The Immoral Minority

Website is a success!

2018-05-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

For those of you wondering, the Wordpress website went offline due to an overabundance of traffic.

My web designer, who builds websites for a living, told me that he has NEVER seen that happen before, and certainly never on the first day!

We have already hit numbers that make the performance here on Blogspot pale by comparison.

Not in the old days perhaps, but at least for the last year or so.

Having said that I want to thank all of you for your many years of support, and for the incredible success of today. Even with all of those setbacks.

We are still tweaking the new site, and hopefully you will soon come to see it as your new home, much like this has felt like home for so many wonderful years.

Trump's former doctor gets raided by Trump's former bodyguard. Feels "raped."

2018-05-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of NBC News:

In February 2017, a top White House aide who was Trump's longtime personal bodyguard, along with the top lawyer at the Trump Organization and a third man, showed up at the office of Trump's New York doctor without notice and took all the president's medical records.

The incident, which Dr. Harold Bornstein described as a "raid," took place two days after Bornstein told a newspaper that he had prescribed a hair growth medicine for the president for years.

In an exclusive interview in his Park Avenue office, Bornstein told NBC News that he felt "raped, frightened and sad" when Keith Schiller and another "large man" came to his office to collect the president's records on the morning of Feb. 3, 2017. At the time, Schiller, who had long worked as Trump's bodyguard, was serving as director of Oval Office operations at the White House.

"They must have been here for 25 or 30 minutes. It created a lot of chaos," Bornstein said, who described the incident as frightening.

According to Bornstein Trump cut ties with him after he blabbed to the press about Trump taking Propecia, which is a drug to prevent hair loss.

Too bad he wasn't on a medication to prevent asshole-itis.

According to Dr. Feelgood, the thugs made off with all of Trump's records, lab results, and charts.

Even the ones under his many aliases.

That's right, Trump even uses aliases when he visits his own doctor.

Apparently Bornstein also told the papers that he wanted to be the White House physician, but when Trump heard about it he had his long time assistant call to deliver the bad news:

"So you wanted to be the White House doctor? Forget it, you're out.' "

Oh these people are ice cold.

Pack your things kids! IM has moved!

2018-04-30T23:30:00.000-08:00

So finally, after much planning, and a ton of stops and starts, The Immoral Minority is making the big move.

(Yeah, I know it took awhile but, hey I've been busy.)

From this point on to find all of your Immoral Minority snark, political commentary, and Sarah Palin updates you need to go here to our new home.

It is sleeker, it is more user friendly, and of course it has that all important new website smell.

So update your bookmarks my friends, and spread the news far and wide that there is a new and improved Immoral Minority just a hop, skip, and click away.

White House officials claim that chief of staff John Kelly presents himself as a savior and calls Trump an "idiot" behind his back.

2018-04-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

What an idiot.

Courtesy of NBC News:

White House chief of staff John Kelly has eroded morale in the West Wing in recent months with comments to aides that include insulting the president's intelligence and casting himself as the savior of the country, according to eight current and former White House officials.

The officials said Kelly portrays himself to Trump administration aides as the lone bulwark against catastrophe, curbing the erratic urges of a president who has a questionable grasp on policy issues and the functions of government. He has referred to Trump as "an idiot" multiple times to underscore his point, according to four officials who say they've witnessed the comments.

Officials said Kelly's public image as a retired four-star general instilling discipline on a chaotic White House and an impulsive president belies what they describe as the undisciplined and indiscreet approach he's employed as chief of staff. The private manner aides describe may shed new light on why Kelly now finds himself — just nine months into the job — grappling with diminished influence and a drumbeat of questions about how long he'll remain at the White House.

"He says stuff you can't believe," said one senior White House official. "He'll say it and you think, 'That is not what you should be saying.'"

Of course since this story broke earlier today Kelly has issued a statement pushing back on the allegations:
“I am committed to our President, his agenda, and our country. This is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President Trump and distract from the administration’s many successes.”

