March 25, 2019

Avenatti arrested — accused of "threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met."

Federal prosecutors said, reported in the NYT.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney in Manhattan, said at a news conference that Mr. Avenatti’s conduct amounted to a “shakedown.”

“Avenatti used illegal and extortionate threates for the purpose of obtaining millions of dollars in payments from a public company,’’ he said. “Calling this anticipated payout a retainer or a settlement doesn’t change what it was — a shakedown. When lawyers use their law licenses as weapons, as a guise to extort payments for themselves, they are no longer acting as attorneys.”...

Mr. Avenatti said he would refrain from publicizing his evidence if Nike paid $1.5 million to his client, who is not named, the court documents said. He also demanded that Nike hire him and another lawyer to conduct an internal investigation, for billings worth between $15 million and $25 million, court documents said.
It's Trump's lucky week.

By the way, was what Avenatti did to Trump a "shakedown"?

And, I just love that Avenatti's chosen weapon was — in the words of the prosecutors — "garnering publicity." As you may know, I look askance at those who find a need to use the word "garner." As I said a few years ago (provoked by Jeb Bush):
The only reason to say "garner" is if you think there's something wrong with a very common word that normal people just go ahead and say all the time without thinking they need to rise above it. The word is: "get."

137 comments:

Clyde said...

Karma. I think I've exceeded my Maximum Recommended Schadenfreude for the week, and it's only Monday!

tim in vermont said...

I wonder if the style books all deprecated “get” because it’s so hard to accurately translate into other languages. It gets hard to get over the idea that if you get your article translated it gets screwed up because getting get right is something that only native begotten English speakers seem to get. I’ve got an idea that algorithmic translators would get it wrong from the get go.

Or maybe they find it easy. IDK, I know I would. I have enough trouble with faire.

Bay Area Guy said...

AA sez: The only reason to say "garner" is if you think there's something wrong with a very common word that normal people just go ahead and say all the time without thinking they need to rise above it. The word is: "get."

Perhaps Michael Avenatti will garner a new girlfriend in his NY prison cell. I'm nominating Michael Cohen.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

The last few days have been highly entertaining.

Darrell said...

Avenatti needs conjugal visits from a power post hole digger.

RMc said...

Hey, it’s not too late for him to run for prez after all!

traditionalguy said...

I get it.

Charlie said...

"We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning, you’re going to come to me and go ‘Please, please, we can’t win anymore’ … “And I’m going to say ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning.”

Drago said...

"By the way, was what Avenatti did to Trump a "shakedown"?"

Yes. Abetted by LLR's.

Nonapod said...

So far this week Trump's enemies are being crushed and driven before him and there's been lamentations from their women.

Michael K said...

Don Jr tweeted that maybe Avenatti and Cohen could share a cell.

John Borell said...

I normally take no joy in the fall of public figures as they are humans with frailties.

But I take great joy in rapid fall of that piece of shit Michael Avenatti.

Darrell said...

Avenatti should immediately jump into the Democrat presidential primary. The FBI won't touch him, as we all know. They will take the case away from NY.

J2 said...

"Get" doesn't suggest deception, "garnering" does.

traditionalguy said...

I suspect the extortion demands of the delightful Miss Daniels was, "Pay me or I will tell Mrs. Trump about our dalliance." Which for the Trump's is weak tea. But paying her for her stage name was worth something extra for use as the title of Trump's second Movie now in release: The Storm.

Mattman26 said...

Donald Jr. tweeted: #MAGA--Michael Avenatti Getting Arrested!

gspencer said...

"When lawyers use their law licenses as weapons, as a guise to extort payments for themselves, they are no longer acting as attorneys.”

But they sure are acting like Democrats.

Avenetti seems the perfect candidate for the Democrat Party.

Biff said...

The only reason to say "garner" is if you think there's something wrong with a very common word that normal people just go ahead and say all the time without thinking they need to rise above it. The word is: "get."

I occasionally work with people in the marketing and PR worlds, and I remember feeling the need to take a shower the first time I heard one of them talking about the need to "think about the optics" rather than simply saying, "That's going to look bad!"

