April 11, 2019

Laurence Tribe unleashes alliteration and fat-shaming against William Barr.


"Puerile" means "befitting children rather than adults; childish, infantile, immature" (OED), and as they say in the schoolyard, it takes one to know one.

188 comments:

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Well, fat shaming isn’t beneath even the best of people. I recall all the fat shaming of Stacy Abrams right here just a couple of weeks ago, or the fat shaming of George Conway.

Achilles said...

It is going to be fun watching leftists defend the stasi.

They are such disgusting people.

rhhardin said...

He left out egregious and jejune.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

@Althouse, why do you still read Larry Tribe? Is because once upon a long (looonnng) time ago he was an outstanding, albeit far left-leaning, legal scholar? Does that long-ago status give him immunity from being called what he do obviously is these days: an ignorant, plagiarizing dingbat?

TJM said...

Ad hominem is a sign of low intelligence. Thanks for confirming that Tribe is not very bright.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

How dare Barr not lie for the greater leftwing lie, and the greater leftwing good.

So say the insider Hillary supporters who were scheduled to line up at the corruption trough, and make it big@$$$$.

zipity said...


Clearly Barr is over the correct target(s).

Hence the frantic, unhinged panic on the Left/Democrats/Deep State.

ONWARD...!

TJM said...

Inga,

You forgot to mention the fat shaming of President Trump by the "tolerant, sophisticated" left!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Russian-esqe left in America seek to shame and smear Barr, for that is all they have. Stalinist tactics of fear and loathing.

F the corrupt left.

Michael K said...

Tribe is off the reservation again. Maybe he got into the firewater,

Bob Boyd said...

Inga...Allie Oop said...
the best of people...right here


When you're right, you're right.

Bay Area Guy said...

If one spends time reading Larry Tribe's Twitter, it is quite illuminating to see a once vibrant mind slowly disintegrating into madness.

He really doesn't like Trump.

I'd say, roughly, 90% of his tweets are some emotional screed against Trump.

AG Barr has been on the job 2 months. He has done, essentially, 2 things:

1. Reported the FACT that Mueller didn't indict Trump; and
2. Stated as FACT, that there was "spying" (or surveillance) on the Trump campaign.

Why the outrage at these two FACTS? Seems kinda like an overreaction, no?

Did I mention that Tribe really doesn't Trump?

I still think Senator Warren should consider picking Mr. Tribe as her running mate. Warren-Tribe!

Achilles said...

"Tribe has no shame. He’s become a caricature of a lawyer and a miserable excuse for a public servant. A pathetic porcine puppet for a puerile president."

Remember when people worked for Barrack Obama? The man who ordered the FBI, CIA and NSA to spy on a political opponent?

It is time. Obama is not enough. All the people that worked for him need to face consequences for what our government did.

All the people that still support democrats need to be defeated.

They are enemies of freedom just as the democrat party is.

Rick said...

This kind of language has a real, measurable impact on the lives and safety of ... law enforcement. He owes them a retraction and an apology."

1. It's an odd priority to concern yourselves with the impacts of words more then the impacts of the actions they describe.

2. Note the linkage of words to "safety". The tactic is migrating from immature campus activists to the highest levels of academia even as leftists who pretend to oppose it defend the practice by insisting it is irrelevant.

a) How long will that continue before we accept that actual liberals can't stop it because nearly extinct groups have no influence?

b) Campus activists didn't learn this for themselves, they were coached by radical faculty and administrators. And those radical faculty and administrators (Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn's descendants) were hired specifically to create this environment by those at the very top of academia. It's wrong to believe these immature campus activists are a unique group and others are not involved. Those activists are just the tip of the spear but as the tactics prove successful others involved will adopt them.

hombre said...

Larry Tribe has lost his mind and his dignity to TDS and Twitter.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Inga...Allie Oop said...
“the best of people...right here”

“When you're right, you're right.”

Thanks Bob! I think all the fat shaming of Stacy Abrams and George Conway made you folks look like especially good and decent mature people, the best actually!

Be best!

Bay Area Guy said...

In 2018, Tribe wrote a book, wink, wink, about Trump, "To End a Presidency - the Power of Impeachment"

In 2019, like Robert Caro, he's working on a series -- the next will be "Why the Fuck Didn't they Impeach Trump, as I Explained?"

In 2020, the third tome will be, "The Russians Helped Him Win Again? - the Lost Hope of America."

Hagar said...

I believe all Barr as said so far is that he thinks there may have been "spying" on the Trump campaign, and he is going to check to see if he is right about that.

BamaBadgOR said...

Can we use the 25th Amendment to impeach Tribe?

Lee Moore said...

Larry Tribe's tweet reminds me of Denis Healey's quip in the 1970s, on being criticised by the ultra meek Geoofrey Howe :

"like being savaged by a dead sheep"

Hagar said...

However, the reaction to his statement seems to indicate that he is indeed "over the target."

Ken B said...

Tribe objects to “spying” yet I bet he supported “plain language” laws in the past.

No longer. Periphrastic pedantry preferred to simple succinct statement.

Fernandinande said...

Laurence Tribe

He one of the tribe of "were-professors", who attack when the moon is full.

Mike Sylwester said...

Harvard needs a by-law -- similar to the 25th Amendment -- to enable the removal of Laurence Tribe from the faculty because he is suffering from a mental disorder.

Achilles said...

Hagar said...
I believe all Barr as said so far is that he thinks there may have been "spying" on the Trump campaign, and he is going to check to see if he is right about that.

No. He very specifically said there was spying.

He wants to see if it was "adequately predicated."

IOW he knows he has a nest of rats to deal with.

Drago said...

We are literally just weeks after a tidal wave of lefty/LLR/Inga comments literally and falsely labeling Trump "morbidly obese".