Yeah, okay.

This is not the first time that we have heard that there is tension between Trump and his chief of staff, and apparently Kelly has been greatly marginalized as of late.

And also according to NBC News Kelly's negative remarks about the president are not the only thing that puts his job in jeopardy:

Current and former White House officials said Kelly has at times made remarks that have rattled female staffers. Kelly has told aides multiple times that women are more emotional than men, including at least once in front of the president, four current and former officials said.

And during a firestorm in February over accusations of domestic abuse against then-White House staff secretary Rob Porter, Kelly wondered aloud how much more Porter would have to endure before his honor could be restored, according to three officials who were present for the comments. He also questioned why Porter's ex-wives wouldn't just move on based on the information he said he had about his marriages, the officials said.

Some current and former White House officials said they expect Kelly to leave by July, his one-year mark. But others say it's anyone's guess. What's clear is both Trump and Kelly seem to have tired of each other.

Move over Rex Tillerson it looks like you are about to have a little company in the "We Just Got Shitcanned Hotel."

Mike Pence to give speech at NRA convention, where for his protection no guns will be permitted. Wait, what?

2018-04-30T13:30:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of The Sacramento Bee:

Guns won’t be allowed when Vice President Mike Pence speaks Friday at a National Rifle Association convention in Dallas in order to protect his safety.

The NRA says the Secret Service ordered the ban, but survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting are calling the move hypocritical, noting the organization’s fierce opposition to gun-free zones in most public places.

No firearms or weapons of any kind will be allowed at the NRA Leadership Conference at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, during Pence’s appearance, according to an NRA website. The notice emphasizes that the U.S. Secret Service is responsible for security at the conference, given Pence’s attendance.

So wait, everybody being armed makes everybody safer, EXCEPT the Vice President?

As you might imagine this smacked of hypocrisy for many people, including the Parkland survivors.

The NRA has evolved into such a hilarious parody of itself. pic.twitter.com/6Pw6NTQAe6
— Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) April 28, 2018

And the parents of those who did not survive the Parkland school shooting.

On so many levels, this is enlightening. According to the NRA, we should want everyone to have weapons when we are in public. But when they put on a convention, the weapons are a concern? I thought giving everyone a gun was to enhance safety. Am I missing something? https://t.co/f4wgNhJ7RI
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) April 28, 2018

We also need to keep in mind that this is not the first time that the NRA has been caught being complete hypocrites.

It's really strange that when the NRA has a speaking event, or at CPAC, or at a Trump rally... it's a "gun free zone". I wonder why? Probably because guns kill people. #GunReformNow pic.twitter.com/MZ7ZPSPS2F
— Alternative NOAA (@altNOAA) February 25, 2018

The NRA is going to have to finally decide whether or not guns keep EVERYBODY safe, or if they are only dangerous to people that they care about.

Really can't have it both ways.

Disgraced VA Secretary nominee Ronny Jackson, will NOT be returning to his old job as White House physician.

2018-04-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Politico:

White House physician Ronny Jackson will not return to his role as the president’s personal physician, according to two senior administration officials, after a string of allegations caused the Navy rear admiral to withdraw his nomination last week to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sean Conley, a Navy officer who took over Jackson’s role as the president’s personal doctor last month, will continue in the role, the officials said.

Jackson bowed out last week after Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, released a document summarizing allegations by current and former colleagues that Jackson overprescribed pills, drank on the job and created a hostile work environment. Jackson has denied the allegations and has returned to work in the White House Medical Unit.

Now the White House claims that these accusations had no merit and Trump went after Senator Tester hard on Twitter.

