Althouse: SNL writer Katie Rich is "so sorry" for her tweet about Barron Trump but we are told that she's been "suspended."

January 23, 2017

SNL writer Katie Rich is "so sorry" for her tweet about Barron Trump but we are told that she's been "suspended."

Whatever that means. Not fired, I take it. Suspended. It's a gesture to the public. I assume she will recover.

The objected-to tweet — so wrong on so many levels — was: "Barron will be this country’s first homeschool shooter."

182 comments:

John henry said...: Why can't we have "all of the above"?

John Henry; 1/23/17, 4:40 PM
LawGuy5000 said...: The biggest problem with this tweet is that it is not funny. A certain amount of offensiveness is allowable if a joke is funny. This joke fails the balancing test miserably.; 1/23/17, 4:41 PM
steve uhr said...: Adam Lanza was home schooled.; 1/23/17, 4:44 PM
mikeski said...: Rhett: "You're like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail."; 1/23/17, 4:46 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Yeah, Greg Gutfeld does a hypothetical, similar tweet about Malia Obama in 2009, and the networks go ......radio silence. Yeah, that would happen. Right.

The Left has no standards other than the will to power to fight for equality.; 1/23/17, 4:46 PM
Wilbur said...: I didn't understand what she meant in her original Tweet. I guess it's what Steve Uhr says above.; 1/23/17, 4:46 PM
n.n said...: Nature or nurture? None of Trump's other children are immoderate or irresponsible, which reduces the likelihood that his youngest son would run amuck and commit mass abortion.

Verdict: Hope and Projection.; 1/23/17, 4:47 PM
Tommy Duncan said...: Good list of options, Althouse! All true, all worthy, all damning.; 1/23/17, 4:48 PM
Tarrou said...: Poor taste? Absolutely. Cowardly? Definitely. Evincing an Antoinette-level of of arrogance and contempt for the public? Indubitably.

But what makes it unforgivable is that it isn't funny. I was promised good comedy now that the pathetic shills in Hollywood can make jokes about the president after their 8-year strike. You have one job. They can't even mock Republicans properly anymore.; 1/23/17, 4:49 PM
Chuck said...: "All of the above" was my thought as well.

The Tweet was inexcusable and indefensible.

Interesting to me, is that it was also wrong. I don't think Barron Trump is homeschooled at all. Isn't he enrolled at a private school in Manhattan? The only reason that I ever questioned that, is because if Barron were homeschooled, there wouldn't be much reason for him to stay in Manhattan for the balance of the school year.

It was also odd to me, insofar as the offending writer seemingly noted Barron's curious social demeanor and inferred that it was simply antisocial, without any apparent awareness of the unconfirmed and hotly disputed stories that Barron Trump has Asperger's or some form of autism (leading to several notable legal actions on the part of the Trump family). Bad idea, for any celebrity adult to pick on an autistic kid. It might be relevant, if Donald Trump was basing any federal autism/vaccine policy on his anecdotal experience. And although Trump seems to have come close to that line, it hasn't happened yet.; 1/23/17, 4:52 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Suspended. From a a tall building?

Drop her already.; 1/23/17, 4:52 PM
Big Mike said...: Where do I mark "all of the above"?; 1/23/17, 4:54 PM
Chuck said...: A better poll would have been on whether the punishment for the SNL writer was right.

Example: "The SNL writer should have been:

~Left alone, she has a right to her own free expression;
~Suspended; this punishment seems to be about right;
~Fired; the maximum punishment is called for;
~Worse; civil suit or other legal action."; 1/23/17, 4:56 PM
Quaestor said...: Barron Trump is not nor has ever been homeschooled. He attends a private day school in Manhattan.; 1/23/17, 4:58 PM
whitney said...: You needed a "hypocrite" choice. I couldn't vote for any of those; 1/23/17, 5:00 PM
Gk1 said...: I want her livelihood ruined. I want an example made of her. I hope she's fired and treated like a pariah. This is how change comes about. Even tape worms will avoid a stabbing scalpel after about the 4th jab.; 1/23/17, 5:00 PM
Meade said...: Teach SNL writers not to abuse children.; 1/23/17, 5:03 PM
Martha said...: just seen on Twitter:

The suspension of Katie Rich from SNL does not bode well for free speech. We should all be a little more scared than we were yesterday.

Meanwhile, Ben Smith, editor in chief of the website Buzzfeed, called Monday for news organizations to adopt "new rules" in order to properly cover the Trump administration, and said that may even require sometimes publishing "unverified information."; 1/23/17, 5:03 PM
AlbertAnonymous said...: I was inclined to "all of the above" as well.

Its more of the liberal meltdown over Trump as president. I don't care about her feelings, personally, but if you're going to make jokes to denigrate Trump, then denigrate Trump, not his 10 year kid.

Another showing of incredible tolerance from the left...; 1/23/17, 5:04 PM
Will Cate said...: Steve Uhr said: "Adam Lanza was home schooled."

... by a crazy woman (by most accounts) ... take it from the Dad of two college-graduated, employed, home-schooled sons... no connection; 1/23/17, 5:05 PM
Chuck said...: There's a good case to be made, that precedent is that it is a firing offense:

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/01/gop-staffer-girls-elizabeth-lauten-resigns-backlash-attack-obama-girls.html

That is, when a Republican does it. (Republican House staffer "resigns" after strange post concerning Sasha and Malia Obama, which was inarguably less harsh than any suggestion of a future "shooter."); 1/23/17, 5:05 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Good heavens, the boy is only ten years old. What could this cruel nitwit be thinking?

In a world where tech gurus lose their jobs (Brendan Eich) for thoughtcrime, where Chelsea Clinton is held off-limits to criticism as a child of a candidate (even though she is a 35 and a political operative), where the Bush sisters were hounded during their growing pains and the Obama sisters are beyond criticism, that this dope gets a wrist-slap is not surprising. A mean girl who works for NBC. Who would ever think of such a thing?; 1/23/17, 5:08 PM
robother said...: 1. If someone encounters her on a Manhattan Street, it is OK to slap her face?
2. If one encounters either of the gay harassers of Ivanka Trump on the streets of Brooklyn, is is OK to sucker punch them?

These are some things "the Internet" would like to know.; 1/23/17, 5:11 PM
Thorley Winston said...: It seems to me that her comments might be the sort that would trigger an investigation by the Secret Service and she might just be the sort of unhinged personality who would do something stupid when they show up at her door that could lead to an arrest.; 1/23/17, 5:11 PM
Meade said...: Her Wikipedia page says Katie Rich suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Could this be an opportunity for President Trump to reach out with charity and forgiveness?; 1/23/17, 5:12 PM
Static Ping said...: It is always in poor form to attack children. If you attack a child, you should expect that the child's guardians will attack back. Do not expect mercy.

You can do humor about children, but it better be in good nature. This is just cruel. You will see humor like this from time to time and it can be funny, but it is almost always about fictional children.

I still remember watching an SNL skit - Wayne's World I believe - where they made fun of a then child Chelsea Clinton's looks. I found it very uncomfortable.; 1/23/17, 5:13 PM
rcocean said...: The twat should have been fired. No excuse. Boundaries must be set.

Do not attack children.; 1/23/17, 5:13 PM
rcocean said...: And no it wasn't a joke. Did anyone laugh?; 1/23/17, 5:13 PM
rcocean said...: She used the lame troll excuse.

Haha - I was just kidding. It was just a joke. Why are you such a prude.; 1/23/17, 5:14 PM
rcocean said...: The twat should have been fired. No excuse. Boundaries must be set.

Do not attack children.; 1/23/17, 5:15 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: "Hold her up for sustained public ridicule for picking on a child publicly."

