Background: "FBI Director Kash Patel defends partying with U.S. Olympic ice hockey team/Videos of Patel celebrating in Italy went viral Sunday night, prompting criticism and questions about his judgment during a critical time for the FBI" (WaPo)(gift link).For the very concerned media - yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.…
— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) February 23, 2026
The video:
Meanwhile: "U.S. women’s hockey team declines Trump’s State of the Union invitation/The players 'were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgement,' according to a team statement that cited previously scheduled commitments" (WaPo).A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men's Olympic Hockey team. pic.twitter.com/egjmdhOAF6
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 22, 2026
That's putting it very politely.
This is also polite, articulate silence:
@jcubedhax more on this later for now I’m just mad and not surprised #womenssports #olympics #hockey ♬ original sound - MaMaOfLiONs__0121
పోస్ట్లు
188 కామెంట్లు:
FFS.
Oh brother. That joke was a little sibling rivalry.
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY" meme for the win.
The minute I heard about trump’s invitation i just knew the Womyn would decline.
The FBI and CIA have a hockey game every year, and it's a Big Deal. No surprise Patel was there.
The second Tiktok wouldn't play for some reason.
If I were invited to the SOTU or White House by any President I’d go, even on short notice like this. But that’s just me.
Both teams will get their White House invitation for a visit this summer. Turning that down IS a political statement.
And btw, the women's team looks legit in their sincere response. The professional women's league is done with their Olympic break and the other players are college students who have missed a lot of classes. Their situation is different from NHL players
Why is this a critical time for the FBI?
Ok, it finally came through. Women consistently refuse to acknowledge how men joke around with each other.
…as part of the spaghetti strategy of the Get Trump crowd, it has the benefit of them feeling a tiny bit less hurt by the American success. Just please don’t loom for any historic context of leftie leaders partying at the olympics durning ‘difficult’ times because it may quell the kick of that dopamine squirt- the Obamas went in to the bball locker room without causing a global panic. The US always sends a team- Napolitano went and went to hang with athletes and you whiners never said boo…
I don't read Patel as "defending" anything. I read it as grateful. WaPo cuts were not deep enough, especially in the sports section.
as Watters said last night- since when do Democrats care who goes in the locker room? You can cross dress, be trans- A-Okay!
…and it’s women’s hockey- you didn’t miss anything. Maybe you can tune in to see them seethe at the Rapinoe hate watch party tonight on the olympic network…
Where is the concerned democrat hack media on this?
Minnesota Democrats Killed the Anti-Fraud Bill — Here’s Proof
"a critical time for the FBI" LOL. do tell hack media
Trump didn't even want the women's team to go to the White House. He whined about it with the men's team. Said he was forced to, or he'd be impeached.
So now everyone gets what they want. Trump doesn't have to pretend to be respectful and the women don't have to be in the same room with Epstein's wingman.
Can't break the lying habit, can you Kak? Cheer up, it's one of your least dire symptoms.
Somebody help me out here...exactly when was it NOT a critical time for the FBI? Kak, surely you keep track of their critical times just for moments like this.
So many sore losers when America is winning. And enjoying it all. Like normal people.
This is a critical time for The FBI because if it wasn't labeled as such this would be even more of a non-story.
I mean this is the first men's hockey gold medal since 1989. And the women have basically traded golds and silvers with Canada since it became an Olympic sport, but let's pretend Trump's joke was about hating women.
That's a great video. Good for Kash, and good for the players who know how to celebrate a spectacular achievement.
If you want to sit at home and pout, that's on you.
Read your morning NYT on that Epstein thing, kak.
Torpedoes continue circling like psaki back of you leftwing swine.
1980
I want to see the outraged TikToks now of conservative people having a tantrum NOT MY HOCKEY TEAM ! !
Kakistocracy said...
Trump didn't even want the women's team to go to the White House. He whined about it with the men's team. Said he was forced to, or he'd be impeached.
I thought Trump wanted to sneak into the women's locker room.
Did you get your marching orders screwed up? You are such a programmed bot.
kakbot - can you go kakbot on blue sky and get lost?
“The second Tiktok wouldn't play for some reason“
If you’ve played the first video, refresh the page. Then you’ll be able to play the second video - although in this case you’re not missing anything.
Drove violent crime to the lowest levels in a hundred years
Also--Patel was at the Olympics because he is responsible for security at the 2028 Olympics in LA. It wasn't just a junket (although I suspect that there wasn't a whole lot of delegation involved in deciding who got to go).
Patel is "defending" his actions only because of hostile framing and slanted coverage. It's a continuation of anti-Trump messaging.
He was having fun after a big win. He happens to be a conservative and happens to lead the FBI.
This is very much like the fabricated clickbait ads "defending" AOC against hostile attacks as they showed her dancing -- these were fictional attacks that never happened.
“articulate silence“
More articulate silence from the left, please.
“articulate silence”
Lefties look so smart ‘till they open their mouths and talk.
My sentiments exactly.
Then they remove all doubt
Trump is running the country now, and the left can't stand it.
Why are people humbled by being honored, or say they are? It’s a ridiculous cliche. “I’m being lauded by millions for my momentous achievement, how humiliating!”
Get in the pit and try to love someone!
Without knowing the full story, IMO Patel had no business leveraging his position to gain access to the celebration in the locker room, and he certainly was in no position to join in, having not been a member of the team, and having nothing to do with its success. It might be that he was invited in, but it's a bad look. I think it was foolish to mug for the cameras. He should have just congratulated them and left them to their moment.
'Attending sporting events as a celebrity spectator' is certainly a feature of the Trump Administration, and I have no problem with that at all.
"Why are people humbled by being honored, or say they are?"
I think it is because we may recognize, in our hearts, how we fail to live up fully to the laudatory words offered in praise of us. We may deserve some praise, but when it's overdone, it reminds us of our shortcomings.
Look, I think Kash Patel is in over his head and has a job where lying obfuscation and treachery is required. However, there's something genuinely human about him that is rare in his position. So Fuck Yeah. Jet over to Italy and party with the boys. The job is probably eating him alive and this will give him a new lease on my life by recharging his batteries.