Allegations made by Senator Jon Tester against Admiral/Doctor Ron Jackson are proving false. The Secret Service is unable to confirm (in fact they deny) any of the phony Democrat charges which have absolutely devastated the wonderful Jackson family. Tester should resign. The.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018

....great people of Montana will not stand for this kind of slander when talking of a great human being. Admiral Jackson is the kind of man that those in Montana would most respect and admire, and now, for no reason whatsoever, his reputation has been shattered. Not fair, Tester!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018

Secret Service has just informed me that Senator Jon Tester’s statements on Admiral Jackson are not true. There were no such findings. A horrible thing that we in D.C. must live with, just like phony Russian Collusion. Tester should lose race in Montana. Very dishonest and sick!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018

Of course the question to ask is if these allegations are so unfounded, then why is Jackson not being reinstated as the White House doctor?

And that question should be followed up by one asking if there is no validity then why is Trey Gowdy suggesting an investigation by the House?

Courtesy of Politico:

House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy on Sunday said some of the allegations against President Donald Trump’s ill-fated pick for secretary of Veterans Affairs should be investigated.

Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the South Carolina Republican said, “I think some of those allegations do warrant being investigated,” referring to a series of allegations levied against the White House physician and now-withdrawn VA secretary nominee, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson.

Yeah, something still stinks about all of this.

Also keep in mind that Senator Tester was not making these allegations himself but rather passing on information delivered to him by White House and military members who had witnessed these incidents.

I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that neither Ronny Jackson, nor the White House really want Congress to investigate these allegations.

Just a feeling I have.

Trump's Twitter targets for today, the WHCD and Michelle Wolf.

2018-04-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was a failure last year, but this year was an embarrassment to everyone associated with it. The filthy “comedian” totally bombed (couldn’t even deliver her lines-much like the Seth Meyers weak performance). Put Dinner to rest, or start over!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 30, 2018

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is DEAD as we know it. This was a total disaster and an embarrassment to our great Country and all that it stands for. FAKE NEWS is alive and well and beautifully represented on Saturday night!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 30, 2018

I would just first like to point out that if Trump thinks he is hurting Michelle Wolf's career in any way by going after her on Twitter he is dead wrong.

She is launching a new show on Netflix, and she has just gone from a comedian that only a few people know about, to a national figure who is the subject of tweets by the president of the United States.

There is no way this hurts her professionally.

And that goes for the attacks by the conservatives, and some self identified "liberals," as well.

Which by the way are completely without merit.

Courtesy of Vulture:

As soon as Michelle Wolf finished delivering her blistering White House Correspondents’ Dinner roast of the Trump administration and the members of the press that cover it, she was, not surprisingly, criticized for much of what she said. Oddly, however, a lot of that criticism zeroed in on something that Michelle Wolf did not actually say: a joke about Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s appearance.

The two jokes that seemed to irk critics were her Handmaid’s Tale dig — “I have to say I’m a little starstruck. I love you as Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale” — and the aforementioned line about Sanders’s smoky eye, which went like this: “I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s very resourceful. She burns facts, and then she uses the ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.”

Somehow this was misconstrued to be an attack on Huckabee Sander's appearance, which it clearly was not.

In stead it was an attack on her honesty, which, let's face it, was more than appropriate.

However both conservatives and some in the media spouted their faux outrage all over Twitter.

That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 29, 2018

And of course Mika Brzezinski also had to give her two cents.

Women who use their government positions to spread lies and misinformation deserve to face the same withering criticism as men. But leave our looks out of it. Watching from home, I hurt for Sarah, her husband and her children.
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) April 29, 2018

All of this seemed to puzzle Michelle Wolf who responded with this:

Why are you guys making this about Sarah’s looks? I said she burns facts and uses the ash to create a *perfect* smoky eye. I complimented her eye makeup and her ingenuity of materials. https://t.co/slII9TYdYx
— Michelle Wolf (@michelleisawolf) April 29, 2018

Exactly.

Look if you are a conservative then misrepresenting the facts and participating in faux outrage is kinda what you do.

But if you are supposed to be a "journalist" of some kind you are expected to adhere to the facts, and there were several media types who failed to meet that expectation.

