get that it won’t hurt him one tiny bit, they are letting this play out like some kind of soap opera. All this intrigue is down to Republican handlers terrified that the evangelical right will suddenly turn on Trump. They won’t. This needs to be put to bed post-hasty.

          The anti-Trump media is playing a game I like to call…
          Oh Yeah?? Well, what about THIS????

          After awhile it’s hard to keep track of all the alleged transgressions…
          Eventually it will be…Trump kicked Grandma in the knee!!!!

          I think the GOP got comfortable with the 8 yrs of being the loyal opposition.
          Being the loyal opposition is an easy gig cause you have to do anything…except complain!

      You would fit in well at Patterico too. That is even more anti Trump than RedState (there are a moderator or two who are slightly pro Trump at RS).

    I don’t see how the number of times he’s been married is relevant. A just and upright and faithful person might also be married three times or more. The point here is that he’s already known to have cheated on each of his wives.

As was pointed out by a sage at another site, it’s FISA-gate 2.0 — the lie that leads to an “investigation”.

Blaise MacLean | March 25, 2018 at 10:27 pm

I suppose that what it has come down to for the media is that if they can’t destroy Trump’s presidency, at least they can destroy his marriage.

What a squalid, low-rent bunch the media are.

    Ragspierre in reply to Blaise MacLean. | March 25, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    Weren’t you saying the OPPOSITE during the Lewinsky scandal?

    I sure as hell was.

    BTW, who is trying to suppress the story here? That would be “Mr. Bill Of Rights”, who wants the First Amendment changed, and has attacked the Second.

      Mercyneal in reply to Ragspierre. | March 25, 2018 at 10:48 pm

      Don’t understand why you post here. You should go over to Daily Kos where you would be welcome. You are never ever going to change anyone else’s mind here.

        Ragspierre in reply to Mercyneal. | March 25, 2018 at 11:08 pm

        Your final admission is terrible in it’s pathos.

        I merely state arguments and facts. Those should change your “mind”. But, as you admit, it is closed to change.

          4th armored div in reply to Ragspierre. | March 25, 2018 at 11:31 pm

          The only open mouth and shut mind posting here is your obvioud hste and perhaps antisemitism, since DJT has FINALLY had the back of the JEWISH state and gotten the ‘Taylor Force’ amendment
          through and by hiring Pompeo and firing tillerson is trying to get the DOS under control.

          The DOS = Dept of State as well as Denial Of Service.

          why bother your slight ego with continuous assault ?

          Ragspierre in reply to Ragspierre. | March 25, 2018 at 11:38 pm

          This makes the second time you have falsely and weirdly accused me of “anti-Semitism”.

          You never apologized for the first, which stemmed from your inability to read plain English when I linked to a piece by the execrable Bannon-supported Nehlen, who I deplore.

          You never had the integrity to apologize. Figures.

          Next time, just call me a Nazi. It’ll be quicker and just as false, you lying little worm.

          Ah, so given your statement to Mercyneal, you are open to changing your mind about Trump?

          No?

          Well, then, perhaps you owe Mercyneal an apology?

        What punishment that would be to the Daily Kos.

      Milhouse in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 1:47 am

      I suppose that what it has come down to for the media is that if they can’t destroy Trump’s presidency, at least they can destroy his marriage.

      What a squalid, low-rent bunch the media are.

      Weren’t you saying the OPPOSITE during the Lewinsky scandal?

      I don’t know about Blaise MacLean, but I wasn’t. I had no interest in destroying the Clintons’ marriage; nor did I believe such a thing was possible while there was still something in it for both of them. My interest in the Lewinsky affair was always and only in the perjury and obstruction of justice. First I believed that either Vernon Jordan or Bettie Currie had suborned Lewinsky’s perjury, and hoped that if caught they could be flipped to testify against Clinton for his real crimes. Then it turned out Clinton himself had suborned her perjury, so that was a bust, since he could never be flipped against himself, but a president having suborned perjury and obstructed justice was itself scandalous. Then he perjured himself, a crime for which other people were serving prison time under his authority. At no time did the underlying subject of all this perjury interest me. I actually regretted that it was so sleazy, because this gave Dems an opportunity to portray the whole scandal as some sort of hypocritical jihad by blue-nosed Reps who were themselves no better than they should be, or else to condemn his adultery while opposing his impeachment.

