January 20, 2018

"Trump’s love of tabloid gossip complicates his denial of affair allegations with Stormy Daniels."

What? That's a headline at WaPo (for a column by Callum Borchers). Here's the concept:
The White House has dismissed the alleged encounter between Trump and adult-film actress Stormy Daniels as tabloid trash. But Trump’s denial is complicated by his history of associating with publications such as In Touch and lending credence to their work.

“I’ve always said, ‘Why didn't the National Enquirer get the Pulitzer Prize for Edwards?’” Trump said on the campaign trail in 2016. He was referring to the Enquirer’s revelation that John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina and 2008 presidential candidate, had an affair and fathered a child with a campaign aide.
I'll leave it to you to make the In Touch/National Enquirer distinction if you want. I think it's funny to remind us of the monumental Edwards screwup (when a man who was collecting contributions and running in part on empathy for his dying-of-cancer wife was having an affair during his presidential campaign). And I thought we'd all already absorbed the assumption that private citizen Donald Trump had sex with a porn star 12 years ago. But here's WaPo, ever chiseling away at Trump's inexplicable popularity, bonking us over the head with his vouching for the National Enquirer that one time. Sad!

Here's a song to cheer you up:



You were the sunshine, baby, whenever you smiled/but I call you stormy today.... Oh, stormy, oh, stormy, bring back that sunny day....

But here's the headline I was looking for when I got waylaid into WaPo: "Stormy Daniels launches ‘Make America Horny Again Tour.'" Meade read that out loud to me and my reaction was: Great! I won't detail why just now, because it's time for my coffee break.

177 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

Classics IV...

Is that IV, meaning the Roman numeral for 4? Or do we have a medical emergency?

The singer is trying to get a bit of a Frankie Valli quality into his voice on "Bring back that sunny day." Really made me feel, get that guy out of here and let Frankie Valli sing.

Sebastian said...

Trump's truthful reference to a truthful NI story does complicate MSM use of the denial to portray him as a dissembling liar.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I am impressed with how quickly this story went from 'untrue/not proven' to:

"I thought we'd all already absorbed the assumption that private citizen Donald Trump had sex with a porn star 12 years ago."

tcrosse said...

Is it possible to be fascinated with another man's private sex life without being, like, a pervert ?

Curious George said...

Trumps statement was based on knowing the story was true.

Jersey Fled said...

Funny in that WaPo has pretty much become a purveyor of tabloid trash themselves. Note their preoccupation with "shithole" and affairs with pornstars this past week.

Ann Althouse said...

"I am impressed with how quickly this story went from 'untrue/not proven' to: "I thought we'd all already absorbed the assumption that private citizen Donald Trump had sex with a porn star 12 years ago.""

It is absolutely the right progression. If there is a fact that is asserted and might or might not be true, the very next question should be: Do I need to know the answer? If not, I can move on to something else.

When the question is about another person's private sexual life, it's especially appropriate to move directly to: who cares?

In litigation, you do this on a motion to dismiss: Let's assume everything X is saying is correct, then what? If nothing, get the hell out of here, you're wasting our time. Move on to something that matters.

"Move on," by the way, was the slogan when people were trying to get past the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Many people thought it didn't matter if the President got blow jobs from an enthusiastic young intern. Now, let's get back to the work the American people elected the President to do.

Wince said...

It sounds like the Classic IVs ran out of ideas and plagiarized their own "Spooky" (1968) to come up with "Stormy" (1970).

Compare:

Spooky: Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you.

Cool riff and signature lyrics. Only to repeat the riff two years later with lame, uncool lyrics.

Stormy: Oh, stormy, oh, stormy, bring back that sunny day.

Wince said...

Stormy: Oh, stormy, oh, stormy, bring back that sunny day.

Yeah, that "sunny day" when Spooky was a hit.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Edwards saga is proof positive the MSM is in the tank with the democrat party. The MSM didn't touch his affair or his love child.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ARM - cigars don't lie. People do.

Mark said...

" Now, let's get back to the work the American people elected the President to do."

Monica has been referenced a multitude of times in the last year by posters on this blog.

A couple decades later they have not yet moved on, but its been a few hours so lets move on from the Trump story.

Laughable.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Let's say it's true - then what? It's embarrassing. Is this the excuse the left use to impeach? It is, after all, only about sex? We were lectured to by the collective left that Bill's extra-marital affairs WHILE IN THE WHITE HOUSE,were only about sex and none of our bikinis.

Curious George said...

"Mark said...
" Now, let's get back to the work the American people elected the President to do."

Monica has been referenced a multitude of times in the last year by posters on this blog.

A couple decades later they have not yet moved on, but its been a few hours so lets move on from the Trump story.

Laughable."


Yes she has, but the question that you avoid, is why? Because it points out the hypocrisy of the left.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ARM cares, because it gives him cover for Bill's rapes.

Curtiss said...

So who hasn’t had sex with a porn star? Come on.

Wince said...

Monica was a federal workplace issue involving the sitting president of a party that had just used the Thomas confirmation hearings as a "teachable moment."

Fernandinande said...

If you can't believe an aging prostitute, who can you believe?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Where is John Edwards? The leftwing machine vanished him.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hey- I just found a use for the old pussy hats. Hang em high and diddle them with a cigar.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rusty said...

First we have the coffee.Then we do the things.

Chuck said...

Althouse so desperately wants this to be about nothing more than long-ago consensual sex. But
(a) it was adultery, and;
(b) payment was made last year during a campaign, with funds that seem to have been very carefully hidden. Edwards didn’t get into legal trouble for being a cad; Edwards was nearly convicted for having funneled regulated campaign funds to a mistress.

A majority of Republicans wanted Trump to release his tax returns during the campaign. I am part of that majority.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
The Edwards saga is proof positive the MSM is in the tank with the democrat party.


Just like the MSM sat on Stormy (no pun intended) before the election? FOX had the story as did In Touch and other outlets. If the story had come out in full details before the election it could have been a difference maker with conservative religious voters and definitely for anyone with a subscription to Forbes magazine, eewww!

cubanbob said...