She should be fired, shamed. She will be given a golden opportunity instead, because "Hollywood." Leftists never have to really pay for their sins... not on Earth anyway.; 1/23/17, 5:16 PM
Larry J said...: I'm old enough to remember the command "Hands off Chelsea!" In 1993. The Bush (W) daughters, not so much but they were older. Of course, any unfavorable discussion of the Obama daughters was strictly off limits. So, what is different about Baron Trump? Is it that, like the Bush daughters, his father is a Republican? Or could it be because he's a boy?

It's wrong to go after the children of politicians. Like all children, they don't get to choose their parents. Hell, even the Mafia dons left each others families alone.; 1/23/17, 5:17 PM
Quaestor said...: Katie Rich should not be punished or "suspended" (whatever that means). People should realize that Rich and her ilk are the reason SNL is so flat and tedious. As a comedy show, it struggles to be merely droll. Rich and all those other unhumorous writers are the reason SNL is on its last legs. Rich and her ilk are typical diversity hires — no imagination, no sense of whimsey, just an SJW beef, a rhetorical dead horse they manically flog without even a pennyweight's worth of anarchic jocularity of a Belushi or and Akroyd.

The only punishment Katie Rich should suffer are pointing fingers and peals of derisive laughter.She should be chased through Grand Central Station by a slavering pack of Trumpeters until finally cornered in a gender neutral public urinal she is reduced to screaming "I am not an animal!"; 1/23/17, 5:18 PM
fivewheels said...: When Katie Rich relies on her wits to try to take down a 10-year-old kid, is she punching up or punching down? It's an open question, I suppose.; 1/23/17, 5:19 PM
Bob Boyd said...: A lot of pearl clutching in this thread. It's just a joke. I doubt Donald Trump's kid is being raised to be fragile.
In a private conversation it's clever and funny. Maybe even in a small venue stand up routine. It was dumb and inappropriate to tweet it.; 1/23/17, 5:22 PM
WarrenPeese said...: If this was a one-off, I'd cut her some slack. SNL was really thrown off its game since Trump won. They've got bigger things to worry about, like trying to get their collective sense of humor back. I saw the first hour of SNL a couple of nights ago and, except for Ms. McKinnon playing a Russian woman, it wasn't close to funny. Or even clever.; 1/23/17, 5:24 PM
Mary Beth said...: The Comedy Central writer Stephen Spinola also tweeted about Barron Trump, calling him a future date-rapist. He also tweeted, "I don't want my Mom to get raped, but if she does, I hope it's by Barron Trump - small pp would be painless & we'd win lots of money in court."

I don't understand these people. I like sick humor and dark jokes but I don't like jokes that pick on a specific child who, as far as I can tell, has done nothing other than be related to someone they hate.; 1/23/17, 5:25 PM
campy said...: I would think working at NBC and writing for SNL is punishment enough.; 1/23/17, 5:26 PM
Achilles said...: I bet Barron is smarter than her kids.; 1/23/17, 5:27 PM
Fabi said...: Please explain the humor in the alleged "joke", Bob Boyd.; 1/23/17, 5:27 PM
Achilles said...: Edit: I bet Barron is smarter than her.; 1/23/17, 5:27 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Meade--I love you, man, but get in the game. Some privileged nitwit who gets panic attacks unloads on a 10 year old boy. No, Meade, this is not the time for President Trump to reach out to someone like that with charity and forgiveness. If this girl lives with panic, maybe there is a reason. Maybe her antisocial behavior towards innocent strangers pisses them off.; 1/23/17, 5:28 PM
Gk1 said...: I wonder if this is SOP now whenever someone shoots themselves in the foot on twitter?. First delete the tweet, then the entire account? Then post a mealy mouth "apology"? I'd love to read her other witty tweets, but alas the record is gone.; 1/23/17, 5:28 PM
Quaestor said...: Her Wikipedia page says Katie Rich suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Could this be an opportunity for President Trump to reach out with charity and forgiveness?

Emotionally fragile people should not attempt wit, especially badinage — much too confrontational. In fact, they should avoid the writer's trade altogether. Look what it did for Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickenson — all those neatly handed reams and scribbled bits, on and on, year by dreadfully dull year, and not a chuckle to be had.; 1/23/17, 5:32 PM
Fritz said...: steve uhr said...
Adam Lanza was home schooled.

Dylan Klebold was public schooled.; 1/23/17, 5:36 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Notice NBC used the obscure word "suspended", as Prof. Althouse points out.

Which means exactly what? Well, whatever the "suits" at NBC want it to mean, which means nothing at all to the rest of us. We have no way of judging if the punishment fits the crime, because we have no idea what the punishment is.

Now, "fired" we understand.; 1/23/17, 5:37 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: Her Wikipedia page says Katie Rich suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Could this be an opportunity for President Trump to reach out with charity and forgiveness?

Maybe she suffers from anxiety and panic attacks because she's prone to making stupid comments.; 1/23/17, 5:38 PM
Static Ping said...: To clarify, making jokes like this about, say, Eric Cartman from South Park is fine. Eric is fictional and the quip, if anything, understates the case. There may be rare situations where a real child has done something so horrible that it essentially negates the normal rules against attacking a child. But in this case you are attacking a young child who, to the best of our knowledge, has done nothing wrong. It's text book schoolyard bullying. The only people who tend to find it funny are the bullies.; 1/23/17, 5:41 PM
Chuck said...: YoungHegelian said...
Notice NBC used the obscure word "suspended", as Prof. Althouse points out.
Which means exactly what? Well, whatever the "suits" at NBC want it to mean, which means nothing at all to the rest of us. We have no way of judging if the punishment fits the crime, because we have no idea what the punishment is.
Now, "fired" we understand.

I think NBC's usage of "suspended," means, "We are not going to decide, until we weigh the public reaction, and the potential for a lawsuit from the fired employee... We have to work out a release from the attorney and agent for the individual, and more than anything we have to go over this with our own crisis managers and pr people. See, e.g., Brian Williams..."; 1/23/17, 5:43 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: YoungHegelian: Notice NBC used the obscure word "suspended", as Prof. Althouse points out.

Yes but she wasn't listed in the credits either, Saturday night. So there may have been some monetary loss. Depends on her contract.; 1/23/17, 5:44 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Charity and forgiveness sound great, Meade. Good thinking.

I won't ask what kind of forgiveness a Repub could have expected if the roles were reversed and this comment had been about an Obama daughter, since that's both self-evident and a tu quoque.
I will say, though, that this kind of thing should at a minimum cause the Media to shut the fuck up the next time they think about lecturing me about how morally superior the Left and/or the Media is in terms of their political/partisan combat. This "we go high" bullshit can end, now.; 1/23/17, 5:45 PM
Snark said...: I chose 'you shouldn't go after a child' after a brief consideration of 'you shouldn't make light of school shootings'. Hard to get exactly what the joke was supposed to target - the child or the Trumps? Who exactly does a homeschool shooter shoot? Anyway, it was a cringey miss. Barron does have an unusual and perhaps even slightly discomfiting presence at times, even for a young boy. I understand where the joke came from, but she should have saved it for private circles or the confines of her own head.; 1/23/17, 5:46 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: His curious social demeanor, Chuck? What the hell? He's a 10 year old boy.
You did find a way to sneak in a shot at Trump, though, and since apparently that's the overriding goal...OK.; 1/23/17, 5:49 PM
Rick said...: Could this be an opportunity for President Trump to reach out with charity and forgiveness?