        Milhouse in reply to Milhouse. | March 26, 2018 at 2:10 am

        Damn, I did it again. I usually do these things by copying and pasting the quote, typing <blockquote> before it, copying that and pasting it after the quote, and then inserting the /. Sometimes I forget that last step.

          Arminius in reply to Milhouse. | March 26, 2018 at 3:30 am

          It happens to the best of us.

          If Melania wants to put up with Trump’s nonsense that’s her business.

          If she gets tired of it, I’m available for slightly older, used but not abused super models.

      Arminius in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 3:25 am

      My beef with Clinton was that he signed the Violence Against Women Act into law.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_Against_Women_Act

      And that law allowed women who were suing men for sexual harassment to inquire into their history of sexual activity on the job.

      And then when he was getting sued he turned around and committed perjury and suborned perjury.

      I never actually cared that Bill Clinton was stepping out on his wife. I’m a devout Catholic, but if I woke up one day and found myself married to Hillary I’d cheat on her, too. But then, I’d have to be incredibly stoned to find myself in that position.

      My beef with all the Clintons is that that if it’s the law for the rest of us it needs to be the law for them, too.

    It ain’t about ‘squalid’ – it’s about power. And billions and trillions of dollars they can not steal with an outsider in power.

    McConnell And Chao: As Corrupt As The Clintons:
    https://www.redstate.com/joesquire/2018/03/19/mcconnell-chao-corrupt-clintons/

    Pelosi’s Husband Invested in Solar Firm Weeks Before Lucrative Expansion:
    http://freebeacon.com/issues/pelosis-husband-invested-solar-firm-weeks-lucrative-expansion/

    Dianne Feinstein: Thy Name Is Corruption:
    https://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/dianne-feinstein-thy-name-is-corruption/

    Will next governor end California government corruption?
    https://www.dailynews.com/2017/10/02/will-next-governor-end-california-government-corruption/

    Etc……

this non-story holds danger great for Trump.

Possibly. But it’s a very weak attack, and not launched on very ambush-friendly terrain. A man who’s spent thirty or forty years dealing with people like NYC elevator inspectors—perhaps among with the most corrupt and treacherous villains on the planet—is not likely to blunder into any bear traps here.

    gospace in reply to tom_swift. | March 25, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    i don’t know. Would you really place NYC elevator inspectors before NYC plumbing of electrical inspectors as most corrupt?

The future of our nation, versus worrying about Donald Trumps marriage a few years ago.

I vote: the future of our nation.

would this fall under revenge porn laws???

DouglasJBender | March 26, 2018 at 2:19 am

Donald Trump is not someone I would let date my daughter (if I had one), or whom I would trust in a business deal, or whom I consider to be a role model of any sort. I far prefer Ted Cruz or Mike Pence to Donald Trump, in almost any sense. But, Trump was a far better choice for President than Hillary; and, while comfortable with lying and adulterating, does not appear to be the pathological liar that Hillary is, or the serial sexual abuser of power that Bill was and likely still would be.

Trump does seem to genuinely love America, as opposed to Obama, who seemed to hate America. And Trump does not seem to be motivated by personal greed, unlike the Clintons.

I disdain Trump’s character. But given the choices we had, and have, he is doing a very good job as President.

    If you knew more of Trumps past, you’d know you could trust Trump in a business deal.

    John Kennedy was waving his wanker all over tbe White House. So was Clinton. Obama was having sex with men and smoking dope. (On top of being a traitor)

    Trump is a great president and a great patriot.

    A prostitute’s kiss and tell – what else do we expect from a whore?

      Ragspierre in reply to TheFineReport.com. | March 26, 2018 at 8:09 am

      If you knew more about T-rump’s past, you know he lies, cheats, and steals his business partners and others who make the mistake of doing business with him.

      Your T-rump sucking is really high vacuum and NO veracity .

i love how her blouse is about to suffer massive structural failure in critical locations… a silicone landslide is no laughing matter.

What was the purpose of this interview other than to bask in her 15 minutes of fame, get some appearance money and possibly setup future lucrative paydays, and try to inflict as much damage as possible on Trump? My guess is she will fall short in all categories.

