Trump is doing a fascist rally in Missoula tonight, and his goons are issuing threats.

“For all the prospective attendees to the Trump event. Come early,” [Will] Deschamps, who chaired Republican state activities from 2009 to 2015, wrote Tuesday on Facebook. “Also all you protesters, show up as well. This is a concealed and open carry state and we know how to use em.”

In other words: if you show up, we will shoot you.

Deschamps, a Marine Corps veteran, signed off with “USMC trained,” an apparent reference to firearms expertise.

He said Thursday that the post was not to be taken as a directive for people to confront protesters or take weapons to the rally.

“I have genuine

There’s disagreement – highly charged disagreement – over whether the label “TERF” is a neutral descriptive label or a loaded pejorative one. The BBC has let us know what it thinks.

That thing when the BBC calls you a TERF pic.twitter.com/rZWZnFKrit

— Karen Ingala Smith (@K_IngalaSmith) October 18, 2018

When our licence fee pays for the normalisation of misogynist hate speech. https://t.co/zmWvaiEdBc

— Yxxng Crxnx (@ThrupennyBit) October 18, 2018

Updating to add:

This image is no longer on the clip,the BBC listened to concerns raised and responded.
Thank you anyone who raised concerns/shared thoughts about why this image -even in the context of an explanation- is concerning.
I’m keeping this here because I want to – I take responsibility. https://t.co/HzYy6SsizC

Oh please.

Facing scrutiny for cultivating close ties with Saudi Arabia’s powerful and domineering crown prince, Jared Kushner has remained intentionally in the background this week as West Wing officials feared a more public role would prompt backlash, multiple people familiar with the matter say.

A more public role as what? He’s just some guy, he’s not a foreign policy genius. He has no business being in the foreground at any time.

Kushner instead has been operating behind-the-scenes to mitigate the fallout but leaving public explanations to others as his father-in-law’s administration confronts a full-blown diplomatic crisis over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

“Operating” how? That makes it sound as if he’s a diplomat or a state department civil … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Screechy Monkey on Mistakes were made.

Tune in this fall for the premier of “Law & Order: Trump Investigations Unit”

Detective: “Captain, the suspect was found at the crime scene, holding the murder weapon. He had the victim’s blood running down his arms. His DNA was found under the victim’s fingernails, showing signs of a struggle. Two weeks ago, he took out a life insurance policy on the victim naming himself as beneficiary. Multiple witnesses report that he had a screaming argument with the victim earlier in the day. A search of his personal computer revealed multiple Google queries for things like ‘how to get away with murder.’”

Captain Trump: “Well, let’s just see about … Read the rest

Pompeo is in Riyadh with his buddies.

President Trump dispatched Pompeo to the Saudi capital for talks with King Salman, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader.

“Secretary Pompeo conveyed the importance of a conducting a thorough, transparent and timely investigation,” said Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the State Department.

…

In public, however, Pompeo never mentioned Khashoggi, a U.S. resident.

The secretary of state was all smiles, his hand outstretched, as he approached the crown prince.

“We are strong and old allies,” Mohammed told Pompeo before reporters were ushered out. “We face our challenges together — the past, the day of, tomorrow.”

Pompeo replied with enthusiasm: “Absolutely.”

Isn’t that sweet. … Read the rest

The “It’s ok to be white” vote:

The Australian Senate almost passed a motion affirming that “it’s OK to be white”. This probably sounds innocuous enough to the casual or incurious observer — and that’s exactly what the white supremacists who devised the slogan intended.

Well you’d have to be awfully casual or incurious to think statements that it’s ok to be [insert dominant group here] are innocuous. This one is a product of – you’ll never guess – 4chan.

The idea of using “it’s OK to be white” as part of a far right political project emerged around a year ago on the message board 4chan.

Always a home for trolls, over time certain boards on 4chan

It all went so terribly wrong.

Saudi Arabia is preparing a report that will acknowledge that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong, one that was intended to lead to his abduction from Turkey, according to two sources.

Oh I see, it went wrong – they didn’t meant to kill him, they meant only to torture and kidnap him so that they could kill him on their own territory.

This isn’t a case of “went wrong,” because none of it was right in the first place. The Saudi dictatorship shouldn’t be “interrogating” people for writing opinion pieces for The Washington Post at all, and all the more so in other countries. It … Read the rest

The insult president.

“Federal Judge throws out Stormy Danials lawsuit versus Trump. Trump is entitled to full legal fees.” @FoxNews Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas. She will confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2018

… Read the rest

Ok he’s dead, ok we killed him, but it wasn’t murder, it was an interrogation gone wrong, all right? Are you happy now?

The Saudi government is preparing to say that the death of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was the result of an interrogation by Saudi operatives that went wrong, two sources close to the Saudi kingdom tell CBS News. Khashoggi vanished after entering a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, igniting a global firestorm over the circumstances of his disappearance.

Saudi officials are expected to claim that the mission was initiated to interrogate Khashoggi, a frequent critic of the government, not to kill him.

Of course, they didn’t have any business “interrogating” him either, if you … Read the rest

My eyes my eyes.

There’s a painting. In the Trump White House. The artist is one Andy Thomas, who usually paints cowboys.

 Photograph: Andy Thomas

Hard to say if it’s more ugly or absurd.

A few questions occur to me. Where is Taft? Where is Harding? Where is Coolidge? Where is Hoover?

Why is Lincoln the one selected to have his back to us?

What is Lincoln drinking?

Why is Nixon drinking wine? He was big on the hard stuff, from what I remember.

What the hell are they all laughing at?

Why is Eisenhower the only one in a casual shirt?

What is Nixon looking so cheerful about?

Is it a solecism to include Ford when he was … Read the rest

Amnesty International on the arrest of Gulalai Ismail:

Pakistan’s authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Gulalai Ismail, a Pashtun human rights defender, who was detained on her arrival at Islamabad airport today, Amnesty International said.

Gulalai Ismail is a supporter of the nonviolent Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which has been campaigning across Pakistan against enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and discrimination against the country’s Pashtun ethnic minority.

“Gulalai Ismail must be immediately and unconditionally released. There is no justification whatsoever for her detention or for imposing a travel ban on her. She is being detained solely for her peaceful human rights work,” said Rabia Mehmood, South Asia Researcher at Amnesty International.

Gulalai Ismail, who is the founder of the Seeds