Mark, Arm, the difference is that Clinton had his affair with a government employee while he was president and committed perjury when denying. The devil is in the details.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Make America Horny Again...

What?!? America had stopped being horny? I must be getting old-- I keep being left out of the latest trends.

Mike Sylwester said...

Chuck at 8:58 AM
A majority of Republicans wanted Trump to release his tax returns during the campaign. I am part of that majority.

Did you likewise want Obama to release his birth certificate and college transcripts?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ARM - We were too busy discussing "grab em by the pussy." If the MSM passed on this tabloid "story" - perhaps it didn't pass the smell test.

Doesn't change the FACT that Edwards, the D-VP candidate, had an extra-martial affair that created a love-child, and all of that was dutifully hidden by the MSM. No tabloids needed.

Mike Sylwester said...

AReasonableMan at 8:59 AM
it could have been a difference maker with conservative religious voters

Religious voters stay with Trump because they do not want their pizza businesses and cake businesses bankrupted by lawsuits.

Also, they do not want their churches to be prosecuted for refusing to perform homosexual weddings.

Those issues are more important to religious voters than his adultery is.

Enthusiasm Quotes said...

very nice and interesting song

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
roesch/voltaire said...

Yes spank me with a Forbes magazine and move on says the Trump faithful who could care less about who the Tweeter in Chief commits adultery with past or present. Is it is just the sex or the pay out to keep quite that calls our continued attention?

narciso said...

Yes lets leave out andrea dube was facilitator and the democrats in this story. Lets also leave out how many of these same papers lapped up the ridiculous allegations made by Joe Mcguinness against the huntress as true,

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I was unaware that there were allegations that Trump had sex with a porn star until they resurfaced. But then, I don't follow celebrity culture so that does not surprise me. I wonder why it wasn't brought up during the campaign. They were throwing everything they could at him. I do find it improbable that he had sex with her though. If he wanted to cheat on Melania I think he would have found someone less likely to gift him with a venereal disease.

Anyway, the WaPo's take on it validates my belief, reporters are stupid rich kids who couldn't get into law school.

Chuck said...


Blogger Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
The Edwards saga is proof positive the MSM is in the tank with the democrat party. The MSM didn't touch his affair or his love child.

What a selective, defective, impotent memory...

It is richly ironic for a comment like that to be made in the Althouse blog, on a post with the tag, “Edwards,” where with a single click on that tag, one could roll back the hands of time and read Althouse’s own observations on the extensive media coverage of Edwards’ well-earned public humiliation in virtually every media outlet in the country.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ARM - conservatives who don't like candidate ________ - because of extra-marital affairs, were not going to run into the ARMS of corrupt liar money-grubbing Private Server Clinton foundation stuffing Hillary.

Working class people, including democrats, came out and voted for Trump. Because Obama's highly punitive regularity state swept up small and medium sized businesses in the punitive net and cut people off at the knees. People. Not your simpleminded caricature of "right wing Christians". Turns out all sorts of people were tired of being cut off at the knees.
Turns out mom and pop got to fight back. Mom and pop voted for Obama, then realized
democrats plot to tax everyone to death, waste all that money on government bureaucrat flunkies, and the bloated over-priced administrative state, and waste it on clunkers and quantitative easing, money-print, and over-wrought regulations.

I doubt you run a business, ARM, or know a thing about the real world, but that punitive hell Obama created is why we have Trump. Grab em by the pussy didn't matter, and I doubt this would have mattered.

But keep hope alive.

cubanbob said...

Mike Sylwester said...
AReasonableMan at 8:59 AM
it could have been a difference maker with conservative religious voters

Religious voters stay with Trump because they do not want their pizza businesses and cake businesses bankrupted by lawsuits.

Also, they do not want their churches to be prosecuted for refusing to perform homosexual weddings.

Those issues are more important to religious voters than his adultery is."

All true. However the single biggest reason Trump won is that he isn't Hillary Clinton, a grifter, criminal and traitor. Religious voters aren't stupid, they too can hold their nose when casting their ballot.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Chuck - I'm not talking about Althouse. I'm talking about the MSM.
The MSM covered for Edwards. No curiosity or digging. Nope.

Achilles said...

cubanbob said...
"Mark, Arm, the difference is that Clinton had his affair with a government employee while he was president and committed perjury when denying. The devil is in the details."

More specifically he committed perjury while under oath giving a deposition in a civil suit being accused of rape.

Which he clearly committed several times.

Of course this story interests the democrats.

Fabi said...

"A majority of Republicans wanted Trump to release his tax returns during the campaign."

That's a lie.

Unknown said...

Another song that the Boomers now seem to be disowning:

Well, there's a rose in a fisted glove
And the eagle flies with the dove
And if you can't be with the one you love, honey
Love the one you're with
Love the one you're with
Love the one you're with
Love the one you're with

But I think the "Do-do, do do, do do, do-do" part is still acceptable.

-jj

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Those in the middle, who suspected something was up with Trump's constancy as a husband

Who the hell would those people be? He's been married three times. He trades his wife in for a newer model. Nobody who does that is not committing adultery. Absolutely everybody knows that.

As for Chuck's hope that payoffs came out of campaign funds, Trump has a private helicopter, jet, and yacht. And not little piddling ones, big yuuuugggggggggeeeee ones. $160,000 is petty fund money for a guy like that.

Chuck said...

Of all of the Republican primary candidates save for (maybe) Kasich, Trump’s personal stance on homosexual rights and the normalization of homosexual marriage. Was the most dubious. And while Kasich now seems to have embraced a public policy of accepting homosexual marriages, he is a member of a church in the Columbus suburbs — a branch of US Episcopalians — that is noteworthy for its hostility to the Anglican church’s acceptance of homosexuality.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...

VWhat a selective, defective, impotent memory...