    Ragspierre in reply to Ghost Rider. | March 26, 2018 at 8:55 am

    The story broke without her participation.

    Duh Donald lied about it, and called her a liar.

    She’s countering that…and doing a lot more as one would expect from a very pubic…er, public, person.

    This is T-rumpWorld. The Man From WrestleMania… Helluvadeal for America.

      Ghost Rider in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 9:13 am

      Yes, we’ve been witnessing her non-participation for a while now. Glad she hitched herself to a Democratic crank lawyer in preparation for her non-participation.

        Ragspierre in reply to Ghost Rider. | March 26, 2018 at 9:35 am

        You insinuate that the whole story is a put-up.

        You should have the integrity to address this with the WSJ reporter who broke the story.

        I’ll be happy to learn of your progress.

          MarkSmith in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 2:49 pm

          WSJ is in the dog house. After discovering their link to GPS Fusion

          http://thefederalist.com/2017/12/04/fusion-gps-scandal-implicates-media-possible-pay-publish-scheme/

          Fusion GPS’s principals—Glenn Simpson, Peter Fritsch, Thomas Catan, and King—are all Journal alumni. Moreover, several other former Journal hands employed throughout the Washington DC press corps to cover the Russiagate beat have teamed with the Fusion four. Because Journal alums played a key role not only in creating the Great Kremlin Conspiracy but also in disseminating it, it is natural that the Journal would find itself in the middle of the story. It appears its newsroom is still influenced by the former staffers driving the Russiagate story.

      willow in reply to Ragspierre. | March 26, 2018 at 9:36 am

      If the story broke without her participation, how would anyone know about it?

      To be clear, Ragspierre, when the story first broke the Stormy One denied having a fling with Trump…

      Then the NDA questions began…then Stormy goes on a talk show and gives coy answers…(“Did You”?…”Did I”?)

      So…she signed a NDA…she she didn’t sign…
      She took the money…she didn’t take the money…there was no money….blah, blah, blah…

      I don’t know if Stormy-D is telling the truth or not, but she IS…riding the wave.

Professor Jacobson …. Is there any rational reason not to block the person who comments under the name of ragspierre?

Many of the best quality conservative sites block the blathering of trolls who name call like nasty kindergarten tykes and hijack the threads. LI is a site of ladies and gentlemen with the exception of *ragspierre* who rages consistently and obsessively.

Please, Professor, I am begging you.

    Ragspierre in reply to Jmaquis. | March 26, 2018 at 9:04 am

    Now this here is how you concern troll, people. Text book.

    But note the embedded lie; I’ve been commenting here for many years, and there is no “trolling” about my commentary. I’m just not part of the GroupThink.

    Note also that, rather than counter the facts and my analysis, I become the nexus of personal attacks. Apparently the facts are tough…

    paracelsus in reply to Jmaquis. | March 26, 2018 at 11:31 am

    Sometimes the best way to get rid of a nasty little insect buzzing around your head is to pay absolutely no attention to it.

    Aww Come on Jmaquis, if you dislike Ragspierre’s comments don’t read them…

Looks like Stormy is milking this for all it’s worth.

She has always sold her body.
Now that her body has little or no value, she sells her soul.

Does anyone else here think Rags-P is intentionally going for the LI world record in total “Thumbs Down” responses to his opinion?

As I said before, Ragsy is like a guest invited into your house, who verbally insults the host, and then craps on the living room floor before he sobers up and leaves . . .

“For anyone who can actually manage to rub two or more brain cells together, they understand that his comment was about what women let celebrities do”

Exactly, Trump was talking about celebrity groupies, not all women.

I experienced this to a lesser degree in my youth back in Dallas. My family was very wealthy, which caught the attention of certain North Dallas mothers who wanted their daughter to gain the social status of dating a Highland Park boy. At 16 I have Lake Highlands and Plano girls literally throwing their bodies at me.

Same thing in college. I’m not that handsome, no illusions there. But I’m getting dates with coeds waaaay out of my league, we’re talking sports illustrated swimsuit model types. Letting me do whatever I wanted with their bodies for the chance to marry my bank account.

On the bright side, wading through all these upper middle class whores sharpened my learning curve and I married a nice Jewish girl with a pure heart.