And like I said all of this does nothing but help Michelle Wolf's career, and ensure that when her Netflix show drops on May 27 that it will have a lot more folks tuned in.

So keep it up conservatives (And Mika Brzezinski) cause all it does is put money in her pockets.

Tennessee state police form a perimeter to protect a white nationalist gathering from anti-racist protesters. Did I mention this was in a state park?

2018-04-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

Police perimeter around the white supremacist conference #AmRen is intense. We heckling them like hell. pic.twitter.com/mMYd8vave9
— Lacy MacAuley (@lacymacauley) April 28, 2018

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Police formed a tight perimeter around a Tennessee state-owned hotel Saturday, guarding a white nationalist conference inside the building from anti-racist protesters gathered outside.

American Renaissance, a racist Virginia-based organization listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, reserved the 125 rooms inside Montgomery Bell State Park Inn for the weekend conference. Attendees not staying at the hotel arrived there early Saturday morning. Nearly all of them were men. They wore suit and ties — mandatory dress for the event — and didn’t respond to reporters’ questions as police escorted them inside.

Anti-racist protesters arrived a short time later. State park rangers subjected each protester to a metal detector test before allowing them to enter a fenced-off area across from the hotel.

One protester, Beth Foster, grew upset when park rangers wouldn’t allow her to bring a purse inside, as bags were prohibited in the protest zone.

“This is absolutely absurd,” she told the officers. “Nazis” from out of state, she told them, were allowed to rent out an entire Tennessee taxpayer-owned hotel, and yet she wasn’t allowed to bring a tiny purse inside a section of her own state park. Eventually Foster — co-director of the Mercy Junction Justice and Peace Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee — left her purse and walked through the security checkpoint.

“It’s anti-racist activists that the state sees as the enemies,” she told reporters. “Not the Nazis or the white supremacists who are in our buildings, using our public restrooms, and eating in our public restaurant, plotting genocide.”

So to be clear the police perimeter was in place BEFORE any protesters even arrived?

So they just assumed they would be violent?

The protesters, many of whom I would assume were also residents of the state, were then not only forbidden to enter the hotel on state park land, but were corralled into a fenced off area like cattle.

And you know this is now a thing, with the Nazis and white supremacists demonstrating real fear about the protesters that show up at their rallies and gatherings, even though most of the violence, and the only death, is attributed to their side.

So much for being the "master race," right?

Kim Jong-un says that North Korea will shut down its nuclear weapons program if America promises not to invade.

2018-04-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

Did that missile just crash into the ocean again?

Courtesy of the NYT:

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, told President Moon Jae-in of South Korea when they met that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States would agree to formally end the Korean War and promise that it would not invade his country, a South Korean government spokesman said Sunday.

In a faith-building gesture ahead of a summit meeting with President Trump, Mr. Kim also said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to watch the shutdown next month of his country’s only known underground nuclear test site.

The comments by Mr. Kim were made on Friday when the leaders of the two Koreas met at Panmunjom, a village on their shared border, the spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, said on Sunday, providing additional details of the meeting.

“I know the Americans are inherently disposed against us, but when they talk with us, they will see that I am not the kind of person who would shoot nuclear weapons to the south, over the Pacific or at the United States,” Mr. Kim told Mr. Moon, according to Mr. Yoon’s account of the meeting.

I'm sorry didn't he just fire missiles over Japan?

That's a little southish.

Besides the only reason that Jong-un is promising that he will not fire weapons at the United States is because his fucking missiles will not reach the United States.

And his promise to abandon his nuclear weapons program is most likely due to the fact that his testing site collapsed, and NOT because Trump scared him.

However the leader of North Korea has picked up on something that his former wives learned early on. If you shower Trump with praise ("Oh Donald it's the biggest I have ever seen.") he will give you whatever the fuck you want.

Essentially Kim Jong-un is playing Trump like a bloated orange tinted fiddle.

Keep in mind that these are the people supposedly scandalized by Michelle Wolf's WHCD performance.