Notice how common the use of "optics" has become.

Dave Begley said...

This is just the first of many indictments of Trump's enemies.

As Bay Area Guy noted, this is like Christmas.

Comey, McCabe et al are soon go going to get the same treatment.

Revenge is sweet. Turnabout is fair play.

And CNN and MSNBC should be indicted for aiding and abetting these shakedowns.

Charlie Eklund said...

For some time now, I have wondered if Mr. Avenatti might be a criminal lawyer as well as an uncivil one. Looks like we’re going to find out.

Pass the popcorn.

Mary H said...

Just on Chuck Ross's twitter feed was a statement that Avenatti's co-conspirator is Mark Geragos, another celebrity lawyer who is or was Jussie Smollet's lawyer. Geragos is also a CNN legal analyst.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Lincolntf said...

Garner votes, garner attention, those are two places I expect to occasionally see the word.

Sally327 said...

I don't know if what Avenatti did really amounts to a crime but it does seem like bad lawyering. The threat of adverse publicity wouldn't have to be stated if it's really a possibility, the corporation will know that already. Much more effective to have it implied, and safer, too, apparently. Interesting that Avenatti thought the threat of bad publicity would be enough to get millions out of the company that put Colin Kaepernick in an ad.

Virgil Hilts said...

I picture at least three people pinning Trump to the ground so he can't get to his twitter post button.

Virgil Hilts said...

Nike's new shoe! 19 Air Max Avenatti

JAORE said...

Maybe Jesse Jackson could have given him pointers and he'd have avoided the whole legal mess.

At least one clown has (one supposes) left the clown car for good.

Ken B said...

I think it would be hilarious to rewrite all “garner” sentences with James for garner.

MadisonMan said...

I lose track of the players. I need a score card. Was Avenatti Stormy Daniels' lawyer for a while? I guess I'll go google.

I'm thinking Trump is the most honest politician out there. How sad the Democrats thought he was just like them, and therefore corrupt.

n.n said...

Deja vu, a trial by press. Did Nike kneel as a character witness?

FleetUSA said...

It seems Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and others have been doing the same thing for years.

narciso said...


https://heavy.com/news/2019/03/mark-geragos-michael-avenatti/

MacMacConnell said...

A rat get's rat fucked. ;-)

readering said...

As an Angeleno I'm more interested to hear about co-conspirator Mark Geragos, who has been a fixture on the LA legal scene for many years, besides being a fixture as a commentator on the cable networks. Michael Avenatti was not all that notorious before Stormy Daniels, although he had had a number of "celebrity" cases, and he was already flaming out with the Kavanaugh nomination debacle and his bankruptcies.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Threatening to garner publicity is a crime? This is Althouse's lucky week.

If you are writing the Hollywood movie, Michael Avenatti will end up in the same prison cell as Michael Cohen, where they will start out as bitter enemies but end up as best friends.

Anonymous said...

I am so old I thought Garner was the middle name of a corrupt Texas politician now dead...

Ralph L said...

How long did it take to indict the CPL, and why was it so quick compared to other white collar criminals?

To me, garner implies actively procuring something. Get, not necessarily. How about harvest?
JEB couldn't even garner a clap.

tim in vermont said...

And the co-conspirator is! Mark Geragos, CNN legal analyst.

https://twitter.com/rebeccaballhaus/status/1110253645055045632

The Gorilla Channel for Democrats continues on its merry way.

Bob Loblaw said...

Is this really Trump's lucky day, or is it a prosecutor's office that's racking up charges so it can flip Avenatti against Trump?

Rob said...

Oh dear, the ladies of “The View” love him so. They should be in our thoughts and prayers today.

Wince said...

"This is CNN."

Evidently, Avenatti's co-conspirator was Mark Geragos, making both of them CNN regulars.

Celebrity attorney and CNN analyst Mark Geragos is the co-conspirator cited in a federal indictment handed down Monday against attorney Michael Avenatti, according to The Wall Street Journal...