But looking back, I have a sense of kind of women who stalk Trump.

    Ragspierre in reply to Fen. | March 26, 2018 at 9:21 am

    …but Mike Pence. And any number of wealthy, powerful and good men.

    Blaming the women is so bankrupt.

“Does anyone else here think Rags is intentionally – ”

Its the 2nd half of Flowers For Algernon.

I’ve reading LI for quite some time and can remember when he provided excellent commentary and analysis. He was one of those people worth reading even when you’re in disagreement.

The decline in hus demeanor has been sad to watch

    Ragspierre in reply to Fen. | March 26, 2018 at 9:23 am

    You know what’s funny is that every one of the people who maintain their principles have the same thing said about them.

    Innit odd…

    daniel_ream in reply to Fen. | March 26, 2018 at 12:19 pm

    *snrk* You owe me a new monitor. I do love me a good classic SF-based burn.

    MarkSmith in reply to Fen. | March 26, 2018 at 1:19 pm

    Fen, go back and read what he wrote.

    I been reading LI for a long time too and I disagree.

    Fen I’ve reading LI for quite some time and can remember when he provided excellent commentary and analysis.”

    His rude behavior was going on long before he started posting to LI.

    I love this statement from the Jacobin Morris:

    Morris to 4th armored div

    This makes the second time you have falsely and weirdly accused me of “anti-Semitism”.

    Morris makes “falsely and weirdly accusations” to anyone that disagrees with him including calling me an alt-righter. I laugh at it. If the Professor really wanted have fun with it, I would suggest giving him 4 posts per thread instead of banning him. His head would explode because he could not feed his ego.

    Morris, your mother is calling. It is feeding time for the cat.

    MarkSmith in reply to Fen. | March 26, 2018 at 1:26 pm

    Fen, too funny. Just looked up “Flowers For Algernon”. I am going to have to read it. Justification for mainstreaming special needs. Your bad. LOL.

CaliforniaJimbo | March 26, 2018 at 9:49 am

The only downside to potus is if he’s questioned under oath about this. Learn from BJ Clinton. Don’t lie under oath.
If stormy is concerned for her daughter, maybe the Make America Horny Again tour might not be such a great motherly endeavor
I suspect this is going to hurt stormy a lot. How much do you want to bet the NDA is the best money can buy? The real victim in this is all of us. We have to hear this tripe 24/7 until the msm decides POTUS is guilty of something else.
Maybe if they timed this closer to the Weinstein debacle they may have hurt POTUS more.
This only galvanizes those who like him and those who hate him are just as mad (and maybe a bit jealous)

The writer stares with glassy eyes —
Defies the empty page,
His beard is white, his face is lined
And streaked with tears of rage.

Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision,
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision

And he stares out the kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no more

Some are born to move the world —
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we’d like to be

Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you — the blind who once could see —
The bell tolls for thee.

– Losing It, Rush

Rags: “Character used to matter. To many of us, it still does”

That’s a howler.

Yesterday you mentioned your father, a writer and inventor. I let it pass because I have character and class.

But I remember when I brought my own father on these pages – much like my remarks this week about the Bushmaster M242 – just a off-handed anecdote about how good he was the first time he got to argue before The Supreme Court and how I was too young to appreciate what a big deal it was.

You called me a liar, and then danced on his grave with some very disgusting remarks that I’ve long since memory holed because I have a lovely wife doesn’t deserve to visit me in prison.

But you have zero moral authority to lecture anyone else about character.

    Ragspierre in reply to Fen. | March 26, 2018 at 10:47 am

    “….I’ve long since memory holed because I have a lovely wife doesn’t deserve to visit me in prison.”

    Come get me, Killer.

    But I’m as safe as safe can be from a pathetic, impotent fantasist like you.

    Sick.

Edit – an offhand anecdote about how GIDDY he was

Fuzzy: “When the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky thing unfolded, I was initially kind of outraged that it happened in the Oval, that she was only 22 (or whatever), and that it left him open to blackmail, etc. from foreign powers”

For me it was the hypocrisy. If you recall, we had been inundated with feminist lectures about sexual predation in the workplace. I kept thinking about all the other women in the White House who didn’t score job interviews with the UN or Revlon via Vernon Jordon because they refused to add oral skills to their resume.