Discuss.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Larry Tribe has lost his mind and his dignity to TDS and Twitter.”

Hey where’s your sense of humor? I’m sure that it’s just that you don’t understand Tribe’s finely tuned humor! Sheesh, what a bunch of humorless dolts.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Quick, make Barr a Starr!

It worked in the '90's but I don't think it'll work in the full glory of the Internet Age.

Murph said...

To paraphrase: when you're losing on the facts, digress & divert the discussion to spittle-flecked argument about semantics. Whether you say "spy" or "surveille," either word suggests that the target of the attention is unaware that his/her/their words and/or actions are being observed by... another, unknown, party, that is perhaps not your friend or ally.

I would note as well, that Barr emphasized that if there had been spying/surveillance, then he would examine if there were predicates for that activity. "Predicate" = e.g., legal justification.

My inference is that he's going to look at the dossier, and/or the FISA applications and supporting documentation, etc., to see if subsequent actions / issued warrants were based on fact or rampant bogosity.

Mike Sylwester said...

Do Professor Tribe's tweets count as scholarly publications?

If so, then do links to his tweets count as scholarly references?

JPS said...

The reaction to Barr reminds me of the time, way back toward the beginning of his term, when Trump alleged - with no evidence! - that Trump Tower had been wiretapped. I was stuck in transit and saw hours of coverage on CNN, discussion panels, solemn comments by the anchors, etc.

The outrage! How can anyone, let alone a president, be so irresponsible as to make such an inflammatory charge?

(Because they weren't technically wiretaps, and, um, it wasn't Trump Tower per se. I mean, sure, we were listening in on Trump campaign people based on oppo research laundered through the FISA courts, but wiretapping Trump Tower? This kind of allegation is why we thought he was dangerous and had to go.)

Quaestor said...

Shut up, inga.

She does from time to time. At least long enough to shove another deep-fried Mars bar into her face. (ducks)

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“We are literally just weeks after a tidal wave of lefty/LLR/Inga comments literally and falsely labeling Trump "morbidly obese".

Hey you humorless dolt! I was kidding, only kidding, what is wrong with you Trumpists, don’t you understand my humor? Trump isn’t the only one who can be funny! Sheesh!

Larry J said...

Pointing out the simple truth that under Obama, law enforcement and the intelligence community spied on Trump is driving the Democrats even more batshit crazy than they already were. The simple truth of the matter is that Obama actually did things - e.g. weaponizing the IRS and FBI - that Nixon couldn't have dreamed up if you'd put LSD in his coffee.

hombre said...

It would be prudent for these left-wing morons to forego prodding Barr into proving his point with indictments.

Evidence in the public domain leaves no doubt that the Obots in federal law enforcement and counter-intelligence spied on the Trump campaign. Since the media and Democrat pols spin and lie about all that, indictments and convictions are in order. That’s what the noise directed at Barr is all about.

We can only hope that he will do the right thing for federal enforcement and for his reputation. The Democrat base cares nothing for integrity in government. It is likely that there are still blue dog Democrats in flyover country and the South who do. Barr needs to show them the reality of corrupt Democrat governance.

Drago said...

Hoax dossier/Collusion Truther: "Sheesh, what a bunch of humorless dolts."

The Party of "That's Not Funny!" and "Safe Spaces" and driving professional comedians to policies of not appearing before young lefty audiences would like to lecture us about humorlessness.

Discuss.

Curious George said...

"TJM said...
Inga,

You forgot to mention the fat shaming of President Trump by the "tolerant, sophisticated" left!"

Inga did it herself. Right here on Althouse. She must think everyone is as stupid as she is. What a dullard.

Murph said...

Ahhhh, sorry Achilles. I stepped over your comment -- like minds???? :-)

Quaestor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

falsely labeling Trump "morbidly obese"

I'd say he was "cheerfully obese", 'cept maybe for the obese part.

Lewis Wetzel said...

It wasn't that long ago that the Left wouldn't deny that the Trump campaign was spied upon by the JD & the FBI (it was an intelligence target).
Then Mueller says there was no collusion, and now we are told that there was no spying after all.
This will get them nowhere good, since people, like Carter Page, were definitely spied on, and when you remove the association of these people with Trump, it makes no sense to spy on them, either. Carter Page is a free man, Papadopolous and Flyn have not been charged with collusion crimes, so why were they spied upon?

Drago said...

CG: "Inga did it herself. Right here on Althouse. She must think everyone is as stupid as she is. What a dullard."

Ingas only contribution us to cut and paste the words of others which she routinely misunderstands and misinterprets.

The good news?

Its often quite hilarious!!

FullMoon said...

They are desperate now and scared shitless

"Before getting to the video and transcript, it is important to note how this line of questioning surfaces. The professional political apparatus, primarily Democrats – but also Republicans, who participated in the ‘soft coup’ effort are attempting to gauge the landscape of their risk by identifying AG Barr’s intention. This line of questioning is NOT organic or random; it is deeply purposeful and scripted. You can smell the fear.

Shaheen is being asked by allies within the Administrative state, including interests no longer holding political office, to do advanced query…. this is political reconnaissance intended to give corrupt officials and media allies the background to: (a) scale their risk; and (b) plan their defense narrative. They are nervous now. Very nervous."

Quaestor said...

I still think Senator Warren should consider picking Mr. Tribe as her running mate. Warren-Tribe!

Warren speak-um Tribal lingo heap good. Ugh. Many moons pass get-um heap big gig on mad-cow pow-wow.

Tommy Duncan said...

The Democrats called for an investigation. It appears they will get one.

Be careful what you wish for.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Trump sure didn’t mean to mock the handicapped reporter, he was only making funny gestures to warm up the audience. Everyone who understands and appreciates Trump’s humor knows this. Sheesh!