Hating each other is what The disciples of the billionaire sage Jeffrey Epstein wants.
Good for Patel. Of course the MSM is criticizing him, because Rule 1 in Journalism is "Hate Trump".
As for the women's hockey, who cares? Why do we have to have Olympic medals for women's playing men's combat sports? If you don't think hockey's not a contact sport, go see somebody get checked into the boards.
We don't need female boxing, weight lifting, wrestling, or rugby. Nor do we need them as Ships captains, Army Generals, fighter pilots or infantry grunts. Its not just that they're hilariously bad compared to the men, thats not what we want from women.
Holy crap. I'm so glad I'm not one of these whiners who can't enjoy anything until the President is a Democrat. What a sad way to live. How could you vote for more of that? It's like putting Dean Vernon Wormer in charge of party planning. The reason they can't celebrate is because winners aren't victims. Hey what about that poor kid who got his teeth knocked out with a hockey stick. Can you at least feel for him? Nope, he loves his country, and no American should do that, but don't you say we're not patriotic.
"We may deserve some praise, but when it's overdone, it reminds us of our shortcomings."
The problem isn't just senility. It's Trump's pathological narcissism. Which he's always had. Which isn't so much about 'me, me, me' as about whorules the Trump. Most people have an internal sense of self, character if you like. Trump is ruled by the way he thinks others perceive him. It's an external locus of control, rather than an internal one. Underneath the bluster he is extremely insecure. He needs external validation to actually operate in the world. In order to feel 'safe' such people need the real world to validate their internal world, not to contradict what their internal world 'knows'. So they surround themselves with sycophants and toadies (Hegseth, Vance, Miller, Bondi etc), who will never tell the truth. They tell Trump what his internal world model needs to feel safe.
Why he was elected is also a worry. It likely reflects similar attributes in his admirers. Christopher Lasch wrote 'The Culture of Narcissism' in the 1980s I think, about the way he saw America going.
Ultimately people like Trump create a fantasy world, especially in their families. No one dares tell the truth, everyone plays a role (scapegoat, golden child, hero). The amount of damage such people do to families is immense (I think that's why people generally hate narcissists more than psychopaths). One way to look at them is to see that they haven't been able to become real people, adults. Their development was arrested at about 3 years old -- accordingly they tend to be very black and white about people, or in psychological terms they often 'split' others into good or evil.
What happens when one gets to run a Country? We're about to find out, but history suggests we should be worried.
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
Remiscent of Salt Bae at the World Cup celebration. Peak cringe.
People who love their country not the State (thats a problem)
Kak puts his finger directly on the nucleus of the matter. The Democrats obsession with the theory Trump is a dementia narcissistic personality. I mean, c'mon. We're all on the narcissist spectrum somewhere. Trump is definitely out there, but he is exaggerating and inflating like every other aspect of his persona.
By focusing on Trump's mask, the Democrats cannot truly sus out any successful counter moves.
Gavin fucking Newsom is their solution? I suppose it's a step up from Joe Biden-Harris.
Kakistocracy, tell us about your own narcissism. I’m interested.
After all that women's sports women's sports women's sports enthusiasm over the trans issue, we get this. All that hard work undone. Idiots.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/keith-olbermann-ridicules-us-mens-hockey-team-wanting-accept-trumps-state-union-invite
Dems double down on dumb
Keif dont know what a woman is
Fuck off Kak you nimrod. I can't understand why anyone would turn down an opportunity to go to the WH and meet with the prez. Even if you HATE them. I did not like Biden at all, but I would not have turned down an opportunity to meet him. Hezoos even Indiana Jones didn't turn down an autograph from hitler!
The next 2.9 years are going to be hell on earth for Kakabich and if Vance wins in 2028, Kakabich might well kill himself.
The Women’s Hockey Team’s Gold Medal round mirrored the Men’s game:
“The United States women’s ice hockey team won the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime in the gold medal game. USA trailed 1-0 late but tied it with just over 2 minutes left on a goal by Hilary Knight. In 3-on-3 overtime, Megan Keller scored the game-winner about 4 minutes in, completing a dramatic comeback and securing Olympic gold.”
Good for them. Too bad they’re not gracious winners.
The women's team celebrated their country. That's good enough for me.
Did I misread it? I read that the women turned down an invitation to the State of the Union address, which is tonight - short notice. I did not read that they turned down an invitation to the White House, sometime later. Has one been made yet?
A few weeks ago, I wasn't even aware there is a women's Olympic hockey team, but I'm proud they won, it was a terrific game.
Kash Patel is the big kid who wrote the children's books about the wizard (Patel) who helps save the king (Trump). He's still better than Comey or Wray.
Man drinks a beer. Save me your fake fucking outrage.
Why are people humbled by being honored, or say they are? It’s a ridiculous cliche. “I’m being lauded by millions for my momentous achievement, how humiliating!”
I've always found that curious too. Seems like it's turning into another Janus-word "contronym".
I would say "honored" in such a circumstance. I would never say I was "humbled" unless it was thoroughly undeserved, like Barack Obama's ludicrous Nobel Peace Prize, but even then I might be more specific about saying something like "You do me a great honor, much more than I feel worthy of claiming".
…and it’s women’s hockey- you didn’t miss anything.
Except you absolutely did. They are awesome and lead by Wisconsin Badgers.
He should have gone in the locker room and politely congratulated the players on behalf of the administration. Not behave like the nutcase he is. He acts like he was on the team.
The feminine gender team proudly parades for sims? Maybe a fetus... feature, baby, of the politically congruent culture in transition.
As for the women, why would anyone apart from the ultra MAGA want to sit through what will be a very long speech by someone saying how great he is - over and over and over. Rather have my tooth pulled w/o novocaine.
I never cared about women’s sports, XX-XY cuckservatism, or girl athletes losing out on “scholarships”. Sports are for men, and I’m glad that trannie freaks are trouncing dykes on playing fields, courts, hockey rinks, and in boxing rings
All that hard work undone. Idiots.