Henry Hawkins | March 26, 2018 at 12:06 pm

Loathe as I am to ever defend the likes of Bill Clinton, in the history of marriage no husband ever held greater justification for fooling around on his wife. Good God, what a harpy. I’d have given him a pass had he murdered her.

As for Trump, my first awareness of him was when he launched a media compaign to get the US government to let him take over the ongoing SALT talks with the Soviet Union. (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. I am too lazy to look up whether it was the SALT I or SALT II talks. Both rounds ran from roughly 1969-1979 when a final agreement was reached). He was unknown to the general public outside NYC at the time, and his media antics are now familiar – he was the consummate deal-maker, better than anyone negotiating for the US, he’d whip them Russkies, etc., etc. – and he was pretty obnoxious about it whenever on screen or quoted in print. Like many, my reaction was, “who the hell is this clown?” That’s how my initial assessment of Trump was set. Nothing he did after that served to change my mind, indeed, his reality TV stint actually worsened my opinion of him.

Fuzzy made a good point in an earlier comment about how it might change a voter’s decision whether to vote for a disliked Trump depending on how at-risk that voter’s home state was to supporting Hillary Clinton. I live in such a state, North Carolina, where the outcome was in serious doubt in 2016. Having commented here on my dilemma – I detested Trump, but detested Clinton far, far more – I was told by many Trump supporters that not voting for Trump was a vote for Hillary, of whom I’d commented several times I would not vote for under any circumstance. The concept is nonsense, because my refusal to vote for Hillary was not considered a vote for Trump. The concept is a sophism.

I voted – yet again – for whom I perceived as the lesser evil. Trump’s performance to date has been a mixed bag, good mixed with the bad, and he still seems to be a bit of a loose cannon – and not just in comparison with more ‘traditional’ presidencies. I had stated often my belief, my fear, that at some point Trump was going to break his devoted supporters’ hearts, and I still believe that, especially given the poorly negotiated, Democrat dream budget bill. How you can hold the House, the Senate, and the White House and get nothing beyond an increase in military spending while giving Democrats most of what they wanted is beyond me. Trump is slowly sliding leftward and if he’s reelected he’ll no longer need to keep his base satisfied, making a further slide to the left a lot easier. This is the Trump supporter heartbreak I’m forecasting, though I sincerely hope I’m wrong, for the sake of the country.

“But Henry, Trump has the Democrats and 99% of the media working against him!” This is no excuse. Every president has the opposing party against him. Anyone running as a Republican will have the media against him or her. It’s a long-time known fact, the situation for decades, and does not justify any administration failures. By running, you are declaring you are capable of defeating the opposition, whomever it is. This is similar to the excuse made for Clinton’s loss that she won the popular vote, but was ‘cheated’ by our electoral college process. This too is horse-hockey. It is no surprise to any serious presidential campaign that you have to win the electoral college, that a popular vote superiority is meaningless. This is the United *States* of America, not the United People of America. States elect the president.

Having said all this, I’ll hope for the best re: Trump, just as I did for the two dad/son Bush administrations. Reagan was the first, last, and only president I voted for from a positive, I want this guy stance as opposed to the depressing ‘lesser evil’ assessment.

I used to be a daily commenter here, beginning in 2011, but have slacked off, moved to lurker status, over the past year or so. My absence had nothing to do with the blog itself, nor the comment section. I’d lost my wife two years ago, after years serving as her primary caregiver during her long illness. Those who’ve served as caregivers will understand how the ‘patient’ can’t travel and can’t be left alone, so the caregiver is moored to the home. Once she’d passed I traveled, seeing family and friends I’d been unable to see very often, if at all, for a long time. Well, they’ve all had quite a bellyfull of me now, so perhaps I’ll pick up on my commenting. I was treated like gold here, excepting the flat-ass refusal of management to place free doughnuts in the lobby, whiuch still sticks in my craw a bit.

As for the good professor, I was first drawn to LI by his writing skills, so clear and concise, and his political positions, with which I agree 90% of the time. If that were 100%. one of us would be redundant, and since LI is his house, not mine, adios Henry, lol.

