Meanwhile, in the entirely unimportant world of foreign policy…

Lana Marks is a successful fashion designer and member of U.S. President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Though she has no prior diplomatic experience, Marks is also Trump’s ambassador to South Africa, and last month she forced out her second in command, the veteran career foreign service officer David Young. According to multiple current and former officials familiar with the matter, the issue arose following Marks’s attempts to elevate her son to a senior role in the embassy, an apparent violation of State Department rules.

That’s great, isn’t it? Wholly unqualified rando kicks out experienced foreign service officer apparently because he didn’t applaud her corrupt effort to give … Read the rest

Last June…

pic.twitter.com/JDS4zUXXJG

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019

Not a real cover of TIME and not a real cover story in TIME. As TIME pointed out.

The animation you shared is a manipulated version of the Oct. 22, 2018, cover of TIME. Here's the real one pic.twitter.com/P0WF2nSeNH

— TIME (@TIME) June 21, 2019

He pretends these things are “jokes,” can’t you pussies take a joke, yadda yadda, but they’re not really. If he could steal the whole thing and keep it for all eternity he would. He’s both a megalomaniac and a childish clumsy fool, and the fool part isn’t making him one bit less dangerous.… Read the rest

Meanwhile Evil Junior is contributing his mite.

Donald Trump Jr. posted a picture on Instagram calling Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) a “pussy” after the former GOP presidential candidate announced that he would be voting to convict President Trump on one of two impeachment charges. The picture featured Romney wearing high-waisted jeans, and was captioned: “Mom Jeans, Because you’re a pussy.”

And what could be more disgusting and contemptible than to be a woman?

It’s always useful to know what they think of us. Depressing, but useful.

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Mitt Romney is forever bitter that he will never be POTUS. He was too weak to beat the Democrats then so he’s joining them now. He’s now officially

Editing to add: see Skeletor’s comment. Some of these are unsourced. I have to run so can’t Google them right now.

Editing to add 2, next morning. Skeletor is right. A passage from John K. Wilson’s book on Limbaugh has details – someone going by the name “Cobra” put the James Earl Ray one on Wikiquotes and it spread via Rachel Maddow and others. And now by me.

The Surly Southern Liberal has a collection of some of Limbaugh’s more poisonous assertions.

Top 10 Racist Rush Limbaugh Quotes

1. “I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m

There’s also the revolting cynicism of David Brooks’s saying hey why didn’t “Trump opponents” – i.e. Representatives who think he should not be committing crimes – just concentrate on fixing the potholes instead of doing their constitutional duty to prevent the president from abusing his power to extort political favors from vulnerable allies. Gee, I don’t know, maybe it’s because they really do actually think that a president should not be abusing his power to extort political favors from vulnerable allies. I kind of hope they do, if you want to know the truth.

I kind of think Brooks ought to.

Why did the Times hire him, again? I never can remember.

Bullshit. Firstly, they wouldn't have been able to

David Brooks. Again. He tries my patience.

Instead of spending the past 3 years on Mueller and impeachment suppose Trump opponents had spent the time on an infrastructure bill or early childhood education? More good would have been done.

— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) February 5, 2020

Suppose Mitch McConnell hadn’t blocked every single bill the Democratic House sent to the Senate?

Plus…

This was *8* days ago. pic.twitter.com/9vAtMzIF24

— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) February 5, 2020

He tries my patience.… Read the rest

This is how one inspires women in leadership?? Really?

Delighted 2 share @rachel_brian illustration post regarding the LGBT community. Be curious, respectful, listen & learn. Ask questions like- 'What pronouns do you use?' & provide resources like the 'Gender Unicorn' 2 help people understand their gender expression #LGBTHM2020 pic.twitter.com/Na9nd9ApyC

— Inspiring Women in Leadership (@IWiLScot_) February 4, 2020

It says “the LGBT community” but the ugly cluttered poster is all about the T. And what does inspiring women in leadership have to do with gender unicorns and being told to “embrace discomfort”? Like, what, women don’t get enough opportunities to embrace discomfort just in trying to navigate the world, now they have to put up with people ostensibly concerned with … Read the rest

Yes I too understand why people ask this: it’s because they’re intrusive controlling impertinent creeps.

I understand why people ask this, but 1, I follow lots of people I disagree with and I think it's important to do that so as not to be in an echo chamber, plus I'm a journalist who writes often about people I disagree with. 2, I've done my time in the glinner trenches. https://t.co/OFtYg7PbnM

— jon ronson (@jonronson) February 5, 2020

Boom, 20+ years of friendship thrown overboard.