Maybe I misunderstand, but are you actually calling the women's hockey team idiots? If you are, what on earth does it have to do with trans women in sports? And how does enthusiasm for women's sports have to do with the trans issue?
I had to double check to make sure it wasn't a comment by n.n.
Patel turned it up to eleven, but the libs turn the outrage up to twelve. In the over-reaction Olympics, the libs once again win the gold......Congrats to both American teams, and particularly to that goalie who managed to look cool with a missing front tooth. That's hard to pull off.....The female hockey team is like the male figure skater. Congrats are in order, but I don't get carried away.......I was glad to see that our hockey team was pro-American and didn't go all Hollywood-acceptance -speech in their moment of glory.
There's a big difference between a woman's ice hockey team, and 16 y/o girls playing High school basketball or the HS swim team. The Olympics aren't pro sports, but they're pretty damn close.
BTW, I don't think the trannies are making a big impact on Girl's HS Gymnastics. But i could be wrong.
The girls are listening in on the boys locker room talk. And boy are their ears burning.
I had to double check to make sure it wasn't a comment by n.n.
Honestly. Bizarre reaction. Never had Althouse pegged as someone who thought citizens should be obligated to serve as political props. Idiotic take, if you ask me.
(Maybe they were supposed to show up in the interest of "civility.")
Kakistocracy, tell us about your own narcissism. I’m interested.
Oh nooos! Someone criticized Trump so you attack them personally. A bit of a cunt yourself, aren't you? Enjoy the SOTU address!
" I can't understand why anyone would turn down an opportunity to go to the WH and meet with the prez"
They weren't talking about a White House invite, they were asked to be props for Trump at the State of the Union.
Maybe you think its an honor to be a political prop at a long winded rant, but most don't.
You idiots, including our hostess, of course the women's team had to return to classes as they are amateurs! On the other hand, the men's team consists of millionaire prhockey players.
DeeDee Does Doggies…
"After all that women's sports women's sports women's sports enthusiasm over the trans issue, we get this."
What does "this" refer to? The White House immediately invited both teams, and I didn't see that anyone there belittled the women's team after they declined. Certainly nothing Patel did seems negative toward the women's team.
Ann Althouse said...After all that women's sports women's sports women's sports enthusiasm over the trans issue, we get this. All that hard work undone. Idiots.
Count me in with the people who don't understand this comment. There seems to be consensus that the idiots are the women who declined an invitation to the State of the Union.
I would call them idiots for declining a White House invitation, but the State of the Union seems like a lesser honor whose refusal I wouldn't hold against them so long as they are not rude about it.
Just asking - as I have not watched Olympics since the 80's, how does the percentage of lesbians on USA female hockey team compare to pro and college female basketball lesbian makeup? We are all guessing, of course.
Remember that joke about first prize a week in Philly, second prize two weeks in Philly......Trump has already warned that his speech will be exceptionally long. I'm mostly pro-Trump, but an extra long SOTU speech is like a qualifying round in the curling Olympics..... Incidentally, our women's curling team lost out to the Canadians for the bronze medal so the Olympics weren't a complete disaster for the Canadians.
Never mentioned by the media or the comments here but Patel has played hockey most of his life. He played in youth leagues on Long Island and was still playing in competitive adult leagues in the D.C. area. Just imagine all those racist white kids allowing someone of Indian descent to play ice hockey with them.
Remember the "she's for they/them, I'm for you" Trump ads against Kommie-Lay?
Now he can do "we're the party that drinks beer in the locker room with hockey players. They're the party that waves their dicks around in the girls' locker room." CC, JSM
the percentage of lesbians on USA female hockey team
A minority of the feminine gender transition once the female sex progresses through a viable state following conception with catastrophic climate change forced by a liiberal environmental. Some will eventually cross the puddle to garner a silent seance near the rising waters off the beaches of Lesbos.
A minority of the feminine gender transition once the female sex progresses through a viable state following conception with catastrophic climate change forced by a liiberal environmental. Some will eventually cross the puddle to garner a silent seance near the rising waters off the beaches of Lesbos.
Thanks, Althouse for clearing that up. Oh wait, that was n.n.
Aggie said..
Without knowing the full story, IMO Patel had no business leveraging his position...
Aggie is on to the problem. It would be unprofessional for Patel to push for an invite. If he was invited for an organic reason, it's awkward to attend such a private event.
This seems like an occasion that Patel might eventually think back on, and cringe.
I don’t know what everyone else is on about but from their perspective I see it as an opportunity for them to Jesse Owens Hitler on his big night. Instead they slither back into anonymity…I mean you have an opportunity to fucking wave your bits at him from the Gallery- you’re side loves that….
Freder: "And how does enthusiasm for women's sports have to do with the trans issue?"
Title IX inter alia threw gasoline on the fire of the women's sports movement by making colleges spend equal amounts of money on men's and women's sports. This encouraged high schools to invest in girls' sports as a way to get more girls into college on athletic scholarships or preferences. All this helped girls and women overpower boys and men in school and college, because sports really do make you believe in yourself and accomplish things in other areas.
And of course Title IX was the basis for Obama's 'Dear Colleague' letters to colleges, forty years later, throwing the now-female-dominated college administrations into the briar patch of tilting their disciplinary processes against men. Something they were itching to do but needed the "oh, fedgov's making us do this. Nothing we can do. Son, if it was up to me...."
Then suddenly the trans stuff demolishes Title IX. Men can declare themselves female and compete in women's sports, taking scholarships, preferences, or just a fun extracurricular from those high school girls. And in the process they can let their wedding tackle dangle freely in front of all those girls in the locker room - something those 'Dear Colleague' letters were supposed to punish with an academic death penalty.
So yes, women's sports, women's safety from sex crimes, and just women's position in society are all diametrically opposed to the trans issue.