Why would he do this? This gives the left the ability to frame this as the standard. Then the left can defend hateful people by focusing this expectation rather than on the hateful person who attacked a child.; 1/23/17, 5:49 PM
MAJMike said...: I'm so old that I can remember when SNL was funny.; 1/23/17, 5:51 PM
Krumhorn said...: I would have proposed another choice in the poll:

The worst thing about the tweet is that it is demonstrable proof that the lefties are so full to the snout with the belief that they hold a monopoly on virtue, they are blind to the possibility that even Hitler's children are innocent of their father's manifest evil. It never crossed her mind that Baron was off limits. After all, one must strike fearlessly at evil, and let the Devil take the hindmost.

- Krumhorn; 1/23/17, 5:52 PM
madAsHell said...: I was really surprised when I read the tweet. I had the image of the Columbine boys in my head, and couldn't understand why.

I read it a second time, and saw the "homeschool shooter" phrase. It's a clever turn-of-a-phase, but still tasteless.; 1/23/17, 5:57 PM
William said...: Mary Beth at 5:25 quotes a Comedy Central writer's joke that is far more offensive. I was afraid of this. Trump gets elected and now children get attacked, demonstaters get sucker punched and even shot. That's day one. It will get worse......Barron is tall for his age and looks older. That's not such an advantage while undergoing this much public scrutiny........What's the over under on when the SNL writer gets reinstated. My bet is within a month, three months tops. SNL does not want to inhibit its writers from making Trump jokes. Better to err on the side of malice and spite. Nothing that is hostile to Donald Trump is foreign to them.....I will say that Chelsea had a rougher ride than most of the other presidential children. The Kennedy children too. It's always a bummer when your father gets murdered.; 1/23/17, 5:58 PM
Amy said...: All of the above.

And Meade: No. Anxiety/panic is not an excuse for being a cruel asshole.; 1/23/17, 5:58 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Fabi said...
"Please explain the humor in the alleged "joke", Bob Boyd."

Can't. Sorry. You either think something is funny or you don't.
I couldn't explain why Laslo is funny either, but he is.; 1/23/17, 6:12 PM
Sally327 said...: It wasn't funny. The kid isn't home schooled and probably never will be. People of his financial class don't home school their kids. And while I guess it's possible he's got some kind of psychological issue that might lead him to violent behavior in the future, there's been nothing to indicate that in his very few public appearances so far. So it was just a total fail, as a joke or as some kind of credible prognostication of his future behavior.

I predict that there just isn't going to be a lot of comedy gold going after any of the Trump kids and we won't hear or see much more of that. They're too normal. Normal looking, normal acting, etc.; 1/23/17, 6:14 PM
rhhardin said...: It's a very funny line and only unchecked terrorism forced her to apologize for it.

It doesn't disparage little Barron at all. It's a lefty joke that has Trump and family as dangerous clowns.

Barron shows reluctance to go along with everything. He has common sense.

Once he gets bigger, he'll say enough and shoot the family, just out of common sense.

The joke has a lot of moving parts in a single phrase.

The reversal on school shooting being the chief one.; 1/23/17, 6:14 PM
Drago said...: HoodlumDoodlum: "His curious social demeanor, Chuck? What the hell? He's a 10 year old boy."

Vichy Chuck makes sure he offers up this fake "hotly contested" BS which is just an attack on the Trump family using the 10 yr old as the avenue of attack.

This was recently amplified by Rosie O'Donnell, acting like the real POS that she is, attacking Barron.

Absolutely no surprise that Vichy Chuck lends a hand in the attack.

Well played Chuck. You are a real treasure.; 1/23/17, 6:18 PM
Meade said...: "And Meade: No. Anxiety/panic is not an excuse for being a cruel asshole."

I agree. But think about that Beer Summit Obama had with the professor and the Cambridge cop. That was stupid on Obama's part.

But flip that idea a little. Imagine a Milkshake Summit. Maybe at Trump Tower this weekend. Katie gets the opportunity to apologize directly and in person to Barron and his parents. Barron experiences the model of his parents being gracious, kind and forgiving. The nation comes together over what otherwise is obviously a polarizing rancorous ugly incident.

And America becomes that much greater once again.; 1/23/17, 6:27 PM
Sally327 said...: "It doesn't disparage little Barron at all. It's a lefty joke that has Trump and family as dangerous clowns."

That's a nice try but it doesn't really work. It can only be a lefty joke if you factor in the left's supposed hatred of guns, that Barron will pick up a gun and blow his family away, ha ha! you nasty Republicans, you like guns, here's one for you in the hands of a psycho killer, the President's son.

And of course it disparages the kid because he's the psycho killer, he's Dylann Roof in the White House.; 1/23/17, 6:28 PM
Greg Hlatky said...: The worst thing about Katie Rich's tweet was that she wasn't fired and forever blackballed from working in the entertainment industry. When the Left finds doubleplusungood crimethink, people are ousted from jobs (Brendan Eich) or forced into bankruptcy. Why should they set the punishment here?; 1/23/17, 6:29 PM
Rick said...: Sally327 said...
And while I guess it's possible he's got some kind of psychological issue that might lead him to violent behavior in the future, there's been nothing to indicate that in his very few public appearances so far

Exactly. God forbid people think a kid might be awkward in the center of some huge public spectacle. Since that's clearly impossible let's speculate he has Aspergers.; 1/23/17, 6:33 PM
Rick said...: The nation comes together over what otherwise is obviously a polarizing rancorous ugly incident.

Meade's shooting for Katie's SNL job.; 1/23/17, 6:34 PM
Rick said...: William said...
What's the over under on when the SNL writer gets reinstated. My bet is within a month, three months tops. SNL does not want to inhibit its writers from making Trump jokes.

This isn't a punishment. It's an effort to keep her out of the public eye until attention moves on.; 1/23/17, 6:36 PM
Jaq said...: Vichy Chuck, I like it. Not that I ever read his posts. Maybe he has gotten over his mono-mania now, but I doubt it; 1/23/17, 6:38 PM
Fabi said...: Perhaps, Bob Boyd, but which elements were funny? Homeschooling? Becoming a shooter? Juxtaposition? Irony?

I can easily identify every element and theme in Laslo's exquisite humor.; 1/23/17, 6:39 PM
Meade said...: "Meade's shooting for Katie's SNL job."

Ha ha. No, and I don't think Katie deserves to be fired or even suspended. I would rather see her keep her job, learn to do her job better. She needs to be educated, not punished.; 1/23/17, 6:39 PM
Meade said...: If you really want to try to understand the humor, read rhhardin's comment at 6:14. If you can't understand that, then you probably just don't want to.; 1/23/17, 6:42 PM
Dr Weevil said...: They can't even tell us whether she was suspended with or without pay. The former is a reward (paid vacation) that can be spun as a punishment, so I suspect that's what she got.; 1/23/17, 6:42 PM
Rick said...: She needs to be educated, not punished.

Her education is the problem. She correctly learned that hating the right people has financial and social rewards she couldn't otherwise attain. How is more such education going to help?; 1/23/17, 6:44 PM
Gk1 said...: Meade, why show charity to folks who will never reciprocate? The left wanted a culture war and now they have one. Every politician's family should be off limits, even republican ones but maybe some firings and career destruction can go a long way towards civility. An armed society is a polite one!; 1/23/17, 6:48 PM
Fabi said...: I have a twisted sense of humor, Meade, hence my adoration of Laslo's perverted pen. I read rhhardin's explanation and tried to get there, but it still rang hollow.; 1/23/17, 6:48 PM
Professional lady said...: Kind of ironic that my niece who attended the women's march in Lansing posted something about how children should be immune from political attacks. Yet she is perfectly comfortable with actual physical violence being done to unborn children. I hope that someday the inconsistency dawns on her. Anyway, I've had to unfollow a few people - it's hard not to react to hatred with hatred.; 1/23/17, 6:50 PM
Mary Beth said...: She needs to be educated, not punished.

1/23/17, 6:39 PM

Do you really believe that ignorance is the problem?; 1/23/17, 6:52 PM
Meade said...: " How is more such education going to help?"