Geragos, a lawyer famous for representing clients like Michael Jackson, Jussie Smollett and Colin Kaepernick...

CNN did not return a request for comment about Geragos, who is still listed on CNN’s site as a legal analyst...

Avenatti was a frequent guest on CNN in 2018. The network put him on air to attack President Donald Trump over Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006.


Need the pull the video on those talking heads who extolled Avenatti's political ambitions just months ago.

Richard Dolan said...

I have no interest in defending Avenatti. Still, it is commonplace in commercial disputes for one side to approach the other and make a demand for compensation for some injury (which the other side may regard as phony or inflated), and for the parties to negotiate. It is also commonplace in those discussions for the demanding party to say (threaten) that it will commence an action which will publicly disclose the evil doings of the other side absent an acceptable settlement. The defending party may well regard that scenario as a 'shakedown' but it is very unlikely that any prosecutor would.

According to the criminal complaint against Avenatti in the SDNY prosecution, he went way beyond that scenario. As it happens all of the key conversations were recorded (Nike's outside counsel called the SDNY immediately after Avenatti made his first demand for money, and the Nike team was wired for sound and video for the follow-on calls and meetings). Even in Avenatti's own telling, he had no real client and no real claim. He just claimed to have information that, if disclosed, would trash Nike's stock price and was threatening to hold a press conference to disclose it unless Nike paid millions for his silence. That's extortion by any definition.

robother said...

Those who "look askance" should beware of throwing the first stone at those who "garner."

mccullough said...

He should have just sold the info to Adidas.

Rick.T. said...

Offense can a whole lot more fun than defense.

rwnutjob said...

I'm having way too much fun with the Democrat sadz.

smartsy said...

MAGA=Michael Avenatti Got Arrested!

Anonymous said...

Is this the same Avenatti who appeared hundreds of times o n CNN and MSNBC? Boy, making enemies of Trump sure ain't a paying proposition.

Kevin said...

“And, I just love that Avenatti's chosen weapon was — in the words of the prosecutors — "garnering publicity."

Arrested for garnering? Sounds like it's also Althouse's lucky week.

Perhaps people will become more cautious their garnering doesn't cross a line.

Rae said...

"Garner" is twice as good because it has twice as many letters. And I think Avenatti let his fame, such as it was, go to his head...

Big Mike said...

It's Trump's lucky week.

Yeah, I'd say it was pretty good.

JRoberts said...

When Avenatti does it, it's called a shakedown.

What do you call it when Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton does it?

What do you call it when the Clintons or the Obama administration does it?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I thought Avenatti was going to run for president as a Democratic?

Being a criminal shouldn't stop him. D's are allowed total criminality and lies. Ask CNN and MSDNC.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Creepy porn lawyer DID "shake down" the president. I really admire the chutzpah of all the progressive Trump-haters and commenters who exclaim that Trump is guilty of "paying hush money." Paying people who have signed a non-disclosure agreement is legal. Calling it "hush money" just means that the speaker prefers to turn the shakedown around and look at it from the creepy lawyer's perspective. It still is legal whether you call it hush money or an NDA. But is the shakedown legal?

Talking TV heads don't care. Never explain. They just repeat the mantra that Cohen pled guilty to a campaign violation. My belief is that Cohen would have pled to the Lindbergh kidnapping if it helped reduce his sentence. Only kidnapping IS illegal while paying pron stars to shut up is not. Even if done during a campaign. Especially if one can show a record stretching back into the 1980s of paying "hush money."

So the next big shoe to fall will be the SDNY misadventures. How many reporters will start examining these things in a new light. Which ones are going to continue to trust their lying sources in the deep state? Interesting times ahead.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Who had March 25th in the "When will garner next be used on the blog" pool?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Be careful what you wish for; you just might garner it.

Ken B said...

See? Now when there is a delay in the comments I wonder, are Althouse and Meade having sex?

Unknown said...

So he's running for president still right? Running as an inmate in the federal pen. Sounds about right... he can claim to be the most honest Democrat in the race. Or at least the only one unlucky enough to be caught.... so far.