2018-04-30T02:00:00.000-08:00

“how dare that lady comedian be so vulgar” says the crowd that’s clearly delicate like doilies pic.twitter.com/wWTRd8XnKF
— shauna (@goldengateblond) April 29, 2018

Yeah, such delicate sensibilities.

During "Meet the Press' interview James Comey dismisses report by House Intelligence Committee and suggests that Trump will lie under oath.

2018-04-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of NBC News:

Former FBI Director James Comey on Sunday dismissed the findings of a GOP report claiming there is no evidence President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russians during the 2016 election. He added that, as a former prosecutor, he has “serious doubts” about Trump’s credibility as a potential witness.

Comey called the recently released report by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee “a political document” during an interview on “Meet The Press.”

“That is not my understanding of what the facts were before I left the FBI and I think the most important piece of work is the one the special counsel's doing now,” Comey added.

Asked whether the committee has served a good investigative purpose overall, Comey said, “not that I can see.”

The former FBI director also said politicization has “wrecked the committee, and it damaged relationships with the FISA Court, the intelligence communities. It's just a wreck.”

Yeah it's hard to argue with Comey on this.

The House Intelligence Committee with Devin Nunes in charge was NEVER going to find anything problematic about Trump's interactions with Russia.

Comey also weighed in on Trump's seeming inability to tell the truth:

“I have serious doubts about his credibility,” Comey said of Trump, adding that he worries about whether the president would be truthful under oath or not.

“Sometimes people who have serious credibility problems can tell the truth when they realize that the consequences of not telling the truth in an interview or in the grand jury would be dire,” Comey said. “But you'd have to go in with a healthy sense that he might lie to you.”

In other words Trump will almost certainly lie under oath, and that will essentially be his undoing.

Which is something that probably EVERYBODY knows, with the possible exception of Trump himself.

The National Enquirer, fervent Trump propaganda outlet, turns on lawyer Michael Cohen.

2018-04-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Mediaite:

The National Enquirer has taken a swing at President Donald Trump‘s embattled attorney, Michael Cohen.

The tabloid has long had a reputation of serving as Trump’s media fixer, running salacious headlines such as “Hillary Framed Trump Family!” and “Proof! FBI Plot to Impeach Trump!” however, it is the first time it has turned on Trump’s legal fixer, Cohen.

The publication’s parent company, American Media Inc., run by Trump-pal David Pecker, is also currently being sued by Playboy model Karen McDougal. She claims that AMI offered to buy the story of her alleged affair with Trump for $150,000, to then not publish it — known as a catch and kill agreement.

The headline of the Enquirer’s latest cover, which reads “Trump Fixer’s Secrets and Lies!” also comes in the wake of Trump attempting to distance himself from his longtime attorney.

Make no mistake, if the National Enquirer has turned on Trump's fixer, that is because Donald Trump gave them the go ahead to do so.

Which means that Trump is tossing Cohen under the bus, and any loyalty that Cohen might feel toward his boss is completely misplaced.

So now we just have to wait and see how long it takes before Cohen and Mueller come together for their version of "Let's Make a Deal."

So while Michelle Wolf was pissing off conservatives yesterday, in Michigan Donald Trump was driving them into a frenzy.

2018-04-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Crowd chants "NOBEL, NOBEL, NOBEL" at President @realDonaldTrump rally. pic.twitter.com/zyPHp0gZqL
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 28, 2018

So yes that is Trump taking FULL credit for the North and South Korea peace deal, while his people chant "Nobel" at him.

I think it's pretty clear why he would rather be there, than to sit and listen to Michelle Wolf rip him a new one.

After all it is the coward's way.

I of course did not watch hardly ANY of this rally (I was still bummed about the furnace.), but I did do some catching up online.

For instance Trump also said that if the Republicans failed to hold on to the House that he was probably going to be impeached.

