Open Thread Nov. 15: Creeps, Tweets and Balance Sheets

Filed in National by on November 15, 2017

When You’ve Lost Hannity…: Sean Hannity has seen the light, in the form of a yearbook signature. He gave Roy Moore 24 hours to get his story straight or he’s dropping his support.

Elf Abuse: Jeff Sessions made lots of headlines for his testimony on Russia-related matters, but for sheer schadenfreude you can’t top the 5-minute flaying he got from Rep. Karen Bass over a DOJ report on “black identity extremists” and their supposed aim of killing police officers. He makes Dan Quayle sound like Churchill, and you just know it’s torture for him to be taking this dressing-down from a black woman.

And the Tweets Go On: Josh Marshall makes an interesting point about Trump’s tweets during the campaign: They provide a kind of timeline of what was happening with the campaign’s efforts to get dirt on Clinton from Russia.

On the Creep Beat:  One of the serial predators called out in the current wave of named names is director James Toback, a name I confess I didn’t recognize. If it rang a distant bell, it’s because he actually was outed way back in the ’80s by Spy magazine. The women who wrote it pseudonymously have at last stepped forward, and they reflect on the experience and compare it with today in this Slate interview.

All Apologies: Have you noticed how similar tales of Hollywood sexual predation are? The biggest difference is in the apologies. Katy Waldman wonders what we’re looking for in these public acknowledgements of wrongdoing.

What Did Trump Fuck Up Now: Lost in the creep-beat madness was the traveling freak show of Trump’s excellent Asian adventure — the toadying to dictators, the childlike awe at parades — and Digby surveys the wreckage.

Capitalism on the Prowl: Why are so many chain retailers declaring bankruptcy? It’s not online shopping, as the New Republic’s David Dayen explains. It’s predatory behavior by private equity firms, and its about to cost Americans hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Looking For the Real Trump Fans: Residents of Johnstown, Pa., are pushing back against that portrait of the town that Politico ran last week. Residents pointed out to Politico editors that Hillary Clinton actually won the town by 1%. It was the more affluent outlying areas near Pittsburgh that gave Trump his winning margin in the county, why not go pick on them? My guess: Because those higher-salary folks wouldn’t have told that racist NFL joke.

Ball of Confusion: Last but certainly not least, Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas, a strong contender for America’s Dumbest Congressman, unveiled this conspiracy chart, designed to show…something, but actually showing that Gohmert deserves his reputation.

Got an Interesting Story? Add it in the comments.

About the Author ()

Who wants to know?

Comments (14)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Jason330 says:

    When You’ve Lost Hannity… I had the exact same thought when I saw that.

    The predatory behavior by private equity firm story would be shocking if it wasn’t so predicable. I suspect the lazy media will continue to blame “stiff competition from online” for the failures.

  2. Alby says:

    Yeah, that one surprised me, because I was blaming online shopping. But online shopping is responsible for just under 9% of retail purchases, which isn’t enough of a drop to bankrupt all those chains.

  3. Alby says:

    I just saw this Jimmy Kimmel street-interview segment, in which he asks Trump supporters if Hillary Clinton should be impeached. Guess what they think.

  4. Arthur says:

    Hollywood has a short memory. if you make money you do a little time away and all is forgotten. Mel Gibson anyone?

  5. Alby says:

    Here, check out his film credits at IMDb. Do you really think 7 years of little activity after 6 years of none is a “short” period of time in an actor’s career?

    Hardly evidence that “all is forgotten.” Plus that was one incident of misogynist anti-Semitism. The currently infamous sleazes all have multiple victims.

  6. Arthur says:

    you dont remember his long tirade against his wife?

  7. Jason330 says:

    What a fucking joke.

    Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
    May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan.
    3:06 PM – Nov 5, 2017
    49,328 49,328 Replies 40,654 40,654 Retweets 188,210 188,210 likes

    Wrong shooting, idiot.

  8. Alby says:

    @Arthur: I don’t think I ever knew about it. For me, people yelling at their spouses doesn’t register as far enough out of the ordinary to hold it against someone. YMMV.

  9. Alby says:

    @jason: The funniest part is the phony like and retweet numbers. How many will be revealed as bots?

  10. Jason330 says:

    lol. I hadn’t noticed that they are identical …is that normal?

  11. Alby says:

    I dunno, I’m not on Twitter. I think that’s just some form of duplication. I merely find it impossible to believe that 188,000 people bothered to “like” a literal form letter.

    This is how they gaslit the media. My guess is that something like half those accounts , maybe more, are fake.

    Look at these alt-right/Nazi rallies — the same 200 people drive hundreds of miles from Bumsbindle, Tenn., or Stumpjump, Ark., to attend them all. All the people in that supposed “movement” wouldn’t fill the convention center on the Wilmington riverfront.

  12. Arthur says:

    So Alby, sexual harassment and mental/verbal abuse is ok as long as its your spouse?

  13. Alby says:

    If it’s a spouse it’s a matter for the courts. I don’t get involved. Am I required to form an opinion on everything you know and care about? Didn’t think so.

    I don’t waste time on this. I don’t get outraged by much, and I don’t pretend to get outraged. And given your positions on issues I’m pretty sure you’re not outraged. So why don’t you go play that game with someone who cares?

    As I said, YMMV. If you don’t know what it means look it up.

  14. meatball says:

    Arthur, you are such an idiot. Alby just pointed out that Gibson hasn’t worked in like 15 years and you counter with he did some other stupid thing 7 years ago in the middle of him still not working? Are you stupid, man? Plus, Gibson is a confessed right of the rightestwing jesus nut christian, not some Hollywood atheist. What a dope you are.