Trump's election was mainly due to the set of American voters who faithfully believe in the redemptive power of love and forgiveness. Their divine savior came as a human rabbi to teach and educate. Ask any those voters if they believe education can help. I'm pretty sure they'll say yes.; 1/23/17, 6:52 PM
Unknown said...: wasn't donald trump elected in part to put an end to these kind of pc witch hunts?; 1/23/17, 6:56 PM
Rick said...: Ask any those voters if they believe education can help. I'm pretty sure they'll say yes.

By presuming she gets this education you're assuming the conclusion. If you ask those Trump voters if she's more likely to get this education or more of the same what do you think they'll say?; 1/23/17, 7:01 PM
gadfly said...: Home schooling was likely chosen because of Barron's autism. Donald Trump boasts about Barron's computer skills and autistic children often display uncanny computer skills. He has all the symptoms that show up in the autistic but some folks don't like strange behavior.; 1/23/17, 7:03 PM
Barry Dauphin said...: When will Lorne Michaels apologize for SNL not being funny?; 1/23/17, 7:08 PM
FullMoon said...: Umm, if a "home schooled" kid does a "school shooting", he is shooting the people in his home. -his family. She was playing to her peers.; 1/23/17, 7:10 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Fabi said...
"I can easily identify every element and theme in Laslo's exquisite humor."

I can not.

But consider, is this who conservatives are now? Wanting to punish people for wrong think or wrong speak or wrong tweet? Take away their livelihood? Make them afraid? Force them to shut-up? Over a joke we find offensive?
Who is the master of Twitter impropriety anyway? Trump himself.; 1/23/17, 7:10 PM
Chuck said...: gadfly said...
Home schooling was likely chosen because of Barron's autism. Donald Trump boasts about Barron's computer skills and autistic children often display uncanny computer skills. He has all the symptoms that show up in the autistic but some folks don't like strange behavior.

The answer to that from the Trumps' lawyer is a categorical denial, by the way.

And the lawyer, Charles J. Harder, is a defamation/litigation specialist who was retained by Peter Thiel to represent Hulk Hogan in the Gawker case.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/29/melania-trump-attorney-threatens-lawsuit-over-barr/; 1/23/17, 7:11 PM
tim maguire said...: So many horrible things, how do I pick the worst one?

The tweet was disgusting, as is, I am quite sure, Katie Rich, but why was she suspended? This is hardly the first or worst vicious dumb-ass tweet made by some dirtbag liberal hater, and so many are quickly forgotten without consequence. So why Katie?

She must not have had any good sketches this week.; 1/23/17, 7:12 PM
Meade said...: "If you ask those Trump voters if she's more likely to get this education or more of the same what do you think they'll say?"

The evangelical Christians I know would say something like, God works in mysterious ways. Or, it's never too late to open one's heart. Or, you can lead a sinner to baptism but the sinner has to WANT to get wet. Something along those lines. To some people, the strength of evangelicals' faith is unimaginably strong.; 1/23/17, 7:12 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Education is important, I agree.
Losing your job and being socially ostracized for egregiously odious behavior would teach a hell of a lesson.
Remember that GOP congressional staffer who lost her job and was pilloried for a few days by the Media (nightly news!) after she tweeted that the Obama girls should have more class (of something similar)? That taught a fear lesson: don't fuck with the President's kids. Not a bad lesson, and one I think most everyone learned and followed, yeah?
Well there is a new President now, and apparently that old lesson has been lost. Meade seems to think its better to let that old lesson go, in the name of (Christian) charity and forgiveness. That is a nice sentiment, Meade.; 1/23/17, 7:17 PM
Fabi said...: Not trying to be argumentative, Bob Boyd -- just trying to garner the humor. I'm sure some saw that humor, and that's good by me.

Per your follow-on, I think it's not the default position of "conservatives" to have the range of reactions you mention, rather the desire to end the heads-they-win, tails-we-lose paradigm by whatever means presented. Just a guess.; 1/23/17, 7:19 PM
tim maguire said...: Meade said...Her Wikipedia page says Katie Rich suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Could this be an opportunity for President Trump to reach out with charity and forgiveness?

Done right, charity and forgiveness could be the most damning response of all.

As with the rhadin's exchanges in a similar vein on Instapundit, that's some Grade A spin but it doesn't pass the smell test. Methinks rhardin should be Katie Rich's ghost writer. He's better at it than she is.; 1/23/17, 7:21 PM
Meade said...: It doesn't have to be either/or, HooDoo. It can be both. It can be all of the above. The lessons can indeed be multitudinous.; 1/23/17, 7:22 PM
Meade said...: "Methinks rhardin should be Katie Rich's ghost writer. He's better at it than she is."

Agreed!; 1/23/17, 7:24 PM
MacMacConnell said...: Hear the joke about Katie Rich being a stupid leftist cunt?; 1/23/17, 7:30 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: It's in poor taste and frankly slanders autistic kids as more likely to commit school shootings. Trust me, those kids need all the help they can get, but it's thinking like this that has led to skittish teachers overreacting to every little thing done or said by an autistic kid that is outside the teachers' ever-shrinking sphere of acceptable classroom behavior.

Even though Barron's family has never said he was autistic, that hasn't stopped many in the media from speculating about it in a cruel way. I think this tweet is symptomatic of that strain of thought, and it's very, very hurtful to autistic kids. If NBC had an ounce of sympathy for kids with these disabilities, then they should fire her.; 1/23/17, 7:32 PM
Bob Boyd said...: "Per your follow-on, I think it's not the default position of "conservatives" to have the range of reactions you mention, rather the desire to end the heads-they-win, tails-we-lose paradigm by whatever means presented. Just a guess."

Agreed. Good intentions and strong feelings, coming to the defense of their guy.
But speaking for myself, I don't want to be like the Puritan PC lefties. It was just a dumb joke after all. Remember the recent stories of comedians saying they can't perform on campuses anymore because of PC? Wanting to punish this girl for the nature of the joke reeks of that to me.
Tweeting it was wrong because it drags in a bunch of people who she is associated with via SNL and gives them a headache. That's what she's being punished for, not the joke itself, IMO.; 1/23/17, 7:39 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Evangelicals or Christofascists, Meade? Which label do you think Katie Rich's friends are more likely to use for the people to whom you're referring?
Screw it, I don't care. We know what Jesus would do, OK? I get it. Nice people have to get their teeth kicked in because that's the right thing to do. Fine. People like Katie Rich get to win because nice people won't fight back. We get to defend free speech and ipen expressikn and tjeu get our scalps when someone says the wrong thing. They smash windows and block access to our speakers and we get to turn the other cheek and watch as the wicked flourish. Fine. It is better to be a righteous voice alone in the wilderness than a worldly corrupt person in power. I get it.
We lose, again, but our reward is in the kingdom of heaven. OK.
Better a morally upright campaign loser like Romney than a vulgar morally compromised campaign winner like Trump. I get it.; 1/23/17, 7:39 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: vicari valdez said...
wasn't donald trump elected in part to put an end to these kind of pc witch hunts?

1/23/17, 6:56 PM

The thing is, the PC witch hunts conducted by the left won't end until they get a taste of their own medicine. Up until now, the Left has been hounding people and getting them fired for stupid tweets (like the one sent out by a GOP staffer about the Obama girls attitude) but when the Right is attacked they are expected to ignore them - and the offenders faces no retribution. If the Right starts hitting back when attacked, perhaps people will think twice before sending stupid offensive tweets. Simply taking the high road doesn't discourage this sort of behavior, as George W. Bush discovered.; 1/23/17, 7:46 PM
Dude1394 said...: As alynsky says, the democrats should be forced to live by their own rules. The last time a republican commented on Obama's children they were gone. This person should be gone as well. But SNL doesn't really try to service the half of the country that voted for trump anyway.; 1/23/17, 7:48 PM
Steve said...: She works with a live show. Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to start disrupting their live performances until SNL takes further action.