President @realDonaldTrump: "We have to keep the House, because if you listen to @MaxineWaters, she goes around saying, 'We will impeach him, we will impeach him.'" pic.twitter.com/OQHcME4i16
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 29, 2018

Which proves that once in a while, Donald Trump CAN tell the truth.

But just when you might have been willing to give him a little credit for that, he turns around and suggests that the Russian lawyer only said she was working with the Kremlin to "make life in the United States more chaotic."

Trump now claims that Natalia Veselnitskaya is only saying she's an "informant" with ties to the Kremlin because Putin realized how hard Trump has been on Russia and he wants to make the U.S. more chaotic. (via Fox) pic.twitter.com/NiZKeigPpO
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 28, 2018

That of course is completely illogical, but his crowd ate it right up.

In fact Trump got them so worked up that at least one of them verbally attacked the press.

This Trump supporter repeatedly yelled at the press, calling media “degenerate filth” and to get out of his country after the Michigan rally concluded pic.twitter.com/hbd8vhpVYc
— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) April 29, 2018

Gee, forced to miss the WHCD and now covered in Trump supporter spittle, it really sucks to have to report on a Trump rally.

Here is Michelle Wolf's entire White House Correspondents Dinner performance, because I think it deserves to be seen. Update!

2018-04-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

I have to confess that I turned this off part way through last night because it just wasn't working for me.

However yesterday when I returned from the movies I discovered that my furnace was broken, and $247.00 later I just was not in the mood for comedy.

So I watched it all the way through this morning, and it was actually not bad.

Not all of the jokes landed, but then they never do.

Also if you dislike Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Michelle Wolf is your spirit animal.

Besides this performance pissed the conservatives off BIG TIME, which to me is really the only endorsement this performance needs.

Fox News' Ed Henry: WHCA Owes Apology to Sarah Sanders for 'Disgusting' Jokes https://t.co/FMzYgqmIKX (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/j9nHSZRsp1
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) April 29, 2018

P.S. I may be biased but in my opinion the very best WHCD comedian of all time remains this guy.

Update: This might have been Wolf's most cutting remark of the night. (And the most truthful.)

The last thing I'll say is that Michelle Wolf's bit about the media was objectively true—I include myself here and it sucks to have to reckon with that every day but the least we could do is not turn around and become apologists for a regime that wants to ruin people's lives pic.twitter.com/d6v70SxHTN
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) April 29, 2018

Perhaps this is why so many so-called "liberal" journalists are piling on the comedian along with the usual conservative snowflakes.

New poll shows that majority of Republicans have no interest in seeing a woman become President. Ever!

2018-04-29T06:15:00.000-08:00

And this surprises you?

Courtesy of Newsweek:

Asked if they'd see a woman president in their lifetime, 20 percent of respondents said they "definitely will," while 43 percent said they "probably will." A total of 63 percent believed they would likely see a female president before they die.

YouGov also asked, "Do you personally hope that the United States elects a woman president of the United States in your lifetime, or not?" Sixty-six percent of all respondents said yes, while 34 percent said no.

A comfortable majority of Republicans—59 percent—responded no, they don't hope to see a woman president in their lifetime, according to YouGov. In comparison, 89 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of independents responded that yes, they hoped to see a woman president before they died.

Well gee perhaps it wasn't Hillary's politics that made the Republicans hate her so much, but rather her lack of a penis.

Instead of having a Vajayjay running the country they looked for the very embodiment of a dick.

And that boys and girls is how you get this guy.

Virginia newspaper puts KKK recruitment flyer on front page. Oops.

2018-04-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Newsweek:

A Virginia newspaper has come under fire from its readers after it ran a Ku Klux Klan recruitment flyer in full on its front page.

The Westmoreland News ran a story on how KKK recruitment flyers and DVDs had started appearing in the town of Colonial Beach, Virginia.

However, the paper decided to include a copy of the recruitment flyer, which included racist and anti-Semitic language, in full on the front page to illustrate its story.