It is richly ironic for a comment like that to be made in the Althouse blog, on a post with the tag, “Edwards,” where with a single click on that tag, one could roll back the hands of time and read Althouse’s own observations on the extensive media coverage of Edwards’ well-earned public humiliation in virtually every media outlet in the country."

You are such a liar.

National inquirer posted a story the media knew about and hid for years. Much like drudge did posting the lewinski scandal.

There is a double standard so obvious it is pure douchery to try to make excuses for it much less call her memory selective and defective.

Everyone knows your game. You hate this country and that the people are prospering just like every other leftist here. Complete douche.

CWJ said...

"Meade read that out loud to me and my reaction was: Great! I won't detail why just now, because it's time for my coffee break."

Althouse seems more relaxed and chatty in her postings since retirement.

Ann Althouse said...

“A couple decades later they have not yet moved on, but its been a few hours so lets move on from the Trump story.”

I make a huge distinction between sexual harassment in the workplace and adultery.

The former is one of the few policy issues i care deeply about.

Adultery is a private problem unless you’re into the person because of his appearance of purity, which is rarely the case for me.

Edwards used his wife’s tragedy politcally and roped people into his story even as he was fucking it up. I considered the whole thing bullshit, so as I said in the post, I found it funny. For those who’d settled into his bullshit, the revelations were painful. These people need to grow up and get cynical.

And that’s the beauty of Trump. We don’t start at the remedial level. We can start at cynical. Refreshing!

exhelodrvr1 said...

Bottom line is that people would rather have an immoral jerk who is an effective President than the most moral person in the world who is a horrible President.

Or the most moral person in the world who would probably be a decent President but runs a horrible campaign, so they never get elected.

And that is a more moral position to take.

Fabi said...

#StrongCNNDefender
#StrongObamaDefender
#StrongHillaryDefender
#StrongBergdahlDefender
#StrongEdwardsDefender
#StrongDurbinDefender
#StrongMaddowDefender

Life. Long. Republican.

narciso said...

They told the truth about Edwards they lied on multiple tines about the huntress, mickey kaus couldn't even get anyone to mention his name in 2007,
Rosencrantz and gildenstern mentioned him perfunctorily in game change they were too busy slimming the former.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

We can start at cynical.

Agreed. The universe of people in the US who don't know that Trump is a philander is so near to zero as to be statistically insignificant. I would have thought he would have better sense than to have sex with a porn star. By the way, totally stolen from some comedian who I can't remember, why are all the women who are in porn films called porn "stars?" Aren't there any porn "extras?"

Birches said...

There is little chance Trump used campaign funds to pay Stormy, Chuck.

Fritz said...

Democrats lost the right to make us care with Clinton, and confirmed our position with Edwards.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

The reason I think that Trump probably didn't have sex with a porn actress is that he has to know there is no way she is going to be discreet. That story is going to be told, for cash. Also, VD.

But, as the professor states, who cares?

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Porn "character actors?"

narciso said...

I guess born performers is the default, bow did they interview vera baker, the campaign worker they shipped off to Martinique. I recall new York magazines made insinuations about Christi lategano one of Rudy's staffers odd they didn't admit anything about weinstein or spacey or lauer till 2017, shocker huh

Chris N said...

Ron,

I’m sure there are some porn actresses who were asked, by some male producer no doubt, to come into his office and pick some lines from Hamlet and start reading.

Chris N said...

And you know, Mitt Romney left his dog on the roof of a car...

Ray - SoCal said...

Funniest comment due to being so true!

>And that’s the beauty of Trump. We don’t start at the remedial level. We can start at cynical. Refreshing!

Trump is the anti politician. I’m still amazed he got elected and is doing such a great job.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

As long as he doesn't lie under oath in a sexual harassment case he'll be fine.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I’m sure there are some porn actresses who were asked, by some male producer no doubt, to come into his office and pick some lines from Hamlet and start reading.

More likely the play is going to be Cymbeline.

MacMacConnell said...

Niall Ferguson explains it to MSNBC Stephanie Ruhle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=395&v=avIjlRz52iY

Francisco D said...

As I understand it, the porn star signed an NDA for $130K.

How has this become so public? Was she offered more money by another party? Did someone pry into sealed court records?

When Obama was running for the US Senate from Illinois (where I lived at the time) he (with the help of local newspapers) was able to get divorce records unsealed from not only his primary opponent (Blair Hull) but also from his Republican opponent (Jack Ryan). You don't have to be a life long Chicagoan to know when the fix is in.

Laws don't seem to apply to the left.

Mary Beth said...

Edwards didn’t get into legal trouble for being a cad; Edwards was nearly convicted for having funneled regulated campaign funds to a mistress.

Considering the way so many previous Trump news stories have gone, I expect the Left to demand an investigation into how Stormy was paid. When Trump is shown to have paid her with his own money, he will turn it to being about campaign spending in general. It will end up with a look into how Clinton campaign funds were routed to Steele's informants. That will look sketchy and story will be shoved down the memory hole.

Mary Beth said...

ac McConnell said...

Niall Ferguson explains it to MSNBC Stephanie Ruhle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=395&v=avIjlRz52iY

1/20/18, 10:06 AM


When the URL has "continue" in it, the link goes to where you stopped. That usually happens when you're watching it embedded on a page and then click the YouTube link in the video to open it in YouTube. It's continuing from the point where you clicked the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avIjlRz52iY

BUMBLE BEE said...

Vera Baker?
how could you, Narciso?

narciso said...

Hey if were going to be throwing away allegations

http://freebeacon.com/politics/stephanie-ruhle-makes-bad-prediction-about-government-shutdown

Francisco D said...

I really don't care about Trump's affairs. I did not care about Bill Clinton and Gennifer Flowers.

We used to believe that if a man cheated on his wife, he was unreliable. Now, I think we are deeply cynical about politicians (as we should be) and have no expectations for moral behavior in their personal and professional lives.

However, let's not conflate consensual affairs with rape (Juanita Broderick), sexual assault (Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones) and using your power over young interns (Monica Lewinsky).

buwaya said...