--Vance

TrespassersW said...

And can you guess who Creepy Porn Lawyer Avenatti's alleged co-conspirator is?

According to the Wall Street Journal, none other than CNN legal analyst and celebrity attorney Mark Geragos. https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2019/03/25/this-somehow-got-better-per-wsj-michael-avenattis-alleged-co-conspirator-should-be-familiar-to-cnn-viewers/

I really shouldn't be laughing about this.

The Vault Dweller said...

This is going to be tough, because I'm not a fan of Avennatti, but I am suspicious of this claim he was trying to extort Nike. Whenever there is litigation or threat of litigation there is always going to be some publicity involved, and if a lawyer tells a possible defendant, "listen if this case goes public it will be bad for your financially and in the realm of public opinion." doesn't sound like a threat to me so much as a reminder that there are possible costs involved in this litigation you may have not fully considered. It would be bad for American society if general run of the mill people completely lose the ability to even mention negative outcomes to businesses who may have done wrong, in trying to resolve a dispute. The government can't stop all this behavior, so what will wind up happening is that only people who don't have a popular cause will get dinged by the government while those who do, (I'm thinking of the kinds of cases brought by Gloria Allred,) will get to continue using this tactic, which seems to work quite well, quite often.

Skeptical Voter said...

This, plus his problems in California (fraudulent applications for a loan, embezzling money from a client, failure to file tax returns--didn't they get Capone on taxes?) couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.

I'm tempted to say that this is what happens when you tug on Orange Man's cape---but I know that the Feds certainly haven't acted like they have any love for Trump.

TheDopeFromHope said...

WHOA--it's being reported that Mark Geragos is Avenatti's heretofore unnamed co-conspirator! Will Jussie Smollett need a new attorney? A great day for the legal profession--a bunch of skunks and scum.

Anonymous said...

"It's Trump's lucky week."

Not luck. Reality is calling. As it always does, eventually.

daskol said...

I doubt Avenattie is a clean liver.

madAsHell said...

CNN Legal Contributor Mark Geragos named as the co-conspirator.

It was all a dream SueEllen!

Michael K said...

Garragos is also a defendant. Gerragos specialized in losing celebrity cases. He represented Kaepernick against Nike.

I wonder if that is part of the complaint against him?

Jupiter said...

Not so fast. What's the story on Nike?

MAJMike said...

Golly gosh! That's what Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton do on a regular basis.

Bay Area Guy said...

Not to pile on, but here is Stormy Daniels on Avenatti's arrest:

"Knowing what I know now about Michael Avenatti, I am saddened but not shocked by news reports that he has been criminally charged today,” Daniels tweeted.

“I made the decision more than a month ago to terminate Michael’s services after discovering that he had dealt with me extremely dishonestly and there will be more announcements to come,” she tweeted. “I ask that the media respect my decision to withhold further public comment regarding Mr. Avenatti at this time.”

Well, you know what they say, if you've lost Stormy....

Methinks, Ms. Daniels should file a complaint to the State Bar against Avenatti.

Well, Yes, that would be piling on -- but it would be fun.

John henry said...

Just watched The Great Escape again the other night.

This post reminded me what a great actor James Garner is.

John Henry

Rick said...

FleetUSA said...
It seems Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and others have been doing the same thing for year


Race is different. We can't hold race hustlers to the same standards as others.

Bay Area Guy said...

This has been the best Monday ever!

Who's the next CNN lifetime guest or legal "analyst" to get pinched?

I'm buying the donuts.

Yancey Ward said...

I do all my garnering in shorts.

MAJMike said...

Did Ms. Daniels ever report her so-called hush money as income when paying her Federal/State income taxes? Why wasn't the so-called hush money considered blackmail and why wasn't she prosecuted for a crime?

Asking for a friend.

Yancey Ward said...

"Don Jr tweeted that maybe Avenatti and Cohen could share a cell."

They can work at the prison Shotz brewery.

PB said...