Lee Moore said...

Achilles : No. He very specifically said there was spying. He wants to see if it was "adequately predicated."

Exactly right. The handwaving over the word "spying" is a political sideshow. The point is that he doesn't yet know whether there was an adequate predicate for the spying. Maybe there was, Maybe there wasn't.

Which underlines my point on another thread. Barr's investigation is probably, at this stage, an "internal affairs" investigation. Not a criminal or counter-intelligence one. It may morph into a criminal investigation if the internal affairs investigation finds evidence of criminal acts. But as of now, it's just an employer rootling around to see if the employees followed the employer's rules.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

Maybe, Tribe should take a needed break from Twitter and focus on his Emoluments! case.

traditionalguy said...

Bill Barr is attracting more and more flak from the entire CIA bought and paid for Fake News Media. Not only is Bill Barr directly over the target, he has flown in so fast that they have not had time to aim and shoot him down.

Meanwhile, Assange cometh.

GatorNavy said...

This troublesome Barr fellow, not related to Roseanne Barr, right?

Bay Area Guy said...

Bart Simpson at the chalkboard:

I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.
I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.
I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.
I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.
I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.
I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.
I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.
I will never say spying, when I mean surveillance.

Achilles said...

Murph said...
Ahhhh, sorry Achilles. I stepped over your comment -- like minds???? :-)

Naw. You elaborated on it which is good.

Mine was short and was really only useful to people who are paying attention. i.e. people who comment here and are able to read. Most people out there haven't read several accounts of what Barr said from multiple sources and read the quotes and watched the videos. Some of the people that comment here can't comprehend the things they read or see as well.

Your post had a wider audience and was not completely duplicative.

Dude1394 said...

Lickspittle, frothing at the mouth democrat propagandist. Screw him.

Hagar said...

If the "surveillance" was "adequately predicated" it would not have been "spying."

MikeR said...

It's getting to the point where I have no idea what leftists are talking about. What do they mean that there was no spying?

Achilles said...

traditionalguy said...


Meanwhile, Assange cometh.

Just saw this.

This will be a very interesting plea deal.

If he makes it to the US.

Trumpit said...

I love pigs. Why don't you? The label "porcine" is an insult to both pigs and the obese. I struggle with my weight. Independent of that, I don't like fat jokes. Calling someone a "fat pig" is redundant, as well. What is this American obsession with skinniness, and bacon cheeseburgers? The greasy food will make you fat especially combined with fries and a coke. The smell of cooking bacon is disgusting. I would outlaw the sale of bacon for many reasons too numerous to list. Use your imagination.

Bob Boyd said...

Laurence Tribe, another Trump wannabe.

Hagar said...

This is like the president's tax returns. The congressional committee can demand to see them according to the law as it stands, but lacking any demonstrable reason related to its purview for doing so, it becomes a "fishing expedition" rather than a lawful demand.

n.n said...

Trump is our first orange President, and Barr is similarly colored by close association. Oh, and they both have girth around the navel. A navel orange.

that Obama actually did things - e.g. weaponizing the IRS and FBI - that Nixon couldn't have dreamed up

A role reversal, where the President spies, and the press carries out a cover-up through obfuscation and disinformation. Water Closet, here's to progress.

effinayright said...

Ever notice how now and then Inga reports what she did that day, all grandmotherly, baking cookies , wearing Earth shoes and Earth-toned clothes, and generally portraying herself as just a calm and kindly sort?

And THEN she posts here, coming off as a crazed knife-wielding harpy, cruising a mall, yelling gibberish at the top of her lungs, and looking for people to slash?

Yancey Ward said...

That's ok, Barr identifies as thin and mature.

gg6 said...

Yes, currently the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard. I wonder if Mr. Tribe's words would pass the Harvard 'PC speech code'? But he seems to have been melting down for a number of years now - accelerating rapidly since the election of Donald Trump - a sort of lawyer version of Max Boot, John Brennan and Bill Kristol. But, yes, he has certainly hit rock bottom with this ugly, childish tweet - with alliteration, no less.

bleh said...

Tribe's decline over the last few years has been very sad. Whatever reputation he had a legal scholar is gone; his formerly respectable name has been sullied by his years of unhinged TDS cranksterism. He's an embarrassment.

n.n said...

The surveillance was domestic spying, but there is a nine trimester question (longer?) if it was a moral or ethical choice by the President and Democrats.

gahrie said...

But he seems to have been melting down for a number of years now - accelerating rapidly since the election of Donald Trump

He finally realized that he is never going to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Mattman26 said...

Inga, there's an old saw about a pig in a poke versus a pig in a parlor. Context matters. Tribe wants (I think) to be treated as a wise scholar. A little different from some coarse jokey comment among friends.

Original Mike said...

Yah, that's a great idea. Insult the guy who holds your fate in his hands.

steve uhr said...

I found the tweet amusing. Alas, I forgot -- this is the season of nothing is funny.

David Begley said...

Ann:

Have you ever met Tribe at a law prof meeting?

Tribe has become a complete embarrassment. Worse case ever of TDS.

n.n said...

if Mr. Tribe's words would pass the Harvard 'PC speech code'

Politically correct? Perhaps not. Progressive corruption? Definitely. Politically congruent? It depends if Trump is indeed a baby... warlock that the Democrats/establishment can expose through a trial by drowning or fire, and Americans etc. subsequently lend them their democratic leverage.

bleh said...

To give you a sense of the severity of his cognitive decline, Tribe has pinned that particular tweet. He's very proud of it and thinks it's the finest articulation of his current mindset.

~ Gordon Pasha said...

Checks book shelf in office for Tribe, American Con Law, 2d edition. Found - transferred to dumpster.

He's still trying to regain his credibility with the left after his 2A comments in the mid 2000s in which he recognized that it protected an individual right - paving in part Heller and its progency.