Punch back twice as hard.; 1/23/17, 7:49 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: I think she was trying to compliment Baron, in effect saying he wasn't a faggy lil cunt like Walter Cronkite's grandson, who killed his bitchy punkass self. School shooters are no more cowardly than the terrorist hijackers on 911 is my theory.

Lol what a fuckin' loser Cronkite's kin was!!!

I am gonna piss on his grave and take selfies if anyone wants to have some fun tomorrow night and wants to give me a ride there, but no smokers that's gross.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/walter-cronkite-grandson-dead-suicide-officials-article-1.2203685; 1/23/17, 7:52 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: gadfly said...
Home schooling was likely chosen because of Barron's autism"

Do we actually know the kid is autistic? It was first publicly diagnosed by Rosie O'Donnell, self-styled MD, who I do not consider a credible source. Barron looks bored and fidgety when he has to sit around at these ceremonial events. Wow! No 10 year old would ever do that. He must be autistic!; 1/23/17, 7:52 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Meade said... No, and I don't think Katie deserves to be fired or even suspended. I would rather see her keep her job, learn to do her job better. She needs to be educated, not punished.

What a nice thing to think, Meade. What a nice guy you are.; 1/23/17, 7:59 PM
Quaestor said...: gadfly wrote: Home schooling was likely chosen because of Barron's autism. Donald Trump boasts about Barron's computer skills and autistic children often display uncanny computer skills. He has all the symptoms that show up in the autistic but some folks don't like strange behavior.

If you've been trying to make yourself a figure of derision and contempt you can stop now. You have succeeded.; 1/23/17, 8:13 PM
n.n said...: Meade:

I don't think Katie deserves to be fired or even suspended. I would rather see her keep her job, learn to do her job better

Humor, no. The context is clear and the motive is vicious.

Still, no one was aborted. Even then. Repent and strive.; 1/23/17, 8:16 PM
Greg Hlatky said...: What a nice thing to think, Meade. What a nice guy you are.

Yeah, when the Left comes for you you'll be beheaded instead of drawn and quartered.; 1/23/17, 8:17 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: It's really impossible to do a poll about this one, isn't it? Of course you shouldn't go after a child. Barron isn't homeschooled, so it was inaccurate as well as being abusively malicious.

You shouldn't make jokes about shootings, much less school shootings. They are not funny. You shouldn't make jokes about children shooting their families, because that is not funny. You shouldn't make jokes about a president or his family getting shot, because that is not funny. These are all tragedies.

But chaining all this together - picking an innocent ten year-old, using his name, and making a joke about him shooting his own family - I can only describe it as sick. Really sick. What have we become?; 1/23/17, 8:18 PM
Quaestor said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/23/17, 8:21 PM
roesch/voltaire said...: Yes Katie was wrong just as Rush was wrong, and others, when they attacked and made fun of Chelsea Clinton as the White House Dog-- but he never got fired.; 1/23/17, 8:26 PM
Quaestor said...: But chaining all this together - picking an innocent ten-year-old, using his name, and making a joke about him shooting his own family - I can only describe it as sick. Really sick. What have we become?

About half of us became Democrats, which is a subset of Career Criminals at Large. I realize that is a rather arch prejudgement, but it's gotten to the point that the presumption of innocence is simply foolhardiness.; 1/23/17, 8:28 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: Meade - no, it is not funny, because its "humor" is based on, and depends on, the fact that we have watched this kid looking scared, anxious and unhappy in the middle of the Great Rebellion of the Unwashed Electorate. He's obviously smart enough to be thinking about what's going on. It has to be hard for any child of a president, but the social acrimony and incredible wrath unleashed against his father, along with worries about being uprooted and probably some concern about what is going to happen to his father, is enough to explain that.

Abuse is NEVER funny, and this was abusive.

There are some funny things about this whole episode in American life, but the predicament of this scared and worried kid is not one of them.; 1/23/17, 8:34 PM
tcrosse said...: Yes Katie was wrong just as Rush was wrong, and others, when they attacked and made fun of Chelsea Clinton as the White House Dog-- but he never got fired.

It is presumptuous to take the name of Voltaire in vain. I read Voltaire. You are not Voltaire.; 1/23/17, 8:37 PM
bgates said...: The Comedy Central writer Stephen Spinola also tweeted about Barron Trump, calling him a future date-rapist. He also tweeted, "I don't want my Mom to get raped, but if she does, I hope it's by Barron Trump"

I don't want anybody's mom to get raped.; 1/23/17, 8:46 PM
William said...: If Katie Rich suffers any long term career damage because of this, she will be the only person in the entertainment industry to suffer such a fate. There is simply no negative thing you can say about Trump or his family that is too over the top........Here's an idea for a comedy skit for Katie Rich when she comes off suspension. Ashley Judd, in a blond wig, plays the part of Ivanka. Baldwin plays the part of Trump. Trump tries to seduce his daughter Ivanka because Melania is dehydrated and can't piss on him. The jokes write themselves Comedy gold. That's the kind of edgy, sophisticated humor one expects from SNL.; 1/23/17, 8:53 PM
David said...: " just as Rush was wrong, and others, when they attacked and made fun of Chelsea Clinton as the White House Dog-- but he never got fired.'

Who is going to fire Rush? He owns the show and is the boss.; 1/23/17, 9:01 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: I put this in the thread above before I noticed this one:

In related news, liberal "comedy" writers just can't resist the fun of mocking a 10 year old boy.

This time it's a writer at Comedy Central, Stephen Spinola.

@mr_mcstevie
I don't want my mom to get raped, but if she does I hope it's by Barron trump--small pp would be painless & we'd win lots of money in court"

What's next? Torture fantasies? As William said "There is simply no negative thing you can say about Trump or his family that is too over the top........"

Apparently not.; 1/23/17, 9:07 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: The objected-to tweet — so wrong on so many levels...

And those levels are/were...?

It's good that billionaires can count on people like you to stick up for them. Life would just be so hard, otherwise.; 1/23/17, 9:16 PM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/23/17, 9:17 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: What's next? Torture fantasies?

Drumpf's got that one covered for you:

"Torture works. OK, folks? You know, I have these guys—”Torture doesn’t work!”—believe me, it works. And waterboarding is your minor form. Some people say it’s not actually torture. Let’s assume it is. But they asked me the question: What do you think of waterboarding? Absolutely fine. But we should go much stronger than waterboarding."

As far as ambitious fantasizing goes, a narcissist will always win. Hands down.; 1/23/17, 9:19 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "He's obviously smart enough to be thinking about what's going on. It has to be hard for any child of a president, but the social acrimony and incredible wrath unleashed against his father, along with worries about being uprooted and probably some concern about what is going to happen to his father, is enough to explain that."

How many of Barron's friends have parents who hate his father? He lives in Manhattan, not in Oklahoma or Wyoming. Even the most oblivious 10 year old must notice the hatred directed at his father - in their hometown.

It must be difficult for even the older children to process - their father is simultaneously the most powerful man in the world, a hero to many, but also reviled and hated by millions, including people they know and thought of as friends. But they're mature adults and can deal with it. How does a 10 year old do that? Is it any wonder he often seems awkward and withdrawn in public - which promptly gets him labeled autistic by medical experts like Rosie O'Donnell and gadfly.; 1/23/17, 9:20 PM
chickelit said...: Wiki and Google reveal that Katie Rich is more barren than any son of Trump.; 1/23/17, 9:22 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Ritmo, Trump's statements justify going after his 10 year old son?