The political climate appears to be changing (changing again, it’s always a pendulum swinging between extremes). Liberal media is dropping all pretense of objectivity and considers political activism to be the primary function of “journalism”. The Democrat Party is beginning to understand the negative backwash of allowing the radical left wing of the party to control things. The Republican Party has been exposed as two-faced, talking a good game during campaigns, reneging upon election. Coporate leadership is turning more fascistic the more it is populated by lefty leadership. And so on, throughout the American condition.

The area of faith I rely on is my unwavering belief that the American system of government and politics is still inevitably controlled by the people and that the people will act, via the voting booth and donor checkbooks, when it is most needed. Given the disinformation and lies of both commission and omission constantly put out by the media, and yes, by both the Democrat and Republican parties, it takes a while for the people to winnow out the information wheat from the chaffe. But that happens, every time.

Legal Insurrection is a big part of that winnowing, a constant supply of demonstrable, reliable fact, and I’m grateful for that.

    Well, Hank, i can understand your fear That trump will not be able to deliver on all of his promises. But, I do not share your opinion that it is because of Trump or his actions. So far, where ever Trump has been able to act unilaterally, his actions have proven beneficial. The Congress even passed a tax cut bill. Remember that, because it is important.

    Look at the Trump Presidency this way. A group of people [Trump supporters] name him their champion against the Establishment which is destroying their way of life. He climbs into the ring, not against a single opponent, even one who may be bigger than he is, but against a mob. Now I know that we all have been taught by the movies and television that a single man will be able to overcome all of these opponents simultaneously. However, in real life, this is less likely to happen than it is to be struck by lightning, in a subway station. No one, with any common sense expects Trump to win, by himself. What has to be done for him to win? Even the odds.To do that, almost every Republican in Congress has to be replaced.

    Will Trump’s supporters be able to do that? Who knows. It depends upon who is allowed to run for Congress. We saw what the Republican party did to Roy Moore. They essential handed the seat to a Democrat in one of the reddest states in the Union. They same people, who voted for Trump, returned Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to office. And, we can see what those yahoos just did.

    So, we come to the Omnibus Spending Bill of 2018. The Republican leadership write up a bill that the Democrats would be ashamed to pen, and most of the rest of the Republicans in the Congress vote FOR this pile of steaming pork excrement AND vote themselves a RAISE. They dump it on Trump’s desk 24 hours before a government shutdown will occur, pack-up and leave town and Trump reluctantly signs it. While I would personally have preferred that he not sign it and force the Congress to override his veto, while hammering them during a government shutdown, he and his advisors chose not to do this. To save their ammunition for later on in the year. The Republican Congress actively sought to harm the REPUBLICAN President. Again, remember that. It is very important.

    The Omnibus Spending bill is not Trump’s failure. He was, and is, outnumbered and outgunned and very effectively mousetrapped. People who do not want to end up as welfare slaves should remember that. The Middle Class has only one person in the Federal government who has proven himself to be allied with it; Trump. You can take it from there.

      MarkSmith in reply to Mac45. | March 26, 2018 at 2:05 pm

      The Omnibus Spending bill is not Trump’s failure. He was, and is, outnumbered and outgunned and very effectively mousetrapped.

      I will wait and see on this. I don’t think he was mousetrapped. It is interesting how key things seem to pivot in his favor. Personally, we need a new third party and if he breaks both the Dems and Republicans (Uniparty), great. He is a bottle thrower and that is what I like about him. I don’t have high expectation for him as President, but some of the people working for him should come through. I am glad to see the exposure of the DOJ and FBI abuses. I am glad to see characters like Adam Schiff outing. I am glad to see Hollywood outed. I am glad to see 2 Amend. rights discussed because maybe we really address the issues with gun associated with mental health and criminals.

      I don’t think anyone questioned his “moral” values before he ran (come on… Miss Universe Organization owner) and three marriages. Stormy…big yawn.

      At least he is making politics into a new sport.

        Mac45 in reply to MarkSmith. | March 26, 2018 at 4:19 pm

        So, why would you think that Trump was not mousetrapped in the Omnibus Bill matter? Can you give us some inkling why you would believe that he wanted to be placed in that position? Exactly how does signing this bill help him?

        On to your other points.