And I say this as a not incredibly athletic man who didn't really appreciate the extra competition for Ivy admission from female athletes, and sympathizes with the lads getting expelled for girls' morning-after metanoia. As messed up as Title IX and its attendant enormities may be, it's not right to destroy them with even bigger lies forced down our throats. CC, JSM
I'd like to see the curling team take on the hockey team. Here's the catch--they play with curling stones, brooms, and finger tips. Not as slam-bang as playing with a puck, but probably easier to follow the action on TV......Curling is the poor relation of the winter Olympics. They only make the news when there's a cheating scandal. Maybe they should wear sexier outfits.
Or maybe mixed doubles. Do women have a competitive advantage in curling? There's a lot of hot girls in figure skating, and they wear minimal clothes for a sport that's played on ice. Maybe if the women curlers dressed like that the sport would attract more of a following.
The issue of trans people in locker rooms is one of the most vexing and contentious that our society currently faces. I'd like to make a few common sense observations. I don't think women would particularly object to Dylan Mulvaney in the locker room. He/she's a person who has fully committed to the act. But then there's that last trannie shooter--the one who shot up the hockey game. He/she looks a lot more like Kash Patel than Alysa Liu. It wasn't just the five o'clock shadow but the neo-Nazi tattoos on the massive arms that really subverted the feminity. I don't think many women would want to share a locker room with such a person. Are their concerns not justified? I would ask that only fully committed trans people be allowed to share locker rooms. Is that too much to ask?
Of course women have an advantage in curling. They sweep with brooms, for gosh sakes!
I hope that’s not Italian beer. Italian beer sucks.
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...
Why are people humbled by being honored, or say they are? It’s a ridiculous cliche. “I’m being lauded by millions for my momentous achievement, how humiliating!”
2/24/26, 8:23 AM
Do you think "humbled" is the same as "humiliated"?
Politics wrecked it, and sexism wrecked it. All these men had to do was not laugh when Trump told a sexist joke that denigrated the women's team, a team who had won the exact same gold medal the men's team had. I expect nothing better from Trump, but from members of Team USA? Come on.
This was a test of character, gentlemen. You chose poorly. "USA, USA!" indeed.
Note:
1: FBI will responsible for Olympic security in 2 years in LA. Hell yes it's reasonable for the FBI Director to be there this year
2: Patel is apparently a long time hockey player and fan. Hell yes he was going to celebrate with the team that won the first US gold in 46 years
Anyone whining about this is worthless
@Kak
This is what Trump said:
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that. Believe me, I probably would be impeached, OK?”
The only people that’s making a reference to is Democrats who are looking for any little thing to impeach Trump for.
The level of sexism and obtuseness among the commentators is breathtaking. Trump's comments, if you listen to them, clearly demeaned women's sports and the men laughed along. Althouse's response is that, apart from its obvious sexism, politically that was an incredibly stupid thing to do, in that it undercut the support for women's sports and for women generally that was expressed by Trump's anti trans women policy. Lots of moderate women who the Republicans need in 2026 will be turned off. You don't have to be woke to understand that, only awake.
As for Patel, his own performance as FBI director shows he's incompetent and corrupt. I could care less whether he grabs a beer with the boys or not.
"The level of sexism and obtuseness among the commentators is breathtaking. Trump's comments, if you listen to them, clearly demeaned women's sports and the men laughed along."
OMG, where are the smelling salts myrtle! Demeaning Christianity? OK. Supporting open borders? OK Wars in the middle eat? No problem. Attack ICE agents? Cool.
But don't demean women sports! Libtardism at its essence.
Men and women aren't the same. that's sexism and its the truth. And some women sports need to be demeaned either because they are unfeminine and women doing them are absurd (Like Boxing or Rugby or weightlifting) or because they play it as such a low level a HS Boys team could beat them.
I'd love for someone to decontruct and analyze why social liberals and leftists who generally don't care about sports, get all worked up about making a special place for women sports. If you care about girls playing sports and not being "demeaned" why don't you attack Male trannies who try to destroy the sport for the girls who have to play with/against them?
What's the liberal/left *real* motivation? The libtard just follows the party line. The key is to figure why the elite are pushing things.
It amazes me the lengths some people will go to be offended.
Maybe Patel missed a golden opportunity to celebrate the Olympic Gold hockey win in the women's locker room, and nobody on either side would have said a single word.
"A minority of the feminine gender transition once the female sex progresses through a viable state following conception with catastrophic climate change forced by a liberal environmental. Some will eventually cross the puddle to garner a silent seance near the rising waters off the beaches of Lesbos."
I routinely have no idea what n.n. is talking about. The repeated references to "catastrophic" this or that and abortion this or that is tiresome and, shall we say, not enlightening in any way.
Trump made fun of the Dems. Could also take it as a dig at women vs men hockey players. But it also supports the no trans in women sports. The men’s team would demolish the women’s team.
The worst team in the NFL would obliterate the best college football team. But people enjoy college football.
People enjoy women’s sports. Not as much as men’s sports.
Very few enjoy watching men demolish women in sports.
ROCEAN, The most striking thing about your post is that you say exactly nothing about its main point, which was to explain the logic of Professor Althouse's point and the political stupidity that Trump displayed.
Putting that aside, do you actually know any liberals? I am a card carrying liberal, and I don't favor any of the policy choices you attribute to me. Moreover, I love sports, especially soccer, and my favorite sport is soccer, men's first, women's second. I love the sheer speed of the men's game, but I also love watching the women's game and had a great time recently out at an Angel City match--great competition, great crowd. My introduction to soccer was through my daughter, who played enthusiastically and well from ages 9-19, and now, at age 39, plays in two women's leagues and coaches her son's team. I don't favor allowing trans women to compete at high levels of women's soccer, not because I have anything against trans women, but because it makes sense to organize women's athletic competition around biology, not gender. Based on my observation of you, I'd say you are a crank and a misogynist. What am I missing?
@Mary Beth, I never said “humbled” is the same as humiliated”. I was exaggerating to make a point. Anyway, false humility rankles me
I routinely have no idea what n.n. is talking about. The repeated references to "catastrophic" this or that and abortion this or that is tiresome and, shall we say, not enlightening in any way.