20+ years of friendship, defended him from the mob countless times, shouted down an anti-Semite at one of his readings, and this is the best he can do. Jon, just unfollow so I don’t have to

Originally a comment by Artymorty on Needs.

Here’s a personal anecdote about an encounter I had with Canadian pro-sex-work feminists:

A couple years ago when I ran an event venue I booked a women’s storytelling group and the theme of this particular gathering was something like “What makes you happy?” It was billed as an evening for amateur women speakers to share stories of finding empowerment in doing things for themselves — doing what makes them happy instead of doing things for the sake of others’ feelings. Quickly sold out; 200+ capacity; about a half a dozen speakers. Sounds great! I happened to be filling in as a bartender in the Hall that night so I was able to … Read the rest

Mike Burns at Media Matters on Limbaugh being loathsome way back in 2011:

Rush Limbaugh has a long and ugly history of race baiting. Yesterday was no exception. Limbaugh said that First Lady Michelle Obama was booed at a NASCAR event because she has exhibited “uppity-ism.” Today, however, Limbaugh acted as if nothing controversial had happened.

Mm, yeah, what could possibly be controversial about that.

What Limbaugh said:

NASCAR people, as are most people in this country, are mature, tolerant people who fully understand when they’re being insulted and condescended to. And they remember being called bitter clingers. They know that in their hearts the Obamas don’t like them. We’ve taken notice of this as has, by the way, Chris

Now Trump is hating on public schools. Naturally: schools are there to make guys like him a profit.

If for some reason you haven’t been clear about what President Trump thinks about traditional public schools, consider what he said about them in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

There was this: “For too long, countless American children have been trapped in failing government schools.”

That’s cute. It makes public schools sound like gulags.

Trump spent most of his education-related comments on the subject of “school choice,” which he and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have put at the top of their education agenda. DeVos has said her chief priority was expanding alternatives to traditional public schools, which she

Ugh.

Repeat to infinity and beyond.

Trump, Limbaugh, medal, of freedom.

There was Mother Teresa, “a heroine of our times,” and Rosa Parks, “a living icon for freedom in America.” Elie Wiesel kept “watch against the forces of hatred,” while Jackie Robinson “struck a mighty blow for equality, freedom, and the American way of life.”

I wouldn’t have led with Anjezë Bojaxhiu aka Mother Teresa, since she was an enemy of freedom and not the friend to the poor she was made out to be; the other three are much better illustrations of the point. There are humanitarians, and then there are their opposites. Rush Limbaugh is their opposite. Limbaugh despises … Read the rest

It never stops.

As #LGBTHM20 begins, I am very sad to say that a certain transphobic professor – Kathleen Stock – has been invited to give the Francis Bacon lecture at @UniofHerts. All weekend I have been anxious and concerned about this and how best to proceed. I'm in the process of posting…

— Christopher Lloyd (@clloyd9) February 3, 2020

You couldn’t make it up. A woman is invited to give a lecture, and a man takes to Twitter to wonder how he can “proceed” in this tragic emergency.

…an open letter articulating why this invitation is a problem for the School and university. This is not a matter of 'freedom of speech' nor 'no-platforming' – it's clear that

Rush Limbaugh said what now?

Just five years ago, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh went on a pro-tobacco rant on his show, during which he downplayed the risks of smoking, said it’s “a myth” that secondhand smoke causes illness or death and argued that smokers aren’t at any greater risk than people who “eat carrots.”

Smoking and eating carrots are not mutually exclusive.

“Smokers aren’t killing anybody,” the conservative host declared in an April 2015 segment of the “Rush Limbaugh Show,” then argued that tobacco users should be thanked because their purchases generate tax dollars that fund children’s health care programs.

“I’m just saying there ought to be a little appreciation shown for them, instead of having them hated and

This isn’t like other protests. This is the protesters threatening, browbeating, and assaulting people attending a discussion of women’s rights. It’s mostly men threatening and assaulting mostly women.

The woman in the pink hat is holding a sign that says “women’s voices matter,” and a large man lunges at her and shoves her. So…women’s voices don’t matter? They’re going with that? That’s what they want to tell us?

The “protesters” hop up and down screaming “TERFs out!”

They’re not protesting exploitation or oppression or injustice…they’re protesting women who are trying to defend their rights against men who demand – with menaces – admission to the category “women” despite the brute fact that they are men. That’s not a glorious cause, … Read the rest