        A 3rd party. Actually that would be a 2nd party [working against the Dem/Rep Uniparty]. Unfortunately there is no time to build one before the midterms. Also, any such party would be so woefully underfunded and understaffed that either of the existing parties, alone, could overwhelm it. It is much better to simply hijack the existing Republican party, by removing its leadership, and using that party apparatus against the Establishment.

        It is gratifying to see some indication that legal action may be taken against members of the FBI/DOJ for their actions during the Obama Administrations. But, I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

        As for Hollywood being outed. That has turned into a nightmare for the country. rather than being used to prosecute a single, or even a few, non-consensual sexual predators, it is being used to tar every man in America, and a few females in positions of power, as being sexual predators who must be destroyed at all costs. That the impetus for this came from women in Hollywood, who had gone along with and even supported the status quo for years and were now trying to protect themselves from blow-back, is highly ironic.

        Please do not fall into the trap of thinking that something needs to be done about the use of guns by the mentally ill and criminals. In the case of the mentally ill, this can be wide open to unreasonably restricting a sane person’s right to possess a firearm while having no affect upon any mentally ill person who has not been identified. and, criminal don’t care about control, except that it disarms their potential victims, making it safer for them to prey upon people. The easiest and surest way to deal with armed mental patients and criminals is for law abiding people to be armed and trained in the defensive use of weapons and allowed to use those weapons in self defense.

          MarkSmith in reply to Mac45. | March 26, 2018 at 11:47 pm

          Like anything negotiated, I am still waiting for the Trump plan. Other sites I have been reading seem to indicated that what is passed and what will be spent are two different things. If in exchange for the bill he was able to clear the path for nominees, he may be able to reshape and reduce the spends within each department like he is doing with Mulvaney’s CFPB.

          As for Gun Control, pivoting on it for better mental health services and tougher crime policies will help win the day with democrats. Like the VA, general mental health policies have been bad since the early 80’s.

    Anonamom in reply to Henry Hawkins. | March 26, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your wife, Mr. Hawkins. You have my condolences. Care of the dying is an incredibly difficult business, but it’s also truly the most beautiful gift of love. I hope that your time traveling has helped you recover from the worst of the grief and exhaustion.

      Henry Hawkins in reply to Anonamom. | March 26, 2018 at 5:28 pm

      Thank you so much. “Care of the dying is an incredibly difficult business, but it’s also truly the most beautiful gift of love.” That pretty much nails it. Now my mission is to become a greater burden on my kids. Heh.

    Hey Henry. Good to “read” you again. Don’t be a stranger.

    Good to hear from you again Henry.

    Always enjoyed your wit and writing style.

    And my deepest condolences on your loss. I’m sure she was as much of a gem as you are.

    What a marvelous, rich, and insightful comment. I’ve missed you around here, Henry!

    I live in Florida, and Election Day was unfolding unwell for Trump in my state; I felt I had a duty to my conscience and to our Republic to vote against Hillary. It sounds hyperbolic today, but it honestly felt that weighty on that day. Since then, though, I’ve been pretty happy with what Trump has accomplished, and if I could go back to Election Day knowing what I know now, I would cast my vote with much less trepidation.

    That said, you do make a point that worries me: Trump breaking his most ardent supporters’ hearts. I’ve been worried about this from Day One, and so far, he’s held relatively firm. He’s said some worrying things (like skipping due process to disarm Americans) and is clearly pushing for DACA (and he signed that horrific spending bill).

    While you think his second term is the point to worry, I fear it’s much closer than that. If Trump loses the House and/or the Senate, I am deeply concerned that he will work with Pelosi to make deals and get things done, some of the things that we know he has supported like some form of amnesty, like minimum wage, like universal health care, and like Ivanka’s unfunded family leave and child care entitlement. We knew he didn’t want to defund Planned Parenthood, and sure enough, they get a giant chunk of our taxpayer dollars in that bill.

    If he loses both the House and the Senate, I am worried that he will work with Democrats on their pet issues and causes, partly because he believes in some of them and partly because failure to do so will mean impeachment. He’s also a human being, so he will want his legacy and presidency to be perceived as a success.