It sounds like you are doing n.n wrong. You don't read those comments for understanding. You read them as if they were a warm evening air washing over your face through your open windshield and if ideas stick, they stick. If they don't, well, even the best Simonizing job will get dirty.
Stephen, there’s nothing wrong in what Trump said. and the constant offense liberals take is really getting tiring. As far as RC, nothing he said is misogynistic.
"On the other hand, the men's team consists of millionaire prhockey players."
The NHL has games scheduled for tomorrow. They may be millionaires but they're still going to be expected to play.
Eva Marie, We'll just have to disagree about whether there is "nothing wrong with what Trump said." Time will tell whose view has greater traction with voters.
Your view will gain greater traction. The constant repetition of “Nazi”, racist,
. . . “racist”, “sexist” That takes it’s toll.
Stephen said...Trump's comments, if you listen to them, clearly demeaned women's sports
If it’s so clear, it should be easy for you to explain.
As for the players laughing at Trump’s not very funny joke, you must be more of a spectator than a participant, for, if you had been an athlete, you’d understand the giddiness that comes after a big win. You’d laugh at anything, even this gratuitous dig at Democrats.
Stephen said...
The level of sexism and obtuseness among the commentators is breathtaking. Trump's comments, if you listen to them, clearly demeaned women's sports
Do you store your panties in the freezer every night?
Get a grip, and a life
Aggie: "Maybe Patel missed a golden opportunity to celebrate the Olympic Gold hockey win in the women's locker room, and nobody on either side would have said a single word."
Yeah, no. The Left is not bound by Western concepts like consistency. He'd immediately be denounced as a perv. Frame-by-frame analysis of all video would be crowdsourced to identify anything remotely approaching boob or butt grazes, etc.
I really wish we could socially evolve to Scandi, Japanese, French, etc, standards on coed nudity. Like the locker rooms in Robocop or Starship Troopers. Especially now that everyone's gay: how do you know you're not being ogled in a single-sex space anyway? And coed spaces would help the 0.0004% of us who are genuinely trans, and scare away the sickos who are just pretending: you're going to keep your wiener to yourself if the girls' dads, husbands, etc, are in the locker room with you. CC, JSM
yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys
According to Patel, he was invited to participate by his friends on the team. Presumably there's some backstory here--he didn't just impose himself on the celebration. The players certainly didn't seem to think he was barging in.
Tim McGuire, Two teams, both won Gold in overtime. One, the women's, had a historically dominant tournament and over the years has had a consistently stronger record in international competition. In congratulating the men's team and inviting them to visit him, the President basically says that he would rather not invite the women's team, but is doing so only because of left wing political pressure (they'd impeach me if I didn't). What are we to make of the notion that celebrating the women's teams success is something he would not do of his own volition, and that only left wingers would want him to do? Just a joke about liberals? I'd say no--it's a joke about his disdain for women and women's sports. Shared not just with the boys in the locker room, but with all the women competitors at the Olympics and the entire electorate. Ugly. And as Professor Althouse points out, stupid.
"Trump's comments, if you listen to them, clearly demeaned women's sports..."
Unlike, say... the left's insisting that confused men be allowed to participate in and claim spots on women's sports teams?
"Time will tell whose view has greater traction with voters.“
I like the way you phrased it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a true assessment. It doesn’t matter if Trump is a dictator or a Nazi. It doesn’t matter if you misunderstood his statement or if there’s another way to interpret it. It only matters what view will have traction with voters.
I routinely have no idea what n.n. is talking about
It does seem to amuse him/her. Weird but harmless.
Trump's comment about having to invite the women's team or he'll be impeached was right in line with his normal Dean Martin Roast-style humor. Mildly insult someone to show your love. If anyone is going to invite a bunch of elite women athletes to a presidential event, it's going to be Trump.
Publicly invite, that is. Clinton would invite them to some private presidential events, iykwimaityd. CC, JSM
The State of the Union will likely become a political snake pit, with zero decorum and both sides trying to use the team as a prop. I wouldn't want to go either.
Is there anything you leftists won't bitch about?
only because of left wing political pressure
It was a joke--about guys and women. It had nothing to do with trans or women's sports or Democrats.
And you wonder why "That's not funny!!" is evergreen.
Also--Patel was at the Olympics because he is responsible for security at the 2028 Olympics in LA.
And also the World Cup this summer.
Guaranteed if something did happen, the left would criticize him for NOT going to Italy.
Stephen, here’s where to go wrong: “the President basically says.” Everything after that phrase is your gloss. It happened only in your head. You made it up.
It was not politically smart because the president should have known there would be people like you making things up and pretending it’s reality and the media will side with you, but that doesn’t make you right.
Trump's comments, if you listen to them, clearly demeaned women's sports.
People whose political party supports men playing in women's sports have no room to talk when it comes to 'demeaning' said sports.
Tim McGuire, We'll have to disagree. I think there is real force in your defense of the players--they were tired, exuberant, and in a difficult social situation (hard to call out the President). Moreover, there is reason to believe that many of them in fact are big supporters of the women's team. But your defense of Trump is not persuasive. Here, as in many other settings, he shows himself to be a misogynist.
Stephen. Just more personalization and name calling. Too bad you think that of ME, because I don't think anything of you. I'm interested in discussing Libtard and Leftist thought leaders and the memes and ideas they push.
And playing the dumb defense "Why I'm an X, and Im not that way". "Why, Ive supported Hitler since in 1933 and I don't hate Jews. where did you get the crazy idea that nazis dont like them?" "Why I support Comrade Stalin, but i'm not in favor of Gulags. Where did you get that crazy idea that Stalinists have Gulags?"
Well who cares if you're an X, and you're not that way? The people in power and running X and in the media are that way.
Clinton would hold meets, greets, and deal under the table. Her husband, too.
This is just a variation of "No true scotsman".
