Kaiser Wilhelm II sounds familiar:

One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. A particular specialty was insulting other monarchs. He called the diminutive King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy “the dwarf” in front of the king’s own entourage. He called Prince (later Tsar) Ferdinand, of Bulgaria, “Fernando naso,” on account of his beaky nose, and spread rumors that he was a hermaphrodite…

…One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the

Max Dashu isn’t even the only one in the past week or so. There’s also for instance Nina Paley:

As a small business in Urbana, Arcadia has made the decision to cancel the Art Salon with Nina Paley event. We do this not to silence Nina’s art or her artistic voice but because this event is no longer about Nina’s art. There are many divided opinions regarding the topics that have arisen from Nina’s personal stances on certain issues. Our small business is not in a position to hold the forum for such a debate over these issues. Arcadia was formed to provide a unique and thoughtful space for families, creative exploration, and events in our Urbana community. It

Sian Norris explains that no, “fundamentally decent” men don’t murder women. You’d think that wouldn’t need explaining, but…

I’ve just killed my wife […] bit different for you tonight I expect. Happy New Year.”

These were the words of former Ukip-councillor Stephen Searle during a 999 call. Searle, 64, was this week found guilty of killing his wife, Anne. She was 62 years old.

He then quipped: “Bit of a bizarre situation but you know, never mind.”

How fundamentally decent of him.

The joke is even less funny when you realise that domestic abuse and fatal male violence are anything but bizarre in the UK.

Across the country, just under two women a week are murdered by their former

… Read the rest

I saw this tweet

#BREAKING On the @HouseFloor, @housegop voted to ZERO out our election security funding. @RepMikeQuigley & @WhipHoyer passionately spoke to defend the USA. @HouseDemocrats broke into chant of “USA! USA!”

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 19, 2018

so I looked it up. The Post:

House Republicans on Thursday approved a spending bill that excludes new money for election security grants to states, provoking a furious reaction from Democrats amid a national controversy over Russian election interference.

The spending bill passed 217-199. Democrats’ bid to add hundreds of millions more in election spending was rejected 182-232 — as Republicans were unmoved by Democrats floor speeches decrying the funding changes and chanting “USA! USA!”

At issue

Bad bad very bad.

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1019684009897537538

Retired CIA Chief of Russian operations https://t.co/iwi0eDWl95

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 18, 2018

Reading this, everyone should feel the dark shadow of evil drawing across our country. Your politics shouldn't matter. The idea that a President would turn over a former Ambassador & help with prosecution of a man who crusaded against corruption in Russia should be unthinkable. https://t.co/OP1yVr72iL

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) July 18, 2018

https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1019704904640843777

No "consultation" is needed to make clear that U.S. will never cooperate in Putin's crusade against Bill Browder or former U.S. officials, like Ambassador McFaul.@McFaul served his country honorably. His freedom is not up for negotiation or to be offered up as a gift to Putin.

Originally a comment by Screechy Monkey on Look at ambassadors not there.

Somewhat OT, but still on the subject of liars, here’s your next Supreme Court justice:

Asked at an American Enterprise Institute event in March 2016 if he could think of a case that deserved to be overturned, Kavanaugh said: “Yes.” Asked if he could specify a case, Kavanaugh first responded: “No,” prompting laughter from the audience.

Hahahahaha. It’s funny because they know he means Roe v. Wade (and hell, maybe Griswold v. Connecticut while you’re at it), but they know he can’t say it because one day he may get nominated to the Court and have to testify that gosh, he’s never really thought about whether Roe

People in charge of an event called Modern Witches Confluence 2018 wrote a poisonous Facebook post today congratulating themselves on having banished and shunned the feminist historian Max Dashu, who was scheduled to be on a panel. No prizes for guessing why.

Dear Community,

We sincerely apologize for involving Max Dashu in our workshop line-up. Since your community concerns have been raised regarding Dashu’s trans-exclusionary views, we have removed Max Dashu from our teaching line-up, and she will no longer be an influence on the Modern Witches Confluence. We appreciate you voicing your concerns, and we apologize for not responding to them sooner.

We should have done our research before asking Dashu to join us for our event, and after