“They posted the whole flyer as if they were giving them free advertising,” Colonial Beach resident Betty Tate Thompson told WTVR. “It even had the number on flyer to contact the head of the KKK. Which I thought was totally ridiculous.”

Now I can see why the newspaper would do this as they are accurately relating events, and providing a visual example of what they are reporting.

(I just did the same thing up above as well.)

However if you were the local chapter of the KKK, and you were having a devil of a time handing out enough flyers to really increase recruitment, just imagine how gratified you would be if the newspaper printed your entire invitation, including contact information, for their thousands of subscribers?

I mean that would be the kind of gift to warm an old racist's heart.

So the criticism is quite valid.

The things you find on Reddit. Today's topic: Incels.

2018-04-29T02:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the post.

Gee, no wonder these guys have a problem with women.

I first heard this term "Incel" when somebody used it to label me.

I quite literally had no idea what they were talking about, but I looked it up:

Incel: aka "involuntarily celibate", a person (usually male) who has a horrible personality and treats women like sexual objects and thinks his lack of a sex life comes from being "ugly" when its really just his blatant sexism and terrible attitude. incels have little to no self awareness; even when they see other "ugly" men with girlfriends, they consider these men to be tricksters who have somehow beat the system and can get women despite being cursed with unattractiveness (in other words, theyre respectful to women and women are attracted to their personalities, but incels cant comprehend such a phenomenon). they believe that women owe them sex, and many of the more extreme incels like to spend time in incel communities on the internet coming up with ways to make women have sex with them (often involving genocide of people of color, genocide of "Chads" (men who have sex), taking rights away from women, raping them, having sex with women's dead bodies, and other horrid, disgusting things. they cant understand that that is PRECISELY why women want nothing to do with them).

Okay, well there are plenty of derogatory things I could be called, that might actually reflect my character in some way, but this ain't it.

Apparently that recent attack in Canada is being blamed on one of these losers.

Men hating on women is certainly nothing new, and this does nothing more than put a new label on an age old problem.

For the record nobody owes anybody sex, or even affection.

Those are things you earn.

And relationships, no matter how awesome they may begin, often end with hurt feelings and even outright anger.

I have certainly been there myself.

But to hate on an entire gender just because you are unlucky at love, is certainly never going to convince that gender that you are worthy of their time or affection.

You have to try to be a better you, before you can expect others to be a better them.

MSNBC's Joy Reid apologizes for insensitive blog posts from the past, while also not taking full responsibility.

2018-04-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy Raw Story:

Calling her comments “despicable and wrong,” Reid copped to writing some of the offense comments, but said she truly believed she did not write them all.

“A community I support and deeply care about is hurting because of despicable and truly offensive posts being attributed to me,” the somber Reid began. “Many of you have seen the blog posts circulating online and social media. Many of them are homophobic and discriminatory and hateful. When a friend found them and sent them to me, I was stunned. Frankly I couldn’t imagine where they came from and whose voice that was.”

“I spent a lot of time trying to make sense of the posts,” she continued. “I hired cyber security experts to see if somebody manipulated my words or former blog and the reality is they have not been able to prove it. But here’s what I do know: I generally do not believe I wrote those hateful things because they are completely alien to me, but I can definitely understand, based on things I have tweeted and I have written in the past, why some people don’t believe me. I’ve not been exempt from being dumb or cruel or hurtful to the very people I want to advocate for. I own that. I get it. And for that I am truly, truly story.”

I held off writing about this situation because to be honest I was not sure what to make of it.

The posts showing up on the internet, and being attributed to Reid, did not really fit my perception of her at all.

I am still not completely convinced that it was her.

Besides that I also went through something similar myself, after this blog gained a little infamy.

After the Splitsville story the Right Wing trolls went through my old posts forensically and found some that, taken out of context, did not paint a very flattering picture.