C'mon.; 1/23/17, 9:22 PM
readering said...: Yeah it was a dumb mistake, and I'm not surprised SNL suspended her because it makes SNL look bad, bad but the death threats against her are astronomically worse.; 1/23/17, 9:22 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: You shouldn't make jokes about shootings, much less school shootings.

Instead, you should just promote policies that make it easier for them to happen.

But chaining all this together - picking an innocent ten year-old, using his name, and making a joke about him shooting his own family - I can only describe it as sick. Really sick. What have we become?

I have to laugh at your bubble's impenetrability. We've become a nation that can't pass legislation favored by 90% of the country having to do with guns, violence and schools because of the stranglehold of a certain lobby. But funnily enough, that won't be one of the lobbies whose "swamp" Drumpf intends to "drain." (And it's possible he won't drain very many swamps at all).

But you don't care about that. You care about making political jokes to cope with the sad reality your nutjob friends on this thread have relegated the country to.

Screw it. People will laugh. The tragedy is how much the lobbyists' shills here hate every dead American, other than the use they feel they get out of turning them into a nonsensical ideological prop.; 1/23/17, 9:27 PM
chickelit said...: exiledonmainstreet said...Ritmo, Trump's statements justify going after his 10 year old son?

The Romanov children weren't spared 100 years ago...why should Crank care about a young Trumps?; 1/23/17, 9:28 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: There's a commenter at 9:20 who puts more thought and concern into the "problems" of one poor little rich kid than she would ever put into the fate of 20 million uninsured Americans or their plight in the economy. Let's pretend those things don't kill people.

That's what's wrong with this country. Richie Rich matters. All those other Americans don't.; 1/23/17, 9:29 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Ritmo, Trump's statements justify going after his 10 year old son?

C'mon.

One fucking comment.

How many much less justifiable comments did Fats Limbaugh make about the little Clinton girl?

But I know. Perspective.

El Presidente makes a big spectacle over accurate reporting on crowd size. But let's get onboard with this administration (and its lackeys blogging about it here) and focus on the really big things.

When you're a narcissist, little things become big things and big things become little things.; 1/23/17, 9:32 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "How many much less justifiable comments did Fats Limbaugh make about the little Clinton girl?"

I don't justify that either.

It's too bad you do.; 1/23/17, 9:33 PM
chickelit said...: Commander Crankshaft said...Let's pretend those things don't kill people.

Let's see some death certificates supporting your assertion.; 1/23/17, 9:34 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: I'm not justifying cruelty. But look at that kid. He's depressed. Who knows what it is. Maybe it's because his dad's a douchebag. Maybe it's ordinary kid problems. Maybe it's extraordinarily unusual really, really, terrifically spectacular rich kid problems.

All that money and his terrific super awesome dad can't make him happy. I guess we can look forward to the depression he'll now subject the rest of the country to.

At some point, Trump's relationships have to matter. They're not being allowed to matter at these confirmation hearings, that's for sure.; 1/23/17, 9:34 PM
Gk1 said...: Katie Rich will be terminated soon. She is an easily disposable bic pen and GE has much business in front of Trump in the coming weeks. I think the NBC types know how a New York developer keeps score and they just don't need the headache. She'll be gone before Friday. And good riddance!; 1/23/17, 9:43 PM
Jupiter said...: I will just add that the Left hates home-schoolers. For one thing, a lot of us are Christians. Plus we are not handing our kids over to their indoctrination centers. If enough people notice that our kids are doing just fine, it could be the beginning of the end for their stranglehold on America's children. They hate us, and they attack us when they can.; 1/23/17, 9:45 PM
chickelit said...: Meade said...
If you really want to try to understand the humor, read rhhardin's comment at 6:14. If you can't understand that, then you probably just don't want to.

Hardin -- in his countless comments-- never comments about his children. I conclude that he's either clueless or hypocritical or that I'm humor-challenged.; 1/23/17, 9:48 PM
SukieTawdry said...: As a general rule, I don't think anyone should be fired for an off-the-cuff remark, or, as in this case, Tweet. Sneers, jeers, ridicule, shaming, contempt, scorn, derision, finger pointing, shunning--all appropriate responses. I bet she wishes the "joke" hadn't been so lame. Are her "Weekend Update" scripts imbued with similarly deft comedic stylings?; 1/23/17, 9:49 PM
chickelit said...: How many much less justifiable comments did Fats Limbaugh make about the little Clinton girl?

Any such Limbaugh comments should be sorted into Chelsea as a child and Chelsea as an adult.

Thanks; 1/23/17, 9:50 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "I'm not justifying cruelty. But look at that kid. He's depressed. Who knows what it is. Maybe it's because his dad's a douchebag. Maybe it's ordinary kid problems. Maybe it's extraordinarily unusual really, really, terrifically spectacular rich kid problems."

He doesn't look happy. It could be "extraordinarily unusual really, really, terrifically spectacular rich kid problems." Hell, I have no idea what it's like to grow up in Trump Tower, in a place that looks like Early Las Vegas, with a supermodel mom and a celeb dad and much older siblings. For him, I guess, it was just normal. But what he's going through now is not normal by anybody's standards and I feel sorry for the kid. For adults to pile on him, just because they hate his father - it is cruel and vicious. And I don't think either you or I can speculate that there's something wrong with Trump's relationship with his son because we don't have the information to do so. We've only seen them in public situations where the kid looks awkward and tense and antsy. We don't know what he's like in private or what his interactions with his parents are, besides the fact that Melania seems, quite naturally, to be very protective of him.; 1/23/17, 9:55 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Interestingly enough, a commenter at 9:34 seems to presume that withholding needed medical doesn't increase mortality. That's an interesting one. And certainly easily debunked by anyone with basic common sense and an interest in how lives are impacted by insurance availability.

Instead of responding directly, I'll just leave it at that. Examples abound and common sense is not hard to come by. But someone so willingly shielded from reality and the basic compassion and human decency required to learn about such commonplace examples does not deserve an appeal to the facts that they never really cared about anyway.

It's important to avoid debating disingenuous people, as well as liars. And you know that someone is one of the above when they clearly couldn't care less about the outcomes and stakes of the people affected by the policy being debated.; 1/23/17, 9:59 PM
traditionalguy said...: This Poll desperately needs an " All of the above" end choice.; 1/23/17, 9:59 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Any such Limbaugh comments should be sorted into Chelsea as a child and Chelsea as an adult.

Thanks

They already were, self-blindfolder. She was 13 when he was elected. That's when they started coming hard and fast. Later on people lost interest. Stop trying for technicalities. You just want any excuse to let nasty douchebags off the hook, so long as they're down with your party. IOKIYAR. IOKIYAR.; 1/23/17, 10:02 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Hell, I have no idea what it's like to grow up in Trump Tower, in a place that looks like Early Las Vegas, with a supermodel mom and a celeb dad and much older siblings.

Let me take a guess:

The place is like a museum. It's very beautiful and very cold, and you're not allowed to touch anything.

Just look at the place.

And I don't think either you or I can speculate that there's something wrong with Trump's relationship with his son because we don't have the information to do so.

I have never heard a grown kid of a narcissist speak favorably of their parent. They either become that narcissist, or they end up having huge problems learning how to avoid it. And enough of this maybe Trump's not a narcissist speculation. I have yet to see any evidence that he responds as a normal person would to anything that poses the flimsiest threat to his "image is everything" persona. He has no other way of reacting to anything. No soul. Just image. Cut the crap. It's a textbook advertisement. It's like saying Manson wasn't crazy. Some things are so obvious even right-wingers can't deny them.; 1/23/17, 10:06 PM
chickelit said...: Commander Crankshaft said...
Interestingly enough, a commenter at 9:34 seems to presume that withholding needed medical doesn't increase mortality.