Mysogynist: “a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women”
Really? That describes President Trump? You’re kidding? Right?
i routinely have no idea what n.n. is talking about. The repeated references to "catastrophic" this or that and abortion this or that is tiresome and, shall we say, not enlightening in any way.
I'm selecting frames of reference where the target audience is known to garner consensus in their secular religious traditions.
Stephen said...Tim McGuire, We'll have to disagree.
Maguire.
The McGuires are Scottish, and probably protestant. I’m an Irish papist.
A misogynist is Pro-Choice, a person of faith who shares responsibility for relieving "burdens" of state and State through the performance of human rites for social, clinical, criminal, political, and climate progress.
Apologies, Tim. Maguire it is.
This “scandal” is reminding me more and more of the scientist who landed a spacecraft on an asteroid but all the left cared about was his shirt.
A genderist is sexist and homophobic. Both are class-disordered ideologies under the Diversity umbrella and policies of political congruence presenting with liberal license.
RCOcean II, I'm saying, don't bash me here for views I don't hold and try to recognize that there could be a legitimate basis for differing views. I think that's a fair request.
And I'm suggesting, don't assume the worst of all liberals, when your understanding of what it means to be a liberal is based only on right wing sources.
My goal here is to hear the best arguments that people who disagree with me can put forward in response to my best arguments. Sometimes, as just happened with Tim Maguire, people change my mind. Sometimes, as with your posts, they don't.
You, on the other hand, seem immune to opposing arguments or perspectives. I'll keep watching, though, to see if you have any capacity to recognize the legitimate concerns that may underlie opposing views.
“don't assume the worst of all liberals“
Don’t assume the worst of President Trump. I’ll keep watching.
I do assume the worst of liberals, because I saw what they wrought over four years
And I'm suggesting, don't assume the worst of all liberals, when your understanding of what it means to be a liberal is based only on right wing sources.
You're not a liberal. You're a leftist. And my understanding of you has nothing to do with right-wing sources and everything to do with my observances during my 61 years on this planet.
Eva, I don't assume the worst of President Trump. I go strictly on the basis of what he says and does. I think a number of his actions, including closing the border and his demand for greater financial participation by NATO allies, have a lot of merit. I think his economic policies worked pretty well in his first term, and I also think some of his instincts about the covid shutdown were right, although I did not think so at the time. I believe that there is force to some of his criticisms of woke academia and elite culture. Perhaps that's not a lot, by your lights, but it's not nothing. Can you point to anything you think a liberal Democrat has ever done well?
Narciso, Jim, Insults are not arguments. I respond to arguments.
"I do assume the worst of liberals, because I saw what they wrought over four years"
Donald Trump shot, the left: "Too bad he turned his head."
Charlie Kirk shot, the left: *cheering*
So when you called Trump a misogynist, you were playing to get traction with voters, not really being factual?
Liberal Democrat that has done well - Fetterman
A liberal is divergent. A progressive is monotonic. A conservative is moderate. The left is authoritarian. The right is libertarian. The left-right nexus is leftist.
Fetus is a technical term-of-art used to socially distance human rites advocates, activists and empathizers from their victims and collateral damage.
#LoveTrumpsHate
#HateLovesAbortion
#HateTrumpsLove
It's an Ouroboros wrapped in a congruence dipped in a wicked solution and a first-order forcing of climate (i.e. a general state or atmosphere) change.
Diversity is an umbrella incorporation of class-disordered ideologies. DEIsm is its policy and sociopolitical practice.
yes he has shown some promise,
Eva Marie, You seem to have ignored the substance of the post I just made listing a bunch of things where Trump has had the right policy. My judgment that Trump is a misogynist is based on many things, including his taped admission that he regularly enjoyed and got away with grabbing strange women by the crotch, the jury verdict finding him guilty of sexual abuse, the shameful way he reviled his accusers, the way he repeatedly mocks the appearance of women whom he regards as in opposition to him, etc......
Stephen said...
Can you point to anything you think a liberal Democrat has ever done well?
Can you?
Eva Marie, Fetterman is not a liberal Democrat. He is probably the most conservative Democrat in the Senate from a centrist purple state. Here are some liberal democrats: Roosevelt, Truman, LBJ, Clinton (maybe), Obama, Biden. Just to get you started, do you believe Social Security and Medicare were positive accomplishments? Do you plan to rely on them or do you in fact rely upon them in your retirement?
Stephen said...
My judgment that Trump is a misogynist is based on many things, including his taped admission that he regularly enjoyed and got away with grabbing strange women by the crotch,
I am going to assume you are not stupid so that makes you a lying sack of shit. That is not what he said at all. You are just trash.
Post the quote and show us where he says he likes to grab women by the pussy.
You can't because you are a lying sack of shit.
Where have you gone, RJW? [Insert commenter's name here] turns their lonely eyes to you...
Back in the 1970's, before I went to law school, I was an auditor for one of the federal depts. Travel was nearly constant to point I just left my "stuff" with a friend who owned a home while I spent weeks on end on the road, using a GSA car. We'd run into people all the time who were offended we'd drive to a restaurant to eat dinner or attend a ball game or go to a movie theater. They acted as if the travel was a vacation or a wonderful "benefit" , that we were on duty 24/7, that we should stay in our hotel when not at an office (right, those $35/night hotels were luxurious), eat at the dennys by the hotel, and so on. I have no problem with Kash celebrating with the hockey team and it looks like they felt the same. Everyone else can stuff it.
"My goal here is to hear the best arguments that people who disagree with me can put forward in response to my best arguments."
Is this one of your best arguments?
"My judgment that Trump is a misogynist is based on many things, including his taped admission that he regularly enjoyed and got away with grabbing strange women by the crotch..."
Achilles, How about Social Security and acting as commander in chief in WW II. How about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicare and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. How about significantly better economic performance since 1960 (growth, jobs, inflation) under Democratic administrations. How about what many economists regard as the best economic performance coming out of the covid pandemic, including faster growth, lower inflation and more rapid decline in inflation than most comparable developed economies.
Fetterman is a very liberal Democrat.