When, during the State of the Union address, the cameras show your (official) Federal leadership assembled, you will be seeing a sea of slime. Villains every one, and moreover they are to a man (or woman), gleeful about making you their victims.

One private sin more or less makes no difference. A purely private sin is an innocent interlude in comparison.

narciso said...

Well bill Clinton except for the one who ended up on highlander (name escapes) want too picky, but his injury to the body politic was more extensive than that, cra revision doj enforcement of sub prime mandate consent decrees on police departments slashing military and intelligence locking off valuable resources

William said...

I wonder if Stormy will be able to monetize her fame in a significant way. Fashion models and actresses are able to ask for a bigger paycheck when they gain fame. Also, their value on the trophy wife market increases. Not so much with porn stars. It's almost impossible for a porn star to break into the trophy wife racket. That's where the real money is. A few have crossed over into B movies, but that's not particularly lucrative......In the porn business you don't gain fans and admirers as your career progresses. Porn fans are fickle and are always moving on to the next new face. Feminism needs to reform the porn industry and its sexist consumers.

narciso said...

Who really cares, all of a sudden the wall street journAL does seriously, this is where Jane Mayer came from among other places, this is also when glenn Simpson of fusion and Chris cooper of Potomac strategies came from, they were both on Russian payrolls.

n.n said...

Involuntary? Superior? Normalization? Privacy? WaPoo goes full tabloid.

n.n said...
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Sam L. said...

It's just one more reason (unnecessary, one (1) each) to dislike and distrust the WaPoo.

narciso said...

You mean this guy:

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jeffrey-lord/2016/07/02/fact-checking-washington-posts-callum-borchers

narciso said...

Bringing the pillows:
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/pj-gladnick/2017/10/19/washington-post-performs-uranium-one-scandal-spin-control

n.n said...

washington-post-performs-uranium-one-scandal-spin-control

So, WaPoo is the JournoListic arm of the DNC. This is so KKK, when they were the militant arm. Spin, WaPoo. Spin your ball of yarns.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

narciso said...
Well bill Clinton except for the one who ended up on highlander (name escapes)

Liz Ward Gracen, admittedly a dime. Consent was an issue.

want too picky,

Markie Post was pretty fetching. And I happened to like the looks of Monica, though she certainly could have dieted. But yes, overall, to be fancied by WJC was not such a compliment. Eleanor Mondale, no idea. I guess we don't know about all of them, e.g. was his victim at Oxford a hottie. And all the ones we never heard of let alone saw.

narciso said...

I had forgotten her name, Markie post well ok.

But you see how they don't like to bring up their own laundry

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

ARM is a prurient puritan.

narciso said...

Concern trolls got to do what they do.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yancey Ward said...

Democrats and the media (and I repeat myself) still don't get it- Trump's supporters don't play that game any longer. We don't give a fuck about Trump's peccadilloes or the media's portrayal of them. Until Trump came along, the game was a one-side operation- this no longer applies. As I wrote a couple months ago- if Democrats want me to care about this sort of thing again, they will have to walk the talk for a very, very long time. I don't think they will, either.

Darrell said...

1) Trump's lawyer denies any payoff to porn star to keep silent.
2) Porn star denies any relationship with Trump.
3) Cynics claim she is silent because of a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
4) Porn star starts going around peddling a tale for network cash.
5) Proving there wasn't an NDA and Trump's lawyer was correct.

Chuck said...

Fabi said...
"A majority of Republicans wanted Trump to release his tax returns during the campaign."

That's a lie.


Quinnipiac; August of 2016. Question 48. 62% of Republicans think that Trump should publicly release his tax returns:

https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2375


narciso said...

Powell who was caught with those saucy emails to that Romanian diplomat, tell me more.

Drago said...

#StrongDurbinDefender and #StrongCottonAttacker Chuck: "Quinnipiac; August of 2016. Question 48. 62% of Republicans think that Trump should publicly release his tax returns:"

LOL

Apparently, the republican base didn't want him to release the returns all that badly, now did they?

Of course, Chuck hates the republican base, so his disagreement with them is understandable.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Yancey Ward: "Democrats and the media (and I repeat myself) still don't get it-"

Democrats, their strong LLR allies and the media (and I repeat myself) still don't get it-

FIFY

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pacwest said...

'We need to think about the children. What about the children?'

Sorry, I think that one is outdated. You might get better traction with something else.

Francisco D said...

Who cares about Trump's tax returns? That's between him, his accountants and the IRS.

Given the nature of his business, they are probably too complex for most to understand.

Chuck, you are relying on a poll, like the one's that said Trump could never win?

What people tell pollsters and what they really believe are often quite different.

narciso said...

It was in the guccifer stack, that uncovered her closet server. But he is touted as an authority, for reasons unclear.

Drago said...

Unfortunately for the lefties and LLR Chuck's, the republican base has been listening very carefully to the lefties/Dems/LLR's declare the republican base to be nazi, white supremacist, trailer park trash, morons, etc., who have to die off quickly so that the country can become something wonderfully leftist/LLR-ist.

These voters have pondered carefully and decided to vote for the guy who doesn't want them all to die.

Trump is literally the only guy willing to fight back against LLR Chuck's beloved lefties and MSM so the base literally doesn't care about his personal life and it is literally just that simple.

Drago said...

wwww: "And that is what caused the divorce rate to skyrocket. Divorce and sex outside of marriage,..."

There are a heckuva lot more factors and even much more important factors than that the led to higher divorce rates.

But that would have to be a different thread.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“Monica has been referenced a multitude of times in the last year by posters on this blog.

A couple decades later they have not yet moved on, but its been a few hours so lets move on from the Trump story.”

I have trouble moving on from the Democrat’s eager enabling of forcible rape. Something they still enthusiastically support to this hour.

“Other things about Trump are funny, but not the example he is setting for children. They do look to the President for models.”

In the Obama Personality Cult, maybe. In all my years I have never met a single child who looked to the Presidency for a role model.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

roesch/voltaire said...
Is it is just the sex or the pay out to keep quite that calls our continued attention?