The Obama administration did it over and over again, with the Chicago phrase, that's a nice little business you've got there, it'd be a shame if something happened to it.


Don't like gun shops? Have the DOJ tell banks they face a reputational risk if they continue to do business with gun shops. In so many cases, entities of government used this threat to get businesses and people to toe the line.

Lucien said...

I think Michael Cohen’s prepared testimony before Congress stated that Stormy Daniels (he used her real name) demanded the $130,000 payment. That made me think she and her lawyer were guilty of blackmail/extortion — if Cohen could be believed. Don’t know why they haven’t been charged, except for the omnibus “Orange Man Bad” exception to the law.

JaimeRoberto said...

What do you think of James Garner?

Maillard Reactionary said...

JRoberts said:

"When Avenatti does it, it's called a shakedown.

What do you call it when Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton does it?"

A down-payment on reparations.

"What do you call it when the Clintons or the Obama administration does it?"

Smart diplomacy.

Gunner said...

Sorry Creepy Porn Lawyer. You ain’t black so Democrats don’t give a shit about protecting your Jesse Jackson style shakedown!

William said...

Gloria Allred is still available to represent Stormy. I guess Stormy and Michael have parted ways. They seemed like a match but these things don't always work out......Michael has the fighting heart of a champion. He knows that there are many who want him to continue forward in his quest for President. I certainly do. He's got name recognition and really stands out from the rest of the crowd. I see no reason why he can't work out a deal with authorities, some kind of work release program where he can continue campaigning on weekdays. He will be an inspirational figure for felons and Democrats everywhere.

bagoh20 said...

So it turns out that "creepy porn lawyer" was actually being kind. He wishes that's all he was now. The other creepy porn lawyers don't want to hang with him anymore.

The guy was a freaking celebrity on all the fake news channels for months, and it was clear at the time that he was about as shady as they come even for a creepy porn lawyer.

RobinGoodfellow said...

Blogger Clyde said...
Karma. I think I've exceeded my Maximum Recommended Schadenfreude for the week, and it's only Monday!


If it lasts more than 4 hours you should probably see a doctor.

Fen said...

And ye shall know them by the company they keep. "But I never championed Avenatti!" in 3..2..

Yesterday's Hot Tip Exacta paying off at 3-1 was:

No Shame

AsIfIt Never Happened

RobinGoodfellow said...


Blogger Nonapod said...
So far this week Trump's enemies are being crushed and driven before him and there's been lamentations from their women.


I have it on good authority that this is best in life.

bagoh20 said...

He's still qualified for the Democrat ticket, maybe even more so now.

AustinRoth said...

It gets BETTER!

“Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Mark Geragos, the attorney for Jussie Smollett, is Avenatti’s co-conspirator.”

Please, stop. My schadenboner cannot get any harder!

Matt Sablan said...

Trump couldn't have hoped for better enemies.

McCackie said...

Garner is a perfectly good word with which I am familiar but alas, besmirched by a poltroon.

Michael said...

"Get" just means to come into possession of, possibly to passively receive. To "garner" is actively to go collect from different places, or to strain out from a bunch of irrelevant material. It's a perfectly good word.

eddie willers said...

I have wondered if Mr. Avenatti might be a criminal lawyer

One of the great lines of "Breaking Bad": "No, Mr. White. We need a criminal lawyer!"

jimbino said...

"Garner" sounds better to me than "get,"especially when it comes to publicity. We used to say "attract publicity," but "garner respect" might better be phrased "gain respect and "garner monopoly bills" might be "hoard monopoly bills."

"Get" is said to have the most comprehensive OE dictionary entry, but garner seems to be a verbal chameleon too.

iowan2 said...

I doubt Avenattie is a clean liver.

I agree, I'm betting cirrhosis. Alcoholism makes you crazy and stupid. He's a classic ego maniac with an inferiority complex.

(oops my bad, I read 'doubt Avenattie has a clean liver'.)

Drago said...

Second worst week in history for the fake conservative LLR crew at the Cap'n Billy "Ahoy!" Kristol's House of Pegleg LLR Intellects at the lefty funded The Bulwark!!!