Now he's a hack, if he were a physician at a hospital, they would take him off staff.

Ann Althouse said...

Tribe may have decided that there's a style that works on Twitter and he's going to use it every bit as much as Trump has used it. Civility be damned.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Inga, there's an old saw about a pig in a poke versus a pig in a parlor.”

Which one is Trump? Doesn’t he want to be treated like a POTUS? Why does he comport himself in such a lowly manner? Why is this behavior wrong when done by Tribe, yet cute when done by Trump? Should a law professor be held to a higher standard than a POTUS?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Tribe may have decided that there's a style that works on Twitter and he's going to use it every bit as much as Trump has used it. Civility be damned.”

Ah, now that makes sense! Free for all!

traditionalguy said...

Two points:
1)Insider Seth Rich's thumbdrive gift to Assange was revenge was never "hacking".

2)Five Eyes surveillance of the NSA's stored data and the loaned human intel that pushed info to Paige and Pappadopolis was done at Obama's request by Sir Richard Dearlove of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service( MI6). Those were 007 Level Foreign Spies working for the Royal family to destroy the United States. And we will learn that Manafort was one of their plants.

Lee Moore said...

On the semantics, I would say that the critical element that distinguishes "spying" from its cousins "investigation", "intelligence gathering", "surveillance" - is that "spying" is necessarily requires clandestine. Spying can't happen in plain view. It can't be open and known and understood by the target. (Though the target may be deceived by things it can see - see Gerry Fish below.)

The others may include a clandestine element, but they don't require it, and to the extent that they do involve clandestine elements, those elements can fairly be described as "spying." So you can have bits of "spying" in an investigation. But if an investigation has no clandestine element, it can't be spying.

Thus wiretapping could appear in any of investigation, intelligence gathering and surveillance, but even when it does so appear, it can also be described as spying. Likewise with "spy cameras." If cameras are set up in plain view, eg to help collect car tolls, or as a live feed from 5th Avenue, they're not "spy" cameras. In the shower head in a motel - that's spying. Even if it's done by the FBI with a warrant.

A clandestine element might appear in a number of ways. Spy cameras, wiretapping, eavesdropping, secret mail opening etc all involve some activity of which the target is oblivious. But you can also have clandestine activity, where the target is aware of (some of) the activity, but is misinformed about what is going on. eg if Mr James Bond calling himself Mr Gerry Fish takes a job with Spectre Industries and proceeds to copy their personnel files and pass then to MI6, that's still "spying" even though Spectre is aware that it has hired Mr Gerry Fish. The clandestine element is that Spectre doesn't know that "Gerry Fish" is not who he says he is, and that he's really working for MI6. And the same would apply even if Mr Gerry Fish really was Mr Gerry Fish and not James Bond, if he was still copying files to MI6.

So, as far as I can see, there's pretty clearly some "spying" going on in the investigation of the Trump campaign. Prof Halper's cosying up to various Trump team members, the FISA warrants - which even if totally legal and bursting with predicates, would still constitute (legal) spying.

Bay Area Guy said...

"Tribe may have decided that there's a style that works on Twitter and he's going to use it every bit as much as Trump has used it. Civility be damned."

True for Trump, but not for Barr.

To my knowledge, Barr is pretty square and polite and civil.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Acting out on Twitter only works when you’re right most of the time. Tribe on the other hand is a lunatic. FAIL.

bleh said...

"Tribe may have decided that there's a style that works on Twitter and he's going to use it every bit as much as Trump has used it. Civility be damned."

It's not just a style, though. Substantively, for example, he has pushed far-out conspiracy theories regarding Russia, including from the laughably unreliable Palmer Report.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I once read that the FISA warrant was a golden key because, once issued against a target like Carter Page, the FBI is not limited to accessing his communications from the time forward of the warrant being issued. Phone calls are archived in data centers, and that they can use the warrant to access the target's past communications. This would make the charge of using the warrant on Page to spy on the Trumps more convincing, since they could then examine his communications while he was part of the Trump campaign.
I am not certain that this "backwards spying" is possible or legal, though.

effinayright said...

Wait a sec: when Trump made rude comments about Comey et al, he was accused to obstructing justice. What's the diff between Tribe's snot-flinging and Trump's?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Wait a sec: when Trump made rude comments about Comey et al, he was accused to obstructing justice. What's the diff between Tribe's snot-flinging and Trump's?”


OMG, the stupidity of this comment, lol. Trump was under investigation. Tribe wasn’t. And Trump’s comments were far more than merely being “rude”. You’re a true dummy, maybe you should stop trying to be the “splainer”. You might just be dumber than Incurious George and Jim.

Drago said...

Hoax dossier Truther: "Which one is Trump?"

The President of the United States who withstood unprecedented Stasi-like tactics by American fascists intended to destroy an opposition party candidate and then a President-Elect and then a duly elected President.

Greg Q said...

Blogger Hagar said...
If the "surveillance" was "adequately predicated" it would not have been "spying."

Wrong.

The Obama Administration spied on Trump's campaign


To rephrase: The FBI, CIA, and NSA, under the President's direction, spied on the opposing Party's Presidential campaign during the election year.

That is something that should almost never be done.

Barr is looking into whether or not this was the incredibly rare case where it was "adequately predicated."

Hint: It wasn't. Cater Page had previously cooperated with the FBI investigating Russian spying. If they were actually going after Russians, not generating an excuse so they could spy on the Trump campaign, they would have recruited Page, not spied on him.

An honest investigation will reveal that the Obama Admin made Nixon look like a well-behaved Boy Scout

Big Mike said...

I am not certain that this "backwards spying" is possible or legal, though.

Technically feasible, legality unclear.

Drago said...