It is the lying and the recklessness.

Drago said...

ARM: "It is the lying and the recklessness."

What a President does in his private life is no concern of yours.

You guys told us that.

You need to live by your own rules. I think some guy named Alinsky said that is important. Alinsky. You know, the guy Hillary did her senior thesis on, and since she is literally the most brilliant human being ever to run for President (except for obama, but that is understandable since obama was a "god") we must go along with it.

Thanks for playing.

chickelit said...

The Cracker Emcee Activist said...In the Obama Personality Cult, maybe. In all my years I have never met a single child who looked to the Presidency for a role model.

The answer is a head scratcher.

chickelit said...

ARM admonished: It is the lying and the recklessness.

If Trump wagged his finger in denial you'd snark about finger length. We're on to you.

buwaya said...

The horses have long since left that barn.
So long ago its impenetrably cobwebbed and under a foot of dust.

This is another reason for my pessimism about the US. This is another of those irretrievable conditions. It is not only the American mind that has died, but its heart too.

Anyone in the past that argued for public morality was shut down with organized mockery, armed with the power of authority and overwhelming funding. Anti-morality became the new morality. And now the same people who brought about cultural ruin want to use a moral argument for political reasons?

For the children?

The only way for that to work is for that whole lot, and that is millions of people in high or influential positions, to voluntarily remove themselves from public life, media roles, leadership, entirely, until they die out. That will not happen. Otherwise it is entirely unbelievable. It is absurd.

buwaya said...

You cannot revive dead limbs.
More and more parts will die, until all is gone.
Maybe something new and better will come along, later, but that will not happen until the remnants stop thrashing.
In history it is usually the case that a conqueror comes, eventually, to put the failing thing out of its misery, as with a coup de grace.

chickelit said...

The whole line of vindictive reasoning that A Reasonable Man now takes is so Clintonian. He exclusively chooses Clinton-era morality plays to use against Trump supporters.

I suspect that ARM is a sympathetic agent of Hillary.

chickelit said...

@buwaya: A root and branch eradication of things "Clinton" in the DNC would help, just as Republican voters repudiated things Bush. This would be bloody, and maybe some people would have to actually die. But there could always be a Clinton or a Bush family restoration down the line. Just not with the old familial players.

narciso said...

Its terribly insincere, and I remember all sorts of mockery against bush sr, jennufwr Fitzgerald the whole cocaine contra folderall, the October surprise, yet they are silent as basenghi

tcrosse said...

ARM admonished: It is the lying and the recklessness.

Hate is an ugly word. ARM is trying to rationalize it.

Bad Lieutenant said...

??? I had never heard of this. And neither have a bunch of kids. The public and profuse nature of the vulgar behaviour makes it more likely the kids hear about it.


Oh, wwww, well if that's the problem, just tell the media to shut up and not report it. Or not report it to death. Worked for every other president before him.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I don't hate Trump. I think he is unsuited temperamentally for the presidency. He is self-evidently an unusually reckless liar but now we find that he is also just flat out reckless. We have a good grasp on just how big a liar Trump is, but the extent of his recklessness has not been adequately mapped. Maybe Mueller figures that out.

FullMoon said...

I cannot find this funny. Other things about Trump are funny, but not the example he is setting for children. They do look to the President for models. Maybe it's easier for people who don't have children in the home.
More boys look to musicians, actors and sports figures than to politicians. Everybody knows that. Ask your kid to name five current politicians.
Then ask to name five rap artists.

buwaya said...

Chickelit,

Its not one political clique that has to go, but entire systems of institutions, entire subcultures, entire populations.

My first target, if I were to suggest a very bare start, would be tje removal of every college of education, those that hand out teaching credentials. I.e., by that I mean the entire abolishment of a requirement for teachers to obtain such credentials, and the closing of all these schools. That gets to just some of the sources of upstream poison. But even this, affecting hundreds of thousands of people directly or indirectly involved, is just a tiny beginning.

The scale of the required purges would affect a large chunk of the US economy, for the good ultimately, but would require tremendous costs and loss to millions.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

"...and only worth pointing out from a great distance."

Now I can't stop seeking to categorize things by the distance from which they are worth pointing out.

Paddy O said...

"They do look to the President for models. Maybe it's easier for people who don't have children in the home."

Well, I have children, and I don't think my children should see the president as a role model. Maybe that's the problem in our society, with Trump and so many others in Hollywood and elsewhere, of a certain generation: they grew up with John Kennedy as a role model.

What I like is having more money to help with my kids education and activities, and maybe I can be a better role model for them than yet another corrupted politician.

buwaya said...

"Then ask to name five rap artists"

Indeed. The people decrying Trumps private life have nothing to say about that, or rather this sort of thing is in one way or another a component of their revenue stream. And of their political alliances.

We are not speaking of cases of hypocrisy, but of hypocrisy as a major component of the atmosphere. The very air is corrupt, corruption is inescapable even in the necessary functions of life.

Narayanan said...

Who doesn't think millennials being cynical about politicians is great?

Narayanan said...

How is it that anti-Trumpers still have optimistic aspirations re: politics?

Gahrie said...

My first target, if I were to suggest a very bare start, would be tje removal of every college of education,

As a teacher, I agree. Not only was the credential program dominated by Leftwing indoctrination, it was a colossal waste of time and money. The only thing useful came at the very end during my student teaching, and that was minimal and could have been accomplished by co-workers my first year of teaching.

Gahrie said...

I don't hate Trump. I think he is unsuited temperamentally for the presidency.

I can't wait until 2030 or 2040 when ARM and the rest of the Left will be telling us how Trump was a much more nicer and trustworthy person than the current Republican candidate.

tolkein said...