Not to worry though.

For comfort they have hours and hours of Maddows "brilliant" show on file as well as many signed photographs and video of the "magnificent" obama.

And, given the inexorable logic of the last week, plenty of borscht from the homeland as well....

Quaestor said...

Ken B. wrote: I think it would be hilarious to rewrite all “garner” sentences with James for garner.

Better still would a posthumous name-change on the late actor with two Ts and final silent E.

tim maguire said...

James Garner begged to differ.

tcrosse said...

Garner s better than Glean, but in this case Glom would be more apt.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Serious question and it might be already in the comments - Has anyone who seriously attacked Trump since he declared for President, ever came out ahead?

stephen cooper said...

Shaking down Nike - come on, isn't that considered a public service by lots of people ?(not me, I am against shaking down anybody ... but I am being realistic here)


If I am on the jury, as much as little Avenatti's ignorant view of what is right and wrong, he probably walks.

But the punishment is the process, for the cowards who do not believe in due process and the presumption of innocence.

Turn it around. That is what the Democrats who wanted to steal from the Trump voters the joy the Obama voters had those first couple of years think. There were no special prosecutors for Obama because this was a more just country before the Trump-haters wrote their 500,000 media stories. They - every single one of them - knew they had no real info that Trump deserved the Mueller witchchunt, but they rejoiced at persecuting a good family man. And they succeeded. We all have read the stories of the people who hated Trump without reason, who on their deathbeds lamented they would never get to read the Mueller report. If it were not so sad it would be ridiculous.

If Trump had not been targeted by criminal evil doers, this country would have had lots of people, in the last 2 years, joyful at a good man taking charge, just as Obama voters who believed that Obama was a good man were happy to have him "in charge".

The evildoers like Avenatti and his ilk stole that from a hundred million people.

And insured that no Democrat of their generation would ever again be generally respected the way Obama was, back in those days of innocence. And if he is persuasively, by irrefutable evidence, connected to this now discredited witchhunt, it will be the first thing most people remember about him in the far-off future - the first president in USA history who tried to break the law to harm his successor in a criminal way.

Still, shaking down Nike, as Avenatti is accused of doing - shaking down Nike, a company whose reputation for doing bad and exploiting people and making huge money off of it is well-known - if all he did wrong is shaking down Nike, illegal or not, I see jury nullification in Avenatti's future.

Clyde said...

I am efforting not to use garner. And yes, I hate it when the newsies say "efforting" instead of "trying."

tim in vermont said...

"Garner" sounds better to me than "get,"

If it is used properly sure, but most of the time we see it used, “get” would sound better to a native speaker of English, and be more concise and not drag in other connotations. One of those connotations is that the writer is trying to draw attention to his own words, considered a prime no no in good writing.

Rick said...

"garner respect"

This should be "earn". But there are many uses of get or garner which earn cannot replace.

Be said...

Garner, Glean, Gather mean different things in different situations. I saw the word Garner in the article and thought, "oh, Ann's going to give an in depth reportage on the subject."

Call it a Trigger Word.

ceowens said...

Did anyone tune in to "Antiques Road Show" and see the hatchet job in progress? And we subsidize this crap.

ceowens said...

t
They had all that shit in the can and decided "what the hell", run it anyway.

Charlie Currie said...

Commenters, both here and elsewhere, have been asking, wondering, why would Trump hire such a sleazy lawyer like Cohen. Well...Avenatti. Some one has to take out the trash.

cubanbob said...

Either God truly loves and favors Trump or he is setting him up bigly. So as of todate, Trump is the only president in modern times one can think of who has actually been proven not to be a traitor which is more than can be said for FDR and LBJ. Or Obama when this FISA/Russia business is finally investigated.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Now the shoe's on the other foot, isn't it, Michael?

Kyjo said...

Somewhere, some girl named Goetz garners publicity with her fashionable garments, while some guy named Garner gets his wages garnished.

exhelodrvr1 said...

ken B,
"See? Now when there is a delay in the comments I wonder, are Althouse and Meade having sex?"