Inga: OMG, the stupidity of this comment, lol. Trump was under investigation."

Comey told Trump 3 times he was NOT under investigation.

OMG, you really are that dumb!

LOL

It just keeps getting better and better.

Murph said...

Lewis Wetzel said...
I once read that the FISA warrants....


It's my understanding that the type of FISA warrant issued in the case of Page not only permitted forward and backward scrutiny of communications, but also the scrutiny of communications between and among (i) Page and his direct contacts, (ii) the direct contacts of Page's contacts, and (iii) another jump to the contacts of the contacts of the contacts. ...forwards and backwards for all of them.

That's a goodly number of people thus dragged into and encircled by a spy/ surveillance/ investigation scheme.

walter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PB said...

Laurence takes the high road. What an embarrassment.

MacMacConnell said...

Lawrence Tribe has been a mouthy fuck for over fifty years, Jeffy Toobin will be his replacement for the next fifty. Leftist media lawyers are dog pussy.

walter said...

Tribe is ready for a local poetry slam.

"I recall all the fat shaming of Stacy Abrams right here just a couple of weeks ago,"
Yeah..a far better critique is that she STILL claims she won.
You might call her a "dumb bitch".

Drago said...

Murph, correct.

The FISA warrants improperly obtained by the pro-dem/Pro-Hillary Coup-sters allowed for backwards and forward "2 Hop" intercepts...and 2 hops from everyone of them.

As desired by the coup-sters so they could go after every single member of the Trump family, the Trump campaign, the Trump Organization, Trumps associates and friends, etc.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Lawrence Tribe has been a mouthy fuck for over fifty years...”

So has a Trump, yet you like it when Trump does it. We all love our Tribe/tribe don’t we?

Quaestor said...

Lawrence Tribe, the puerile prognosticator of presidential peril and parasitic panderer of pusillanimous punditry and pretentious poppycock puts perversely pecunious proclivities preceding proper patriotic pluck. Providentially, puntiliously persevering people poo-poo poltroonish persons peddling pandemonium and paranoid predictions.

Meanwhile, Rachael Maddow, the hopelessly hasty harpy of harebrained harbingers heedlessly harries her hapless hearers with hysterical humbug and hypocritical hogwash, heaping hatefully haphazard hallucinations and haughty heresies on the helplessly harangued and harmfully hoaxed hangers-on of Hardball and Hayes.

Drago said...

Its very very very challenging for Inga and LLR Chuck and the other leftists to remember things that happened before this morning.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Laurence takes the high road. What an embarrassment.”

Trump takes the low road, what an embarrassment.

Drago said...

Inga wisely decides to avoid confronting her earlier screwup about Trump doing something while under secret lefty/democrat investigation.

Very prudent.

Murph said...

Drago said...
The FISA warrants improperly obtained by the pro-dem/Pro-Hillary Coup-sters allowed for backwards and forward "2 Hop" intercepts...and 2 hops from everyone of them.


Maybe they should be nicknamed the "Kevin Bacon" warrants, eh?

madAsHell said...

The erudite professor is reduced to name calling. He's embarrassing himself, and Harvard.

TJM said...

Inga,

Do you take stupid pills first thing in the morning or do you come by this condition naturally?

Fen said...

This kind of language has a real, measurable impact on the lives and safety of ..


Don't commit treason if you don't like being tagged as a traitor.

One way or the other, you guys are going to hang for this.

madAsHell said...

You wanna make the heads explode.

Go back to 2012, and review the FISA warrants from the time frame of the second Obama-Romney debate. Romney absolutely mopped the floor with Obama during the first debate, but the second debate Obama knew all the talking points, and pivots.

Remember Candy Crowley.

effinayright said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MacMacConnell said...

We know the Trump campaign was spied on, that's old news. We know it because NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers went to Trump Tower and told the campaign in 2016, hence the campaign moving out of Trump Tower to the country club. Admiral Rogers is an American hero for stopping a coup. Our "intelligence community" leaders are keystone cops and liars. These morons that missed 911, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union thought they could pull off a coup, what dumb fucks. Listen to Brennan for 30 seconds on TV and tell me how secure you feel knowing this fuck was in charge of anything more serious that a taco stand.

Funny, leftist Hollywood has always told us a coup would come from the right, probably the military or rich oil tycoons.

chuck said...

Tribe barks like a dog and chases his tail. And that isn't even news these days.

Anonymous said...

The famous print of two Althouse hillbillies (the two ladies together in the back, one with a fan) visiting Tribe's twitter page.

MacMacConnell said...

Inga
"So has a Trump, yet you like it when Trump does it."

True, but Trump is President of these United States, while Tribe is a Harvard law prof still sniffing his leather office chair Obama once set in.

Original Mike said...

"Listen to Brennan for 30 seconds on TV and tell me how secure you feel knowing this fuck was in charge of anything more serious that a taco stand."

Is it my imagination or has Brennan lost his bark in the last few days, what with the Mueller Report coming up empty and now Barr stating he's going to look into the intelligence community spying? Saw him last night on MSNBC and he seemed less strident. Me thinks he's hearing footsteps.

Gk1 said...

Laurence Tribe is merely shitting and pissing his pants in public. I feel sorry for him and wish his handlers would intervene. His raving are indistinguishable from Cher's at this point. We expect so much better from Tribe though.

effinayright said...

Inga...Allie Oop said...
“Wait a sec: when Trump made rude comments about Comey et al, he was accused to obstructing justice. What's the diff between Tribe's snot-flinging and Trump's?”


OMG, the stupidity of this comment, lol. Trump was under investigation.
*********************

Oh really? I guess you've conveeeniently forgotten that Comey told Trump he was NOT under investiagation. That he was not a target.

And in addition, you've conveeeniently forgotten that Mueller's was a counter-intelligence probe, not a criminal investigation of Trump himself.