    Besides, if the Democrats have the House, what can he really do but wave his Obama pen and phone around and achieve nothing of lasting value? Perhaps he would bide his time until his second term, but if his inclination is to plow left, he won’t have to wait if the GOP doesn’t control Congress. He has to have a GOP Congress not just for his agenda, but to keep him on the right path.

    My biggest, worst nightmare? Trump loses both Houses of Congress in November and decides to pull a Jim Justice (D, now R-WV) and switch parties. There’s nothing in the Constitution to stop him, and he’d be a media, leftist, Democrat darling. Could his deal-making side or his ego reject such an idea? I would hope, I do hope, but who knows? His currently-appealing unpredictability and out of the box approach to politics could turn around and bite us all on the bottom.

    But, hey, that’s crazy talk! We always have doughnuts in the LI lobby for you. 🙂

Rags: “come get me, Killer.”

Try reading slower.

1944: Dwight D. Eisenhower is reliably reported to be involved with his English Driver/Secretary.

1845: Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in the arms of his longtime mistress.

1963: It is reliably reported that John F. Kennedy has multiple affairs, many during his term as President.

1997: William J. Clinton is reliably accused of having multiple affairs, including at least one non-consensual affair and at least one long-term, during his Presidency.

What do all of these things have in common? The media ignored them, at the time. Even after the Lewinsky affair was corroborated, there was nothing but crickets from the media. Even in the Ted Cruz affairs story, recognized journalists from the Washington Post found that the reports concerning two of the named women were credible. But, the story was spun to be an indictment of the Trump Campaign. No one really cared if Cruz had an affair or not. The only reason why Clinton got into trouble is because he lied about his involvement while under oath. And that did not get him removed from office.

This is just another nothing burger launched in prime time to attack Trump. Anyone with any common sense knows that and will likely ignore it.

    MarkSmith in reply to Mac45. | March 26, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    You forgot LBJ.

    One of his many partners was a woman named Madeline Brown. In 1950 Brown became pregnant with Johnson’s son Steven. He was at least nice enough to take care of her and the child before and after his birth. The affair lasted 21 years.

    I know someone that was a guard at on of his compounds. He said they were constantly bring in women to it.

    elle in reply to Mac45. | March 26, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    People cared about Clinton because of the glaring hypocrisy as noted above.

    elle in reply to Mac45. | March 26, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    People cared about Clinton because of the glaring hypocrisy as noted above.

Yup. And wasn’t it ABC who sat on the Lewinsky story until Drudge broke it and forced their hand?

clif the stiff | March 26, 2018 at 1:17 pm

I was disappointed that he didn’t wear a condom. Shows he’s risky with his dingus. It’s reported that he most often doesn’t want to shake hands, Trump’s being a germophobe. I say… that he’s changed since the supposed encounter, or she’s just lying about it all, including that “no condom” portion.

Rags has been a chew toy for over a year. I’ve gotten bored with him, but I’m pleased to see he still squeaks when batted around.

In part, Stormy is also about trying to get FLOTUS to leave POTUS. Melania has added a lot to the presidency, and the progressive haters would love to see her divorce Trump.

    More of the Clintons “politics of personal destruction”

    When they can’t beat you politically, destroy their lives by any means necessary

    Well, they could always treat her like they did Donald Trump Jr’s wife. I’d bet serious money that a good chunk of that divorce is her (and maybe him) looking around at the unhinged Trump haters (of which we have a prime case right here on this blog) and saying “You know, if we have a nasty enough ‘divorce’, maybe the kids won’t have to worry about being in the line of fire when one of these people gets lucky. THEY only have to be lucky ONCE.”

There is a picture (meme) floating around showing the pupils of Daniels, Cooper, and the lawyers during the interview. Under the bright lights both guys pupils are constricted, yet hers are huge.

Doesn’t look photoshopped

    ScottTheEngineer in reply to RedEchos. | March 27, 2018 at 5:26 am

    “”Black eyes, Soulless eyes, like a dolls eyes. until they roll over white and all you here are the screams.”

Professor Jacobson’s concerns are well placed. Seth Lipsky reflects on all this and puts it in perspective in a New York Sun column several days ago. It’s serious and well worth a read.

https://www.nysun.com/national/devil-with-the-sages-as-new-york-judge-okays-suit/90221/