Wait, wait! Aren't you the same commenter who asserted that denial of care was the same as denial of coverage? I await a link showing an uninsured patient being denied lifesaving care.; 1/23/17, 10:08 PM
chickelit said...: That's when they started coming hard and fast.

I still would like to see a Limbaugh joke at the expense of a 13 year old Chelsea. I was out of the country during that time. Links would help.; 1/23/17, 10:10 PM
SukieTawdry said...: Commander Crankshaft said...We've become a nation that can't pass legislation favored by 90% of the country having to do with guns, violence and schools because of the stranglehold of a certain lobby.

I presume you're referring to the background check legislation that failed. The reason the Republicans refused to sign on was because the bill essentially established a federal firearms registry. The Republicans said they would support the bill if that one provision were removed. The Democrats refused. The bill died. The Democrats clearly cared more about enabling government intrusion than they did about public safety.; 1/23/17, 10:20 PM
cheddar said...: "Umm, if a "home schooled" kid does a "school shooting", he is shooting the people in his home. -his family."

Yes, it took me a while to figure this out.

"You shouldn't make jokes about shootings, much less school shootings."

The whole point of the "home school shooting" is that she is referring to a home shooting, not a school shooting.; 1/23/17, 10:23 PM
cheddar said...: "Umm, if a "home schooled" kid does a "school shooting", he is shooting the people in his home. -his family."

Yes, it took me a while to figure this out.

"You shouldn't make jokes about shootings, much less school shootings."

The whole point of the "home school shooting" is that she is referring to a home shooting, not a school shooting.; 1/23/17, 10:23 PM
cheddar said...: But agreed that is doesn't make sense because Barron is not homeschooled.; 1/23/17, 10:24 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Wait, wait! Aren't you the same commenter who asserted that denial of care was the same as denial of coverage? I await a link showing an uninsured patient being denied lifesaving care.

This is too ignorant to merit a response. An emergency room cannot give "lifesaving" chemotherapy or therapy for other life-threatening chronic conditions because they do not result from acute problems. I'd call you a name here but instead just hope that the obvious explanations in this response will be enough to make you realize just how maddeningly ignorant you are of basic health insurance. I sure hope no one in your (obviously) uninsured family gets cancer. You are something else. This explains our country's predicament. All your education and you're still too low-information to get the basics on issues that apparently comprise the sole policy obsession of the nation's political classes (both elite and vulgar) for the last eight years. Unbelievable.; 1/23/17, 10:26 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: I presume you're referring to the background check legislation that failed. The reason the Republicans refused to sign on was because the bill essentially established a federal firearms registry. The Republicans said they would support the bill if that one provision were removed. The Democrats refused. The bill died. The Democrats clearly cared more about enabling government intrusion than they did about public safety.

I presume the above is the NRA-approved narrative, anyway. Yeah, sure I'll believe that they'll support sensible reform. Right. Not in this lifetime.; 1/23/17, 10:28 PM
Todd Roberson said...: Blogger Vicari Valdez @ 6:56 makes a very intelligent observation.

Well done!; 1/23/17, 10:33 PM
SukieTawdry said...: Commander Crankshaft said...I have never heard a grown kid of a narcissist speak favorably of their parent. They either become that narcissist, or they end up having huge problems learning how to avoid it.

Trump's grown children and their relationship with their father seem to belie your pat armchair analysis. Will Sasha and Malia speak favorably of their father do you suppose? Because he's a textbook narcissist. Bill Clinton was no slouch in that area either and, except for the period surrounding the unfortunate Monica episode, as far as I know Chelsea has always spoken of her father in the most glowing terms.; 1/23/17, 10:37 PM
SukieTawdry said...: I presume the above is the NRA-approved narrative, anyway. Yeah, sure I'll believe that they'll support sensible reform. Right. Not in this lifetime.

The Republicans put forward a bill that was exactly the same as the Democrat's except for the provision that tied the background check to a specific weapon. It was refused.; 1/23/17, 10:40 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Reading through the thread above, I see that Meade has deflected the discussion from a review of the morality of a 33 year old "comedy" writer making a lousy joke involving a 10 year old boy turning into a murderer of his family, which happens to be the family of the new president of the United States, to the comedic stylings of various commenters here and a speculative discussion of how some born-again Christians might handle an attempted redemption of Ms. Rich's soul.
To bring this discussion back to where it belongs, let's imagine the SNL team cranking out some laughers about Malia Obama getting knocked up by the Sidwell Friends' School golf team ("But Daddy, he said he was going for a hole-in-one!"), or Trig Palin becoming a spokesman for Planned Parenthood after getting a good look at his parents and family. Anyone laughing? Maybe. Anyone think it is a good idea to use the pre-adolescent children of anyone as foils to attack their parents? Not me. Not fair. And only done to Republicans by the entertainment industry.
Mitt Romney, John McCain, and George W. Bush thought they could ignore their antagonists in the press and the entertainment business and keep the high ground. That works in interpersonal relationships, but it doesn't on the public stage. Romney lost like a gentleman. And so we got Trump. He won like a street fighter. And he is not going to stop now.
And I don't want him to.; 1/23/17, 10:45 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Trump's grown children and their relationship with their father seem to belie your pat armchair analysis. Will Sasha and Malia speak favorably of their father do you suppose? Because he's a textbook narcissist.

My "armchair analysis?" Hilarious. LIsten, Sparky - the reason you'll never find a mental health expert use that term in reference to Obama is because he's a pretty empathetic guy. Takes insults in greater stride than anyone should have reason to expect. Your guys spent eight years attacking him in the most despicable ways imaginable - usually having to do with his race and denying him a successful economic policy because you put politics above it and thought it would be nice to say the black FDR is just bailing out the ghetto. What he IS, however, is confident - not that you'd know the difference. How sad that right-wingers abdicated any claim to caring, let alone knowing, about character. But that was inevitable the minute they sold their souls for cash.

Trump is delusional, as most narcissists are. Lies reflexively, saying one thing one day and the opposite the next. Every reaction you resented out of Obama resulted from when you attacked his race. People have a right to get pissed about that. Trump gets pissed when you just ask him to say something consistent.

This ignorance of yours was informative.; 1/23/17, 10:53 PM
Roughcoat said...: Her Wikipedia page says Katie Rich suffers from anxiety and panic attacks.

Also from her Wikipedia page: In 2015, she, along with her fellow Saturday Night Live writers, was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award for Comedy/Variety - Sketch Series.

Astonishing that the Writer's Guild found anything written by SNL writers deserving of a comedy award.; 1/23/17, 10:54 PM
Roughcoat said...: The old Soupy Sales shows were funnier than the current SNL. I am serious. I watch Soupy Sales on JTV (Jewish TV). He and his shows are surreal. White Fang, Black Tooth, the celebrity pie-in-the-face -- it's surreal, I tell you. You'd think Soupy and the gang were on acid. And after watching a couple of his shows back-to-back, I feel as though I'm on acid!

SCTV was like that in its early days, when it was broadcast at 2:30 or 3:00 A.M. on Friday morning in Denver. I watched the show after my late-night bartending shifts. Wow, that was some crazy-funny shit.; 1/23/17, 11:01 PM
Todd Roberson said...: Eugene Levy as Bobby Bittman!

Hey ... How's it hangin'?; 1/23/17, 11:03 PM
Jupiter said...: Commander Crankshaft said...

"I presume the above is the NRA-approved narrative, anyway. Yeah, sure I'll believe that they'll support sensible reform. Right. Not in this lifetime."