As for the Trump quote which, BTW, was in a private conversation was: “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
1. This was a private conversation.
2. He apologized:
“I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not. I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.
I’ve traveled the country talking about the issues that matter to our people: jobs, security and how we can make our country great again. I’ve said some foolish things, but there’s a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims.”
3. That one statement - for which he apologized - is what you base your opinion of him? Weak soup.
Here''s what he said, Achilles:
Trump: "Yeah that's her with the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything."
Bush: "Whatever you want."
Trump: "Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."
The horror. Trump is attracted to beautiful women! The bastard.
Eva Marie, I agree with you that Fetterman has some liberal tendencies; I may have overstated his conservatism, and I can see why you find some of his positions attractive. I wonder how you feel about Social Security and Medicare--are you expecting to, or do you in fact, rely on them? Both liberal democratic programs.
Re my conclusions about Trump, I did not make them based solely on Trump's statement, but on a range of conduct. Also, I wonder how the fact that Trump believed the conversation was private actually bears on its probativeness as to his conduct and attitudes. I'd say that imagined privacy makes the statement more probative rather than less and wonder why you think otherwise.
Stephen, I hope you’re not attracted to beautiful women.
Eva Marie, You are willfully missing the point. It's not that Trump is attracted to women. Many men are attracted to women they don't know. Rather it is that as Trump clearly recognizes, only the most powerful, among whom he numbers himself, can and do grab them by the crotch and get away with it.
There’s the world as we would like it to be and then there’s the world as it is. Conservatives support policies for the world as it is. Liberals keep trying to make the world into what they think it should be and, unfortunately, do a lot of damage.
Eva, Are you conceding that Trump's conduct was wrong but just part of the way the world works? Did you have the same reaction to how Clinton treated Monica Lewinsky? Plus, you are still silent on Social Security and Medicare, both passed by liberal democrats and opposed by republicans.
I think n.n.'s performance here confirms my theory that there is no person n.n.; but rather than this account represents an early and unsuccessful attempt at an AI bot before the LLM mechanism was available.
Look at all the repeated--over and over and over and over and over and over again ad nauseam--repeated, as I say, incoherent stock phrases at best marginally related to the current context. Prove me wrong.
And Althouse, If you actually meant anything by your warning about deleting for bad faith, n.n. would have been banned ages ago, because all that random meaningless content is just worthless distraction.
No. I’m not conceding that. What he said isn’t conduct.
It’s talk. Talk for which he apologized.
As for Monica Lewinsky, I thought sticking a cigar up her vagina while his wife and daughter were upstairs was déclassé. He was a bad husband but in this particular incident he had a vey willing partner. And I don’t think she was coerced. Should he have taken advantage of her naïveté? In a perfect world, no he shouldn’t have. Should men cheat on their wives? No they shouldn’t. He had the opportunity and he grabbed her by the pussy, so to speak.
BTW men shouldn’t cheat on their wives and vice versa, but I never judge what decisions people make within their marriages.
I’m going to expand on my last comment.
1. If it were me I would have gone the Mrs. George Will route. I would have dumped his belongings on the front lawn with a note - “Take it some place else, buster.” At the same time I understand that marriages encompass financial standing, political and social considerations, emotional ties. So I don’t judge how spouses deal with infidelity. Mrs. Clinton chose to stay and support her husband. That’s her look out. However, the liberal women who made a show of supporting his bad behavior, very hypocritical and in my view, unforgivable.
2. When Monica proved to be a liability, Clinton arranged for another job within the government. That’s on the taxpayer’s dime. Not appropriate.
Eva Marie, Fair enough, you don't think Lewinsky was exploited or harmed, and you don't think people should have worried about Clinton's infidelity, either. That's a reasonable position. But I have more trouble when you dismiss Trump's on tape, confidential (as you imagine it) disclosure as just talk, rather than an admission about his own conduct. Are you saying you think he was lying when he described his own actions? Just locker room BS? If you don't believe Trump when he's speaking about his own conduct in private, why do you believe him when he describes it in public. And when Trump did not take the stand in his own defense, in a civil case, to answer a charge of sexual assault on a stranger, without her consent, and the jury found that his accuser had told the truth, that doesn't count either? His denial, which he did not dare submit to cross examination, is credible to you? Or when he calls women who disagree with him, including former allies, dogs, horses, pigs, bleeding from their face lifts or from there "whereevers," that doesn't show any misogyny? If so, we'll have to disagree.
“you don't think Lewinsky was exploited or harmed, and you don't think people should have worried about Clinton's infidelity, either.”
Sorry, but that’s not what I said.
Steven,
The women Trump was talking about, whether they were actual or merely boastful exaggerations, were every bit as much willing participants as Ms Lewinsky was. So take your pretend concern and just stuff it.
And I'm paying you a compliment by calling it pretend, I amassuming you, like Fen said in his Law, don't really believe what you are lecturing us about here. Because the alternative -- that you really think he was talking about coercion, or that you really do think that the civil lawsuit about defamation was somehow really a criminal case about rape, says a lot worse about your powers of perception and reasoning.
bagoh20 said...
"Holy crap. I'm so glad I'm not one of these whiners who can't enjoy anything until the President is a Democrat. What a sad way to live."
Me too. A waste of energy and spirit. Celebrate the gifts you've got. Don't dwell on what others have.
"As for Patel, his own performance as FBI director shows he's incompetent and corrupt. "
Care to offer some examples, Stephen?
No? I thought not.
Rustygrommet @ 7:44am,
Remember when Steven offered himself as an example of a lefty commenting here sincerely in good faith? Good times, good times!
Eva Marie, Sorry if I misconstrued your remarks on Lewinsky in summarizing them. You are right that they are more nuanced than the summary suggested. We'll have to disagree on the rest. Where, though, have you answered whether you rely or plan to rely on those terrible liberal ideas, social security and medicare? Your silence speaks volumes.
Stephen said...
Achilles, How about Social Security
Social Security is a Ponzi scheme that robs we the people who are forced to pay into it.
If it had been set up by decent human beings, it would have had individual accounts that people owned and could invest.