Well, as St. Paul said, moderation in all things ...

Todd Roberson said...

The misused word that really bothers me is "utilize".

You don't utilize a screwdriver to drive a screw ... you utilize a butter knife to drive in a screw. You USE a screwdriver to drive a screw.

We have a local traffic girl in Indy who constantly urges drivers to "utilize" this road or that to get somewhere. Ugh!

Easy on the eyes, though.

madAsHell said...

Donald Jr. tweeted: #MAGA--Michael Avenatti Getting Arrested!

This fucker is gonna be President someday. He just announced his candidacy.

Magnificent Bastard 1, and Magnificent Bastard 2. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss.

stephen cooper said...

cubanbob - God is setting us all up bigly if we are happy in this world without understanding that our one and only true goal in this world is to get our friends into Heaven with us.

IF WE ARE are happy in this world and right with God then God is not setting us up bigly.

That is a good phrase, I like to repeat it in context.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

How many times did the hacks at Democratic Media Industrial Complex Headquarters (CNN/MSDNC) give this guy the microphone?

Drago said...

Mid-Life Lawyer: "Serious question and it might be already in the comments - Has anyone who seriously attacked Trump since he declared for President, ever came out ahead?"

Well, the coordinated delay in completing the Mueller probe, you know he knew if was a collusion farce almost immediately and thus got the expanded scope from Rosenstein to try and frame Trump for obstruction, along with the democrats open corruption in giving illegals drivers licenses and then allowing vote harvesting by partisans without any way to check the validity of the votes led to the dems winning the majority in the House.

The left now has the template to roll out across all the states they control which, with as many illegals as they can let in, should "lock in" massive dem majorities in those states.

This will continue to march across our nation like a plague until the dems have secured enough newly manufactured votes to replace enough American voters to begin their complete destruction of our constitutional republic.

And that's when the fun will start.

I really don't see how we can stop it frankly, since about 1/3 of all republicans currently in office are LLR's and thus almost completely aligned with the left/dems on every issue (though they will not always vote or campaign that way in order to continue fooling republican base voters).

walter said...

And due to this poor Smollet seems likely to lose his lawyer.
Guy can't get a break..

Tank said...

@Mid-Life

Well, Mitt Romney is a Senator.

n.n said...

due process and the presumption of innocence

Justice without social additives and corruption.

DeepRunner said...

CPL, in living (orange) color. Adds new meaning to the phrase, Orange Man Bad.

FIDO said...

Well, I actually went back using your 'garner' tag to see if you actually had a post which discussed the word, but alas, I lost patience about the time Jennifer Garner showed up so.

There is, to my mind, a major difference between 'get' and 'garner'. One involves the mere receipt or act of procuring an item: "Trump got the most electoral college votes"; "She almost got indicted for destroying evidence."; "Bill got a lot of illegal campaign contributions from Chinese people who later fled the country."

But, while I do not have Oxford Dons on speed dial to discuss the first usage of 'uxorious' in England, I do know common usage. Garner has far stronger connotations of actively seeking to persuade people to give something, versus the far more passive stance of something which one might receive irrespective of ones actual actions. "He got the mumps." "FIDO actively garnered names on a petition to ban Bob Dylan posts on Althouse blogspot to more than once a fortnight."


And for a lady who actually chases down obscure words for a hobby, and inflicts unsolicited 17th century usages upon her blog readers, the idea that you find 'garner' far too 'haughty and pretentious' is...urm...rather out of character? Inconsistent?

But it is nice to see that you do actually have limits on your pretentions.


Michael McNeil said...

So the next big shoe to fall will be the SDNY misadventures.

Interestingly, Instapundit just linked to this interesting piece of news about the SDNY weighing in.

FIDO said...

garner:
1. Gather or collect (something, especially information or approval)

Ah. While I haven't dropped the $90 for an OED subscription (special deal open until March 31st this year for their 90th anniversary for those who ooze literacy), an oxford dictionary did indicate a more active role in procuring than 'get' which is far more ambiguous.