My perspective is British. I can't see how these stories hurt him with core supporters (not practising Christians, etc) and potential voters (white/Hispanic, Black working class voters, not all of them men.) There was a story about Lord Palmerston, a British Foreign Secretary in the 1850s etc who the newspapers alleged was carrying on a number of affairs. His political opponents urged the papers to shut up as each allegation seemed to improve his popularity!
Look at the example of Clinton(whom I admired as a president, but diminished after the Lewinsky affair). I was at a Labour Party dinner in 1992 (Party Conference) and said I would be meeting Clinton (and Kevin Spacey, whom I didn't like). Lots of laughing women asked me to give him their phone numbers. I got they were joking, they knew his reputation, and they didn't care.

Paddy O said...

What's also true is the Left doesn't care about what Trump did, they think that Trumps supporters (esp the Christian Right) care about these sorts of things. So they're flummoxed that Trump is still getting support.

The problem is that Trump is an abhorrent person morally. He's not a hypocrite, though. Everyone knew who he was going in.

And people don't have to like him as a person to see he's doing his job as he said he was going to do it. If that's what they wanted him to do, then he's still supported.

Anonymous said...

Mark: Monica has been referenced a multitude of times in the last year by posters on this blog.

A couple decades later they have not yet moved on, but its been a few hours so lets move on from the Trump story.

Laughable.


I don't find it exactly "laughable" that you guys (you, ARM, r/V, etc.) still think the above tactic works. Maybe a little laughable, but more kinda touching and pathetic. I wonder what a bunch of pox-ridden old political whores like you guys are thinking, standing under your street light, displaying your raddled morals to disgusted passers-by.

Poor old blighters, the pox has eaten your brains.

Birches said...

Second what Paddy O said.

I'd be worried if any of my kids had a politician as a role model.

Birches said...

The problem is that Trump is an abhorrent person morally. He's not a hypocrite, though. Everyone knew who he was going in.

This too.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Angel-Dyne said...
pox-ridden old political whores


Perhaps not the best metaphor for a Trump supporter to use, given the current circumstances.

Hagar said...

I think we are suffering from scandal overdose. These last months have been just too much of a muchness.

But yeah, there is a tone from ARM & Co. that seems different these last few says. Seriously guys, is this the best you can come up with?

Hagar said...

@Birches,
Washington and Lincoln both were professional politicians.

Anonymous said...

ARM: Perhaps not the best metaphor for a Trump supporter to use, given the current circumstances.

It's exactly the right metaphor, ARM.

You old whores are going to cling to your delusions of moral credibility 'til the end, I see. I understand. What else have you got?

Drago said...

ARM: "Perhaps not the best metaphor for a Trump supporter to use, given the current circumstances."

What "circumstances" are "current"?

Fabi said...

The same poll, Chuck, showed only 70% of Republicans thought Hillary had a poor track record in politics! High fidelity poll you're quoting. Lulz

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Doesn't shit like this give you pause:

Trump signs foreign surveillance bill into law saying it is NOT the law he claims was 'abused' during the election – after briefly panicking House leaders with contradictory tweets before House passage

Whether or not Trump really understands what he is talking about (possibly unknowable like the fate of Schrodinger's cat), his inability to convey the impression that he knows what he is talking about is enough to question his suitability to be president.

Rusty said...


"Blogger AReasonableMan said...
Angel-Dyne said...
pox-ridden old political whores

Perhaps not the best metaphor for a Trump supporter to use, given the current circumstances."



12 years ago and he wasn't a married sitting president using a female intern as a humidor.

You have no moral high ground. You have no moral grounds at all to judge. Your moral currency has about as much value as a Venezuelan Bolivar.
You gave us C linton and Obama. Now you got Trump.
eat your lefty heart out.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Angel-Dyne said...
delusions of moral credibility


Think you have the wrong end of the stick here. I have never set myself up as a moral scold nor do I intend to. There are plenty of other reasons to question Trump's suitability to be president independent of his personal morality. I am surprised that all the people who made such an issue of 'character matters' no longer find this a problem.

eddie willers said...

One thing that bothered me about Monica Lewinsky was that she was unvetted and secreted into the Oval Office.

What if she were Mossad?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

eddie willers said...
What if she were Mossad?


While this now seems unlikely, given how things played out, it was a legitimate concern and one example of the recklessness that made Clinton unsuitable for office.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Your moral currency has about as much value as a Venezuelan Bolivar.


Funny, I was just rereading in Fleming's Thunderball and reminisced with a colleague at the office, a Brit, that the Venezuelan Bolivar used to be the hardest currency on the planet. Look at how they pissed it all away.




I have never set myself up as a moral scold nor do I intend to.


Tee fucking hee.


There are plenty of other reasons to question Trump's suitability to be president independent of his personal morality.


Yeah, you don't like him.


I am surprised that all the people who made such an issue of 'character matters' no longer find this a problem.


You won! You should be happy.

Paco Wové said...

"I have never set myself up as a moral scold nor do I intend to."

And yet, there you are.

Drago said...

ARM: "While this now seems unlikely, given how things played out, it was a legitimate concern and one example of the recklessness that made Clinton unsuitable for office."

LOL

Such moral clarity a mere 20 years too late and when there is zero price to pay for it.

Courage such as that is a rare thing indeed!

Are there any other "timely" observations you'd like to mention that are cost free for the dems?

How about Kennedy being hopped on meds all day and hooking up with about several hundred dames including big time mafioso mistresses!

Remember, you must pretend to have been very very outrageously outraged by such actions in order to pull off your shallow effort to appear shocked by Trump!





Drago said...

ARM: "Whether or not Trump really understands what he is talking about ..."

LOL

Trump knows exactly what he is talking about.

The 702 program wasn't the problem, it was the reckless abuse of the "About Queries" that allowed the reckless dems to weaponize intellingence agency programs and data for domestic political purposes.

And the "word on the street is" (which we will know for certain in the near future) that Fusion GPS itself, the hired gun oppo research arm for the Hillary campaign, was one of the "contractors" hired by the FBI itself to access and analyze the entire database of 702 intercepted communications, from which Fusion, who hired Nellie Ohr (the wife of DOJ biggee Bruce Ohr (what a coincidence!)) to gussy the raw data up, feed it to Steele via Simpson at GPS, Steele does his "dial up" "magic" with Putin pals in Moscow and voila!