BUMBLE BEE said...

I'm going out on a limb here but bear with me a moment. I'd say A.G. Barr knows a whole shitload more about what he so delicately introduced viz. "spying" than any contrarian chiming in above. Obviously, the choice of words has so distressed the snowflakes commenting here, as to prove the wisdom of his choice. Cry babies cry, make your mother sigh. You're old enough to know better...
Your move Mr Barr.

Nichevo said...


Inga...Allie Oop said...
Well, fat shaming isn’t beneath even the best of people. I recall all the fat shaming of Stacy Abrams right here just a couple of weeks ago, or the fat shaming of George Conway.

4/11/19, 11:19 AM



Inga, if you hold yourself better than another, if you decry his tactics, it behooves you not to emulate them. He may not know any better or be capable of better, but presumably you do and are.

Put it another way: to define yourself not as who and what you are, but merely in identification with or opposition to another, is to lose your own identity.

Or, since you deal mostly in quotes rather than your own thoughts:

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

DarkHelmet said...

Greg Q is correct. The Obama administration through the DOJ, the intelligence agencies and the State Department spied on the Trump campaign. There is no question that the spying took place. The only question is whether it can be legally and morally justified. There should be a very, very high bar to clear for an administration to spy on its political enemies. I very much doubt that bar was cleared in this case. All those involved should be called to account.

Jim at said...

Trump was under investigation.

Trump was not under investigation, you stupid, dishonest POS.

Birkel said...

Lawrence Tribe blocked the installation of an air conditioning unit on a Harvard dormitory because it would have made his view less attractive. That is fact.

He is a monumental ass hole. Legitimately a conceded jack ass. This is fact or opinion, depending on whether you have personally met him.

TJM said...

Is Inga allowed to post here for her comic value?

dreams said...

Is it any wonder why there has been so much human suffering throughout the ages when the supposed best and brightest are so stupid. Lawrence Tribe is basically a stupid man, stupid.

dbp said...

" I recall all the fat shaming of Stacy Abrams right here just a couple of weeks ago, or the fat shaming of George Conway."

Yeah, some random person commenting on the Althouse blog is exactly like what Larry is doing:

He is making his statements on Twitter and has half a million followers. He is also a law professor at the world's most famous law school. But some commenter said something mean about how Stacy Abrams is fat, so how dare Althouse criticize Tribe?

Drago said...

TJM: "Is Inga allowed to post here for her comic value?"

Operationally, lefty loony Inga and LLR Chuck form a sort of lefty Abbott and Costello Act here.

Mutt and Jeff's if you will.

I Wish I Was Laslo said...

Did anybody read the replies to his tweet? Ugh. Talk about two America's: reality and twilight zone.

Amadeus 48 said...

Too bad about Larry Tribe’s dementia. He seems to have lost the ability to process fairly straightforward information.

exhelodrvr1 said...

On a not completely unrelated subject - are the Democrats, in particular the candidates, going to have enough courage to criticize the 9/11-related comments of Omar, AOC, and Tlaib?

chickelit said...

“Trump sure didn’t mean to mock the handicapped reporter, he was only making funny gestures to warm up the audience. Everyone who understands and appreciates Trump’s humor knows this. Sheesh!“

Every single time I hear this one I bring up the time that Hillary mocked epileptics by faking seizures.b

Skipper said...

That ol' nerve sure must be ahurtin'.

Jon Burack said...

Yes, I Wish I Was Laslo, I did read them. Terrifying, really. I keep thinking we've reached the end - for instance, with the clear cut conclusions of the Mueller Report. Won't that lead people to give it a rest, I thought to myself? No. These people cannot let go. They cling to Barr now as to a board or broken deck chair even as the ship itself sinks beneath the sea. Pitiable.

Achilles said...

TJM said...
Is Inga allowed to post here for her comic value?

There is no reason to ban Inga or to keep her from speaking.

Don't be like them.

There is nothing to be afraid of letting her speak here.

Achilles said...

chickelit said...
“Trump sure didn’t mean to mock the handicapped reporter, he was only making funny gestures to warm up the audience. Everyone who understands and appreciates Trump’s humor knows this. Sheesh!“

Every single time I hear this one I bring up the time that Hillary mocked epileptics by faking seizures.

Now that is some good shit.

I am stealing that.

Molly said...

(eaglebeak)

Harvard is a dump, and it's been a dump for a long time. Its political correctness is of course legendary.

So is its grade inflation.

Its divinity school is pretty much 100% atheist--no problem having some atheists at a divinity school, but come on. Yale Divinity School differentiates itself by saying "At least we still believe in God."

A cousin of mine wrote a scathing book called Harvard's Secret Court on Harvard's policy of hounding homosexual students (to the point of suicide) in the 1920s.

Tribe has a checkered career too, including a spot of plagiarism discovered in 2004 but involving a 1985 book, and of course his deranged TDS. Plus he now seems to be sliding into dementia, although that could just be the deleterious effects of his TDS.

steve uhr said...

You can say what you want about Tribe, but he is as sharp as ever. Look at one of his recent talks on his new book To End A Presidency, in which he does not recommend that Trump be impeached.

I'm sorry his tweet seems to have upset so many of you so deeply. Maybe tomorrow will bring more sunshine and butterflies.

Bay Area Guy said...

I really hope Professor Tribe reads this post, reads the comments and offers a reply.

The man is stuck in a bubble, and descending into madness.

We might be his only hope.

mccullough said...

Tribe is still upset with Obama.

Tribe trashed Sotomayor’s nomination privately to Obama in a letter.

Obama then leaked the letter. It was a great move.

Tribe is a bush league player. He called himself Obama’s mentor. Obama sizes up Tribe in 20 seconds as the White Liberal Douchebag he is.