And frankly, I agree with the guy that when I hear 'garner', I think oily pieces of shit like Bill Clinton and Avenatti. It feels like common usage has put a very political spin on the word in America, which might not be reflected in the harrumphs of the Oxford types.

But YMMV.

FIDO said...

FROM more than once a fortnight. God knows we don't need MORE than Bob Dylan once a fortnight.

narciso said...

And khuzaimi worked with miss strzok at the sec, and was counsel to Deutsch bank. At the former he hooked small fry not any of the big subprime players

Kyjo said...

Ah!

Robert Khuzami joins many other ‘garner Trump’ figures who have one by one slipped away before the final reckoning.

jimbino said...

Here's one Garner y'all need to peruse. He explains that peruse doesn't mean what you probably think it does. And you can order it through Althouse's portal, where it won't cost you a penny more, but will benefit Althouse.

cf. https://www.amazon.com/Garners-Modern-English-Usage-Garner/dp/0190491485

MadisonMan said...

The misused word that really bothers me is "utilize"

Total agreement with you.

Unknown said...

The only way to use the word "Garner" is if it follows the word "James."

Chuck said...


Blogger Drago said...
"By the way, was what Avenatti did to Trump a "shakedown"?"

Yes. Abetted by LLR's.


I don’t understand how a comment like that passes what is purported to be a new moderation policy.

Whatever; “LLR” was a stupid epithet when it was started and it quickly became boring. Now it has become purely moronic. If anybody wanted to search all of my comments for any sign of the slightest bit of support for Avenatti, be my guest. I guarantee that you won’t find a thing.

For their part, the editors of the National Review have run so many pieces critical of Avenatti, I couldn’t count them all. Rest assured that when Avenatti was trying to do a media hit on Justice Kavanaugh, the National Review pulled no punches in hitting back at him. And The Bulwark included Avenatti in its list of Media Losers of 2018.

I think we all know that the commenter in question has a “LLR” obsession. He seems to be unable to help himself, compelled to lash out no matter what the actual subject of the blog-post was. But on this occasion we see it veer off from obsession to insanity. And that may be more of a moderation problem.

Avenatti thought about running for president as a Democrat. And he is supposedly aided and abetted by lifelong Republicans?

285exp said...

May 4 is World Naked Garnering Day, mark your calendars.

Anonymous said...

Chuck: I don’t understand how a comment like that passes what is purported to be a new moderation policy.

I was kinda hoping the new moderation policy would cull the endless puerile whingeing from the thin-skinned solipsists among us.

But adults understand that they can't get everything they want, Chuck. Hopefully we're all getting something.

Fen said...

Drago: By the way, was what Avenatti did to Trump a "shakedown"?" Yes. Abetted by LLR's.

Chuck: "I don’t understand how a comment like that passes what is purported to be a new moderation policy."

What exactly are you whining about? Is it true that LLRs championed Avenatti? Yes.
We established last week that Chuck is a LLR but not all LLRs are Chuck. Stop being such a drama queen, or I'll start up a parody account in your name over at your Bulwark Cuckshed.

Scott said...

On the Avenatti "shakedown" of Nike -- isn't this what many organizations do in order to get $ from corporations? Everyone from Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH outfit to environmental organizations -- "make a donation to X, or establish a program to accomplish Y, or we will picket your business or have a news conference to tell everyone how bad you are>"

Anonymous said...

"Garner" adds an element of earning something, putting in the effort to achieve a goal. "Get" does not do that; it is passive rather than active. So there is a use for "garner" such as when publicity is earned rather than just received. That's what I love about the English language; so many words for the same idea but slightly different meanings.

Jason said...

Walter: And due to this poor Smollet seems likely to lose his lawyer.
Guy can't get a break..


Not so fast.

Bilwick said...

"'Shakedown'? Hey, Guido, that's my territory!"--Jesse Jackson

narciso said...

molly jong fast wanted him for atty general,

Anonymous said...

Get in that sense is passive. Garner is active. Do you think it was an act of getting publicity or that publicity just came to him?