The Steele dossier!

Which is then given BACK to the FBI in laundered form which the FBI uses to get a formal FISA warrant to spy on the entire Trump crew.

Gee, you know, (simple country lawyer accent) I may not know everything about intelligence gathering and the constitution, but even I know that something here is rather amiss....and reckless.

Do tell us more about reckless ARM.

Or do you need to "wait until after the next election when you will have more flexibility?"

Greg Hlatky said...

I have never set myself up as a moral scold nor do I intend to.

Horse plums. You loftily asked how SoCons could possibly support such a moral reprobate as Trump. And my reply is the same: your sort had no moral authority, no power, nothing to ask such a question

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

I do notice that when the rapist WJC is brought up, no Leftist dares to trot out that "vast right-wing conspiracy" bullshit anymore. So that's progress of a sort, though it's also an admission of moral culpability. Oh well, anything that keeps them chasing their tails.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

This was an unreasonable complaint. I simply linked to an essay by Goldberg asking that question. It is a reasonable question to ask but I didn't ask it.

roesch/voltaire said...

Obviously a president who lies on average five times a day can not be as bad as a president who wears a tan suit in the office, and technically I believe Stormy was in the work place or golf course so is this then harassment? But I give Trump supporters credit for ignoring
His character because they are getting the bank deregulation, the payday loan deregulation, the off shore drilling, the change to college loans, and the huge tax breaksp to the one percent they voted for.

traditionalguy said...

But would Donald do Gina Lolobrigida " to make the country grow again " like JFK and his brother did Marilyn.

Drago said...

R/V: "...the huge tax breaksp to the one percent they voted for."

Unfortunately for you, that lie has already been exposed.

Its going to be a difficult sell for the lefties to convince all those middle class tax cut recipients that the extra cash in their hands is not real.

But you go right ahead and tell them that. After all, you already believe thise folks are nazi deplorable idiots so it should be a snap for you.

Jim at said...

Monica was a federal workplace issue involving the sitting president of a party that had just used the Thomas confirmation hearings as a "teachable moment." - EDH

This cannot be repeated often enough.

Make the left choke on it.

pacwest said...

"Whether or not Trump really understands what he is talking about"

I'm always suprised that this criticism gains any traction at all, even with the attack dogs. While Trump may have been a semi-neophyte to political gamesmanship and policy 2 years ago, (at which time he probably knew more about it than you or I or Chuck due to the nature (and international nature) of his business), he is now far more in the know than any of us could hope to be. And since then he has surrounded himself with pros, is meeting with people who have been in the political business for decades, and has policy wonks to inform him of the nitty gritty. By reliable personal accounts he is a quick study and workaholic.

When you or others try to use the 'he's not informed' argument it reflects on your own stupidity rather than his. Sorry for the direct insult.

Drago said...

Perhaps R/V and ARM should spend a little time telling the lefties to stop having rapist WJC headlining major dem events.

I mean, since you guys are all in with the pretend concern about character.

And I wont even begin ti embarrass you with Hillarys reckless pay to play schemes with the russians or her astonishingly reckless private servers used to convey classified information.

buwaya said...

wwww is simply repeating previous statement and is not engaging rebuttals.

R/V does not bother to engage rebuttals, ever.

ARM is wishy-washy on rebuttals.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jim at said...

I have never set myself up as a moral scold nor do I intend to. - ARM

Then apparently, you're incapable of reading and comprehending your own posts on this very thread.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roy Lofquist said...

"The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy".

Edwin Edwards - D
50th Governor of Louisiana
In office May 9, 1972 – January 8, 1996

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Jim at (to ARM): "Then apparently, you're incapable of reading and comprehending your own posts on this very thread"

Why should this thread be any different than any other?

Drago said...

wwww: "ok, gotta go make a hot dish!"

Hot, homecooked meal and a nap.

Let's face it. That's a little slice of heaven right there.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Jim at said...
Then apparently, you're incapable of reading and comprehending your own posts on this very thread.


Projection. Sad!

Anonymous said...

wwww: It's my POV, and it's not as if you're going to convince me that adultery is acceptable.

You're not so unintelligent that you're not perfectly well aware that no one here is trying to convince you of any such thing.

Anonymous said...

wwww: It's my POV, and it's not as if you're going to convince me that adultery is acceptable.

You're not so unintelligent that you're not perfectly well aware that no one here is trying to convince you of any such thing.

traditionalguy said...

Stormy seems like a mature woman. Trumped entertained her. She had no complaints. She knew he was a married guy having fun with an interesting woman out of town. The risk was all Trump's risk. He says those days were dare devil stunts that he survived.

The truly nasty little scum being revealed are the Religiously offended pretend Christians that sell their condemnation BS for money to an audience that they believe still lives in 1980. They have used that Trump condemnation since 2015. It is enough to get me to renounce Christianity if that was all there was to it.

rcocean said...

Is there anything more absurd than #Fakeconservatives like Jonah Goldberg or Bill Kristol going on about "The immorality of Trump" and "How can social conservatives stand him?"

This, from a bunch of clowns who were A-OK with Hillary and Bill "I'll have another Lewinsky, please" Clinton back in the White house. Not to mention putting with a Kagan run SCOTUS for the next 20 years.

JFK was banging Interns/Gangster Molls and making them give Ted Sorenson Blow jobs. Clinton was getting Lewinskys in the White House. God Knows what LBJ was up to. Obama was doing Coke/MJ in college, and was OK with Pastor who said "Goddamn America"

So, why the Hell should I care about Trump's Sex life - 12 years before he became POTUS?

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Night Owl said...

People shouldn't be surprised that this story about the porn star didn't come out during the election. It would've hurt Hillary. Trump would've brought up Hillary's enabling of her rapey, adulterous husband.