Sensible reform! Hah! You just want to take our guns away so we can't use them to blow a hole in you the size of Texas when you come for the rest of our rights. Which is, of course, exactly why we spent all that money on them in the first place. They are not cheap, but without 'em you just can't have your well-regulated militia, and all the rest. Some sensible fellow always gets him a better idea. Talk about your sensible reform all you want, but you keep your little graspers to yourself, Cranky.

I recall driving into Texas from Louisiana, just over the border they had a big green-and-white freeway sign, says, "San Antonio 780". Just in case you were idly wondering, like, "I wonder how far it is from here to San Antonio?" Big place, Texas.; 1/23/17, 11:06 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Sensible reform! Hah! You just want to take our guns away so we can't use them to blow a hole in you the size of Texas when you come for the rest of our rights.

1. Violent fantasies? Check.
2. Martyrdom complex? Check.
3. "Triggered" by a completely innocuous phrase? Check.

Sounds like someone's doing his best to fail the mental health background check.

Dummy. (Couldn't help that one. After all, some of us are actually capable of arming our wits. Not that violently frenzied psychopaths like you can be expected to understand that).; 1/23/17, 11:11 PM
walter said...: "Your guys spent eight years attacking him in the most despicable ways imaginable - usually having to do with his race and denying him a successful economic policy because you put politics above it and thought it would be nice to say the black FDR is just bailing out the ghetto."

Worthy of highlight.
Yes..O was the 8 year victim.; 1/23/17, 11:11 PM
Roughcoat said...: The evangelical Christians I know would say something like,

What would the Catholics you know say?

Being a Catholic, I can answer that question: "Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius."

Just joking, heh heh. We Catholics have a swell sense of humor.; 1/23/17, 11:18 PM
Ken B said...: Meade is right. Trump should forgive her. He should read out the tweet, slowly, twice, and her name. Her name several times, and show her picture. He should do it at the site of a school shooting. He should ask the parents of the murdered children to join him in forgiving her.; 1/23/17, 11:18 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: walter chimes in to do his duty as a footsoldier in denying the substance. Next he will talk about the "fairness" of prioritizing a failed economy if it means denying a second term to the guy unprecedentedly shouted at during joint sessions of Congress: "You lie!"

The disrespect showed Obama was unprecedented. But that's ok. I'm sure you treated (and justified treating) him the same way you do all black people you know.; 1/23/17, 11:20 PM
walter said...: I love you CC.; 1/23/17, 11:22 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Love is a funny thing.; 1/23/17, 11:59 PM
Alex said...: I'm sure some leftist will come up with "It's ok to go after Nazi's children" or something like that.; 1/24/17, 12:14 AM
SweatBee said...: While I wished I could have chosen "all of the above," the thing that actually bothered me the most was the wishful thinking aspect of it. She'd like to see Trump and Melania mowed down by their 10-year-old.; 1/24/17, 1:09 AM
BN said...: SNL should switch to Sunday Morning.; 1/24/17, 1:10 AM
Brando said...: I think number two. You an absolutely go after a child if that child is awful (think of that "affluenza" kid). Mocking homeschoolers isn't nice, but I don't imagine leftists care. Mocking school shootings is a bit closer to the edge, but I think a comedy writer can pull it off.

The thing here is the kid in question never did anything but have a father they all hate. You really shouldn't go after collateral damage.; 1/24/17, 5:31 AM
jaydub said...: Ritmo: "The disrespect showed Obama was unprecedented. But that's ok. I'm sure you treated (and justified treating) him the same way you do all black people you know."

To be fair Obama was the only black person lying at the time.; 1/24/17, 6:20 AM
MadisonMan said...: If SNL were smart -- yeah, I know -- they'd do a bit on this.

Writers trying to be funny by insulting all kinds of children. Then Lorne Michaels and Trump could come in a fire the lot of them.; 1/24/17, 7:37 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: CC (why? I preferred R&B), I judge the racism charges mostly false, but let that go. If your only standard here is tit-for-tat or backsies or whatever, then is the flip side of that that Trump may do as he likes, and it's your side's responsibility to keep up and overmatch him?

You're going to great lengths to legitimize hurting that kid, CC. Boy, he really must have done something awful to you personally. Else, shouldn't you save such a desperate measure for a stroke likely to have greater effect? Because flogging a ten year old guilty of nothing but a name, what exactly does that get you?; 1/24/17, 8:11 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: BTW rhhardin is obviously on the autism spectrum-I speak without fear of contradiction-so he may have particular insight here. One does wonder about his parents though, as in, are they still alive. If he didn't kill his parents, why should Barron?; 1/24/17, 8:14 AM
Jupiter said...: Bad Lieutenant said...

"Because flogging a ten year old guilty of nothing but a name, what exactly does that get you?"

That's the point. The Lefties think they have won the culture war, and their writ now runs wherever "news" is "reported". So they have begun to drop the pretense that they are reasonable, gentle "progressives", committed to Western liberal values. The Reign of Terror can now begin, and it is important to demonstrate that no one is immune from their power, and that they will attack your family if they can't attack you. There is no innocence, no one is innocent. The only safety lies in acquiescence.; 1/24/17, 9:05 AM
Jupiter said...: Commander Crankshaft said...

"Dummy."

Cranky, that is an ableist slur, based upon the disgusting myth that people with speech problems are less intelligent than the rest of us. I am sure that a good little Lefty like you knows that. You have allowed yourself to slip back into the false consciousness of your privileged bourgeois upbringing. Go out back and chastise yourself with a tent stake, and say something unpleasant about the people who raised you and the nuclear family generally. Then you can come back and call me a racist.; 1/24/17, 9:12 AM
Steven Wilson said...: I posted this elsewhere, but I think it applies to this discussion.

OK. I had to go back and look up Elizabeth Lauten's remarks. I remember at the time thinking that you just leave the kids alone and that she should have known better, particularly as she was in service to a political figure in the opposition (nominally) party. I stand by that, but what she said was nothing compared to the prediction that a ten year old will become a mass murderer. Neither is humorous, but allowing Rich to characterize her remark as "insensitive" when it is vile and just this side of slander is frankly ludicrous. If criticizing the Obama daughters' appearance is worthy of resignation, then Rich's remark should render her unemployable for some time to come. But I suspect it will be a resume enhancing event rather than one that causes her to suffer any long term consequences.; 1/24/17, 9:24 AM
Qwinn said...: CC/R&B has apparently lost the ability to hear anything *except* dog whistles. He can hear the racist slurs in every criticism of Obama, even when no one else can. And the actual substance of the criticism, like, you know, the fact that Wilson was completely correct that Obama was lying? He can't hear that at all.

When only you can hear the dog whistles, R&B, you're the (racist) dog.; 1/24/17, 9:37 AM
Meade said...: "When only you can hear the dog whistles, R&B, you're the (racist) dog. "

Not only a dog but R&B probably IS Chelsea Clinton.; 1/24/17, 9:51 AM
Steven Wilson said...: And another thing. Watching the signing ceremony with all the bigwigs including Pelosi present, Barron was behind his father playing peek a boo with one of the younger grandchildren. Not an activity I associate with autism or anti-social behavior. I presume the vicious digs at him are based on his appearance with the family on the night of the electoral triumph when he was clearly an exhausted 10 year old who had been roused from sleep or desperately needed to be asleep. I think that's when the autism meme was hatched and has run rampant through the woke.; 1/24/17, 9:51 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: MadisonMan at 7:37 for the win. That would have the moral effect of bringing closure to this ("You're fired!") and letting Michaels and Trump-the father of the victim-mete out justice. SNL would have demonstrated contrition by mocking itself. Everyone could move on.; 1/24/17, 9:54 AM
SukieTawdry said...: CC, you are so full of shit, it fairly oozes. I hope you have a giant-sized johnny mop.; 1/24/17, 11:55 AM
TWW said...: Why not, "All of the above"?; 1/24/17, 12:16 PM