If Democrats were decent human beings then Bush's 2005 partial privatization would have gone through, and we'd all be a lot better off.
the Social Security program is evil shit
Stephen said...
Eva Marie, You are willfully missing the point
No Stephen, you are the one doing that.
Trump did NOT say "I grab them by the pussy". What he said was that these women were so desperate for contact with rich men that they would LET such men "grab them by the pussy".
Which is a true statement.
See: rock star groupies.
The women are CHOOSING to trade their bodies for access, and Trump was commenting on that fact.
The thing that most scummy about the Left is how "outraged" you assholes get at people for telling the truth.
Greg, What he said was that if you are a star, "they let you do it." Your further suggestion that they do it because they are "so desperate for contact with rich men" is not in the text and certainly not the only interpretation. Another is that rich and powerful men can and do wreck careers and lives, so that even if they are repulsive and act without your consent, it is dangerous to make an issue of it. How do you know that your explanation (which is not Trump's so far as we know) is the correct one?
Because, Stephen, I dont' go through life with my head up my ass.
Trump wasn't talking about just walking down the street, or going into some factory and abusing the women working there.
He was talking about going into a specific environment where everyone there chose to be there, and chose to let men "grab them by the pussy".
Now, I happen to think that the legitimate purpose of things like sexual harassment laws is to take away women's ability to chose to fuck the boss in exchange for a raise / promotion / job. See: Monica Lewenski.
But the Democrats are and have been very happy to allow that kind of abuse to occur in places where Democrat men are the power, which is why Billy Bush was laughing along with Trump when he said that.
See also: Hollywood
But because I'm not a complete fucking lunatic, I'm not going to attack trump for simply stating the reality of the situation, which is ALL that he did.
Again: he didn't say "I grab them by the pussy" or "they will let you grab them by the pussy, and I've had a lot of fun doing that"
Which is why you are a lying sack of shit, for claiming he did say that
Greg, If you are going to proceed by way of epithet, rather than argument, you forfeit the right to a response. I'll ignore you till you calm down.
He answered you, Stephen. You refused to accept his answer or refute it. Then you make a transparent attempt to roll your own position back as if it were his.
You're not an honest broker here. You weren't an honest broker when you were RJW. Don't demand respect you haven't earned.
IOW, Stephen, you agree that what I wrote is completely correct, and there's nothing you can say against it.
Got it, glad we cleared that up
Rustygrommet, I have no idea who RJW is. Greg claims to know that Trump kissed or groped without asking only in an unnamed "specific environment" where every one of those he kissed and groped freely chose to be there and to let him run wild. He doesn't explain how he knows that. When I gently requested evidence, he responds with insults. Maybe you can provide the evidence that he cannot provide?
Stephen, you pathetic ass: YOU are the one under the evidentiary burden here, not me. Exactly whose pussy did he grab at one of those shows? You can't provide anyone?
That's because you're a lying sack of shit to claim that he did it.
It's innocent until proven guilty, you sick fascist, not guilty until proven innocent.
"It's innocent until proven guilty..."
Proof of guilt is not required if the appropriate jury can be assembled.
“Eva Marie, Sorry if I misconstrued your remarks on Lewinsky in summarizing them.”
You didn’t misconstrue my comments - you didn’t read them. Your goal is to keep saying the same thing over and over again. You’re so sure you’re right, why should you waste time reading another point of view. Which is fine. To each, his own. But no thanks.
Eva, No actually I read them, and was rushed and inaccurate in summarizing them. That's something to apologize for, and I did. But your surmise that I did not read them is false and offensive. I think I took in most of your views pretty well, though I don't find them persuasive. By the way, (fourth time) you still haven't answered my question about whether you rely or plan to rely on the liberal, Republican opposed, programs of social security and medicare.
Re:
Stephen said...
The level of sexism and obtuseness among the commentators is breathtaking. Trump's comments, if you listen to them, clearly demeaned women's sports and the men laughed along. Althouse's response is that, apart from its obvious sexism, politically that was an incredibly stupid thing to do, in that it undercut the support for women's sports and for women generally that was expressed by Trump's anti trans women policy. Lots of moderate women who the Republicans need in 2026 will be turned off. You don't have to be woke to understand that, only awake.
As for Patel, his own performance as FBI director shows he's incompetent and corrupt. I could care less whether he grabs a beer with the boys or not.
2/24/26, 2:21 PM
...
Stephen I assume you are a woman although you login with a man's name and I KNOW you have never been part of team sports and never been in a locker room.
Boys, guys, and men on team sports rip on each other all the time, tease each other, and act macho and with bravado in the locker room.
All of us who were/are athletes and all of us who played team sports recognize what it is. People who have never been part of male team sports are the ones hyperventilating about this. It's just guys teasing.
And regarding demeaning women's sports - I have daughters. I would love for them to play sports. But women are not as good at sports as men. It's just a fact. If you want to see HOW true this is - look up the U17 (maybe it was U15) boys' soccer team playing the US Women's team and whooping them hard. We're talking about high school kids trashing the most elite team the entire United States has to offer. Then look up the Williams tennis game. I don't remember which Williams - Serena or Venus - said she could beat any man outside of the top 100 ranked. So some guy below the top 100 said OK I'll take the challenge, trained by having some beers before the tournament, and whooped her bad. There is then the clip of the women's basketball team missing shot after shot after shot...
Not the clip I was thinking of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbKfnlXTMSo
Also not the clip, which I think is US women's vs a Texas team U15B team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iFbLMjGLwI
https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,,543962,00.html
https://tennishead.net/what-happened-when-serena-williams-and-venus-williams-played-a-male-star-ranked-outside-the-top-200-in-1998/
Keith, Thanks for replying. I agree that it was wrong of me to focus so much blame on the players and actually said so further down in the thread. Trump has no excuse, and I don't understand you to disagree with Professor Althouse that what he did undermined some of his other political efforts.
By the way, what you assume and know is false. I am a man, and I have played, coached, and refereed team sports.
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