Those who voted for Trump knew he was an adulterer-- Melania is his third wife; who doesn't know that? The leftist media are bringing this up now because they're desperate for something to smear him with that will stick.

Night Owl said...

"Honestly, I don't know what there is to argue about."

In earlier thread, the one about the Laurence Tribe tweet, you said:

"Vulgarity in positions of leadership infects others in society. I do not think this is a controversial position."

I responded to that in the earlier comment. Rather than cut and paste, I'll paraphrase it here:

People are pushing back on the idea that an adulterous Trump is going corrupt our already debased culture. They recognize that Trump is a symptom of our vulgar culture, not a cause. Trump was able to become president because our culture is already base and vulgar.

On the other hand, "BJ" Clinton played an active role in debasing the office of the presidency, and brought "blowjob" into the language we use when we talk about oval office activities. Right-wingers complained about the behavior at the time and were mocked by the left. In many ways Trump is a payback for that mockery. Point the blame where it rightly belongs: Clinton and his corrupt wife gave us Trump.

Maybe next time when the Republicans put forward a decent man like Mitt Romney, the left will see fit to give him the respect he deserves, and stick to attacking his polices instead of broadly slandering the decent men and women who vote Republican.

Birkel said...

Objections to Obama's policies were racist, by Leftist definition.

Support of Trump's policies is immoral, by Leftist definition.

Leftist definitions are idiotic.

Birkel said...

wwww is a caricature of what wwww believes a conservative might think.

Also, a lying ass hole and stupid to boot.

Birches said...

People are pushing back on the idea that an adulterous Trump is going corrupt our already debased culture. They recognize that Trump is a symptom of our vulgar culture, not a cause. Trump was able to become president because our culture is already base and vulgar.

Yep. And I believe in complete chastity before marriage and complete fidelity during also.

Bad Lieutenant said...

For you I'm sure it's sincere. For them it's all Alinsky, make them live up to their own Book of Rules, to which of course they don't subscribe and thus are free to do whatever they want to do.

Bad Lieutenant said...


narciso said...
I had forgotten her name, Markie post well ok.

But you see how they don't like to bring up their own laundry

1/20/18, 11:18 AM


Oh Lord yes Narc, but that's like saying that water runs downhill, the sun rises in the East, Israel owns the sky. It's just so obvious that one forgets to mention it.

Birkel said...

wwww,

Hey there, you unremarkable Leftist lying shitstain. How the heck are you, liar?

I would happily call you precisely what I think of you if you said what you truly believe in my presence.

You supported Obama and Hillary. The former violated the civil rights of Americans as an exercise of political power. (e.g. IRS, FBI, NSA, etc) The latter is a rape apologist and as yet unindicted felon who sold political favors to domestic and foreign interests.

Save your moralizing for when you try to put me in the cattle cars.

wwww said...


Birkel,

I send you good thoughts and healing for your pain.

Bad Lieutenant said...

wwww:
I asked him about Woody Allen before the whole Soon-Yi thing. He criticized Allen for not getting married to Mia Farrow. He saw right through him. He was right. He was right before all the rest followed.


wwww:
He reacted very strongly, telling me Allen did not respect Farrow. Marriage was much more then a "piece of paper" he said.


wwww: please pick one.


It's hard to understand why someone with your heightened sense of morality would be a Democrat. At the very least you must feel unwelcome within the party.

Martin said...

That WaPo headline makes no sense at all (I don't want to give them the clicks and I am usually blocked by their paywall so I didn't read the article).

If the story is credible--and to me it is, at least somewhat--it's because of Trump's reputation and some known actions over his 40+ years in the public eye. It is a bit surprising so soon after he married Melania, but not unbelievable.

His support of some other tabloid on some unrelated issue years ago has no relevance. I take that headline as another data point in the Trump-related insanity gripping the drive-by media.

narciso said...

As I pointed up earlier, borchers has a long history of yelling squirrel in a crowded theater,

Achilles said...

Anyone who voted for Hillary Clinton has flushed their soul down the toilet. They made a knowing decision to support utter depravity and an end to the rule of law.

Anyone who supports or defends Obama at this point is an enemy of freedom. He spied on political opponents with several federal bureaucracies.

Anyone who apologizes for that has made an irreconcilable decision. You can no longer be able to claim you are anything other than a fascist. That makes you an enemy of those who made this a free country.

Night Owl said...

Where I differ is that I believe there can be additional corruption...
It is easy for boys to mistake men's vices for men's honours.


If your concern is mostly for the corruption of the young, I wouldn't despair so much about Trump's impact. I don't think the younger generation will look to a somewhat bloated, old white Republican as a role model. They're more likely to look to rappers and athletes and Hollywood stars; guys who are likely to be found on a #Metoo list of horrible men. Ideally young men should be looking to their fathers as role-models, but that time is gone for many households.

It is still possible to have voted for him and refuse to defend behaviour that departs from sexual morality or indulges vulgarity.

Of course you are free to condemn and criticize bad behavior all you want. But Trump has only been egregiously vulgar as President in private conversations. The whiny weasels who run to the media when Trump says something naughty bear the responsibility for making "shithole" available to the public.

His past vulgarities -- which I, myself, have condemned-- and infidelities took place years before he ran for office. These behaviors wouldn't be my concern if it weren't for the muckrakers digging for dirt from the past. These are the same partisan media hacks who covered up for John Edwards, Clinton, and other dirty Democrats whose bad behavior took place while they were in office.

Outrage from the media over immoral behavior seems like phony partisan politics because it's only ever directed at Republican candidates. It's blatant hypocrisy that many of us feel free to ignore.

Night Owl said...

Speaking of outrage: Where is the organized outrage from Dem voters at their party for rigging the primaries in favor of the Clintons? Bill Clinton needs a Metoo hashtag for his accusers alone, and yet the Dems thought it was a great idea to bring him back into the White House. I'm not seeing the outrage over this.

The pussy-hatted posturing of leftist women comes across as hypocrisy that I choose to ignore. I'll judge Trump based on his actions and results while in office, and ignore the theatrics.