And Barr is one of those fat guys who looks better fat. So you can’t shame him on this.

ELC said...

What's the saying?.... You get more flak the closer you get to the target.

Michael K said...

but he is as sharp as ever.

Yeah, that is what we are talking about. Too bad he is a nut,

readering said...

Yeah, personal insults never a good look, including on this site.

Static Ping said...

What's the point of this? It is already established that Tribe has lost whatever dignity he had left. These days he comes across as a second rate Twitter troll. Am I supposed to gawk? Okay then, I have paid my 50 cents and have formally gawked. The bearded lady is probably more interesting so now I'm moving down the midway.

Bay Area Guy said...

I would suggest that Professor Tribe and even a few folks here, read this article by Eli Lake, Focus on the Leaking, Not Just the Spying.

Ya might just learn a thing or 2.

Money quote:

Barr is correct on both counts — that there was snooping on the Trump campaign, and that the question of whether it was justified deserves further scrutiny. What also deserves scrutiny is how an ongoing intelligence investigation into that campaign became public.

Short Answer: It became public because several fuckheads started spreading the Fake Steele Dossier around to various news organizations, and then started strategically leaking some of the fruits of the spying, oops, I mean, surveillance, to these news outlets as well.

Anonymous said...

steve uhr: You can say what you want about Tribe, but he is as sharp as ever.

I see steve uhr is as sharp as ever, too.

WA-mom said...

His alliteration totally reminds me of Spiro Agnew, Nixon's first VP. He famously called the press nattering nabobs of negativism.
I just learned when googling that the phrase was written by William Safire.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Don't commit treason if you don't like being tagged as a traitor.

One way or the other, you guys are going to hang for this.”

What hysteria!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I'm sorry his tweet seems to have upset so many of you so deeply. Maybe tomorrow will bring more sunshine and butterflies.”

They sound hysterical.

h said...

More Spiro Agnew: "An effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals." Timeless?? (That's where I learned what "effete" means -- it's not a synonym for snobbish.)

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Is it any wonder why there has been so much human suffering throughout the ages when the supposed best and brightest are so stupid. Lawrence Tribe is basically a stupid man, stupid.”

So, what is Trump’s excuse? Or do you not expect the POTUS to be among the best and the brightest? Why do you expect more from a law professor than you do from a POTUS?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Legitimately a conceded jack ass.”

Birkel is channeling Trump...

LOL

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."”

Indeed. This is partly why I post here daily, to point out to you folks what you’ve become.

FullMoon said...
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FullMoon said...
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FullMoon said...
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narciso said...

john schindler is still crazy, like john nash without the gravitas, same for susan Hennessey his colleague at the puzzle palace, as with tom Nichols his former colleague at the war college, I'm guessing where they came with tommy lee jones villain in under siege,

Maillard Reactionary said...

Butt-hurt much, Larry?

The Great Tantrum continues.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Or do you not expect the POTUS to be among the best and the brightest?"

Trying to think of an instance since Jefferson....

Still trying...

Wait!...no...I'll have to get back to you....

Anonymous said...

Who ever would have thought that Larry Tribe would become a conspiracy theorist in his old age?

M Jordan said...

Barr has now entered “Trump Zone.” It is a place where all masks are removed, all fake civility expunged. In “Trump Zone” there is not right or wrong, there is Trump. Just Trump. Trump is Ozymandias. He is a mountain. Trump is a mirror which faces every person, A few who enter Trump Zone come out improved, hardened, better. Many are broken there (See Kathy Griffith).

We shall see how Barr reacts to Trump Zone but we can be sure he will leave it a different man than he entered.

Birkel said...

Who would have thought a Leftist Collectivist might not be resistant to conspiracy theories?

Answer: Anybody with clear eyes.

narciso said...

its more like the phantom zone, but the same point obtains, bugliosi had similar level of derangement with w, stemming from florida, and going stark raving to accusing him of planning mass murder with casualties in Iraq,

Robert Marshall said...

Tribe denies that the Government "spied" on the Trump campaign?

Well, let's see. They filed an application under the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act", to eavesdrop on a campaign staffer, for the purpose of determining if that person was acting as an agent for a foreign intelligence service.

And "spying" is supposed to overstate the gravity of what they did?

Dad29 said...

Talk about a guy whose time has passed AND who has been passed over by everyone....Lawrence Tribe. So he's still alive, eh?

Bay Area Guy said...

Professor Tribe accelerates his descent into madness:

"It’s hard to call someone in Trump’s orbit even more dishonorable than Trump himself, but Bill Barr might meet that test: unlike the totally unmoored and immoral Trump, this Attorney General clearly knows better. He has to know how badly he is betraying the rule of law."

Tone-wise, Tribe is less unhinged. But substance-wise, the Attorney General of the United States "betray[ed] the rule of law," because he said there was "spying" on the Trump campaign rather than "surveillance" on the Trump campaign.

Parsing a single word becomes betraying the rule of law. Yeah, that's a coherent charge.

Tribe is so far lost, he needs a compass. The guy just needs to stick to his Emolument litigation or read Dershowitz' book.

Michael K said...

bugliosi had similar level of derangement with w, <

That was disappointing as I had read his two previous books and liked them.

What is it with LA prosecutors? I worry about Patterico.

Lucien said...

It has not been a good year, maybe not even a good decade, for the credibility of law professors.

buwaya said...

One man means nothing.
One man however, in combination with many more, is a sample of a greater whole.
A sample giving an idea of the general state of the whole.

In this case there is excellent reason to think that Tribe's opinions, in combination with the vast number of other very similar other ones, amounts to a representative sample of the state of mind of their institutions, that is, in this case, Harvard, and the other parts of the intellectual commanding heights.

Which is exactly why I despair. What should be the American brain, even the legacy segment of such old men as Tribe, is quite broken, and knowing what is in the pipeline to replace Tribe, one knows for certain that there is no improvement coming for a generation or two. Indeed there is a guaranteed devolution.

The people that will be inheriting the positions and authority to dictate the thinking of your leaders for the next two generations will be a horde of freaks.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...


Trump sure didn’t mean to mock the handicapped reporter

I’ll give you partial credit for that answer. Trump was purposely mocking the reporter, but not for his “handicap” (as you so crudely put it) but for the weaselly way the reporter suddenly declaimed he “didn’t stand behind” (probably another handicap joke lurking there for Inga) his own article because Trump had cited it and AGREED with the article. The reporter was a jerk. Trump is not going to treat a guy special or with kid gloves just because of a perceived disability. Trump made fun if him with exactly the same gestures and “Oh my!” vocalizations he had used to mock a general the week before, for the same weaselly behavior. He was mocking the film flammery. Only you humorless scolds have to continually lie and smear Trump.

Rusty said...

"Indeed. This is partly why I post here daily, to point out to you folks what you’ve become."
Spoken without a trace of irony or introspection.

TJM said...

Achilles,

I think Drago summed it up nicely re Inga. She is as off base as Marcy Kingston over at Hot Air

Michael K said...

knowing what is in the pipeline to replace Tribe,

There is some hope. Kim Kardashian plans to take the Bar exam.

Fen said...

Uhr: , but he is as sharp as ever... he does not recommend that Trump be impeached.

Needs a sarcasm tag. People might think you are being stupid.

Fen said...

Inga: So, what is Trump’s excuse? Or do you not expect the POTUS to be among the best and the brightest?

How come your best and brightest keep getting their heads handed to them by Trump?

The Gipper Lives said...

What does FISA stand for?

Fen said...

Trump sure didn’t mean to mock the handicapped reporter, he was only making funny gestures to warm up the audience. Everyone who understands and appreciates Trump’s humor knows this. Sheesh!“

You need to explain away the video of Trump using the SAME funny gestures to mock a different reporter BEFORE the handicapped asshole incident.

You won't, because you are a dishonest pos.

Mark O said...

A nattering nabob of negativism.

A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as "intellectuals".

There is nothing new under the sun.

Fen said...

Gipper, FISA stands for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Mark O said...

We can, however, thank Tribe for bringing lycanthropy out of the closet.

FIDO said...

It has not been a good year, maybe not even a good decade, for the credibility of law professors.


Not since the Kavanaugh Hearing.

narciso said...

Florida. Intelligence surveillance act, its Joe Bidens baby.

TJM said...

Inga,

Your guy, Obama, makes empty suits look bad. Did anyone ever tell him that Austrians don't speak "Austrian?"

Known Unknown said...

"Trump is a mirror which faces every person,"

This is brilliant.

Saint Croix said...

White male!

It must suck to think, for most of your life, "I should sit on the Supreme Court."

And then one day you realize, "I will never sit on the Supreme Court."

And it's your damn ideology that keeps you off the Court. I mean, clearly the Republicans aren't on board with your genius. And maybe some liberals would be. Except, you know...

White male!

And your damn ideology approves of you being kept off the Supreme Court. That's got to suck.

Crazy World said...

12:09 whole lotta splaing Funniest thing I have read in a long time, once today at work LAUGHED OUT LOUD and again tonight. CHEERS!

Nichevo said...


Inga...Allie Oop said...
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."”

Indeed. This is partly why I post here daily, to point out to you folks what you’ve become.

4/11/19, 4:44 PM


No, Inga, the thing is, you're only showing us what YOU have become.

Greg Q said...

Inga: So, what is Trump’s excuse? Or do you not expect the POTUS to be among the best and the brightest?


Why?

The last US President who was among the "best and brightest" was Thomas Jefferson.

Obama was a corrupt idiot whose only remotely positive qualities were his ability to scam people. Clinton, both of them, were about as far from "best" as one could get.

I could go on. But you've got an incredibly screwed up definition of "best and brightest".

Greg Q said...

Ace of Spades has a nice rundown of all the times the MSM called "domestic surveillance by the US Gov't" "spying".

It's quite amusing what various people have found:

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/380836.php

Chris Matthewson said...

Barr's claim that the president's campaign was spied upon is just the distraction our Liar-in-chief needed. He will twist the allegation into another Big Lie, feeding conspiracy theories and ultimately the polarization of America. Trump has now found his Roy Cohn, and we are in the midst of a constitutional crisis that history will judge to be more serious than the McCarthy era.

Chris Matthewson said...

Barr's claim that the president's campaign was spied upon is just the distraction our Liar-in-chief needed. He will twist the allegation into another Big Lie, feeding conspiracy theories and ultimately the polarization of America. Trump has now found his Roy Cohn, and we are in the midst of a constitutional crisis that history will judge to be more serious than the McCarthy era.

Phunctor said...

Blogger Inga...Allie Oop said...
“Larry Tribe has lost his mind and his dignity to TDS and Twitter.”

Hey where’s your sense of humor? I’m sure that it’s just that you don’t understand Tribe’s finely tuned humor! Sheesh, what a bunch of humorless dolts.

nobody does self-parody brtter than Our Inga!

Nichevo said...

Also, Thomas Jefferson had many dubious qualities. He devastated the Navy, took it upon himself to bowdlerize the Bible, violated the Constitution with the Louisiana Purchase, and his conduct towards his slaves was not without reproach. Plus he vacillated. One day newspapers were more important than government, the next they were the source of all misinformation.

So, perhaps not the polar opposite of President Trump. Not that PDJT did any or all of those things, but the point is that even our foundational heroes may be found to have their smirches. I believe that even George Washington himself was known to fudge his expense accounts.