In my case most of the content was misrepresented, but there were a few things that I wrote, back when virtually NOBODY visited IM, that were truly impossible to completely defend.

They were the type of musings that one might jot down in a diary with the expectation that nobody would ever see them, but that is certainly not a mindset which translates well to the internet, where everything lives forever.

So that should serve as a lesson to us all, that we need to consider that the things we write on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even the comment section of a blog, might one day be dredged up and used against us when we least expect it.

I think that Joy Reid is very admirable person, but there is a journey to arrive at the best version of ourselves, and sometimes those missteps along they way can trip us up even after we think we have already arrived.

Hitherto unknown meeting between Michael Flynn and his son with Russian Ambassador revealed in House Intelligence Committee report.

2018-04-28T13:30:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of TPM:

The House Intelligence Committee’s report from its Russia investigation published on Friday revealed another meeting former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had with the Russian ambassador before he joined the Trump campaign.

Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn, Jr., met with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at his Washington, D.C. residence on December 2, 2015, according to emails reviewed by the House Intelligence Committee. Flynn’s son described the meeting as “very productive” in an email to the Russian embassy, according to the committee’s report. According to the report, “emails indicate that the meeting was arranged at the request of General Flynn or his son.” Neither Flynn sat with the committee for an interview, leaving congressional investigators with few details about the rendezvous.

The meeting with Kislyak took place about a week before Flynn traveled to Moscow to speak at the Kremlin RT news organization’s annual gala. Flynn sat next to Vladimir Putin at the dinner and was paid by RT to attend the event.

Flynn’s December 2015 meeting with Kislyak also came after he met with President Donald Trump for the first time, but Flynn did not formally join the campaign until 2016.

So between the time that Flynn met with Donald Trump for the first time, and this event took place...

...Flynn also met with this guy?

And that doesn't seem like collusion to the House Republicans?

Interesting.

Flynn's son certainly was quick in his attempt to play it down.

The #fakenews media is a joke.....

friggin @TMZ 2.0 pic.twitter.com/L9cvfxdnKr
— 🇺🇸MFLYNNJR🇺🇸 (@mflynnJR) April 27, 2018

You know I am not sure if these House Republicans could recognize collusion if it were delivered to them under their tree on Christmas morning.

The House Intelligence Committee led by Devin Nunes released the report on their Russia "investigation" yesterday, and guess what? No collusion!

2018-04-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of CNN:

The House Intelligence Committee on Friday released a redacted version of the Republican report on the committee's year-long Russia investigation, in which GOP members say they found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and disputed the intelligence community's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to help elect Donald Trump.

The committee released the report with redactions from the intelligence community, along with a redacted Democratic dissent. saying collusion exists and that there were key aspects of the probe Republicans failed to investigate.

The report's release marks the conclusion of a yearlong committee investigation that devolved into a partisan brawl between Democrats and Republicans, fighting over the decision by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes to step aside from the probe, the subpoenas that were and were not issued and dueling memos over a surveillance warrant for a former Trump campaign adviser.

The committee ended its investigation into Russia's 2016 election meddling last month, concluding they found no evidence that Trump's team had colluded with Russians.

"We found no evidence of collusion, and so we found perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings," (Rep. Mike) Conaway said when they submitted their report for declassification.

Of course Trump was also quick to jump on this.

Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. “No evidence” that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.” Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2018

However anybody who actually thought this Devin Nunes led investigation was interested in getting to the truth must have their head shoved so far up their ass that they can watch their food digest.

And as the Democrats on that committee point out, the investigation was nowhere near complete.

Courtesy of WaPo:

The GOP report does address that Trump Tower meeting, allowing that it showed “poor judgment” on the part of the Trump campaign. As we learned from Trump Jr.’s emails, those top Trump campaign officials went to the meeting in the full expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton, supplied by the Russian government. But the GOP report brushes this off, concluding there was “no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government.”

But the Democratic response fills in some extremely important context — and it may involve the president himself, though we cannot know one way or the other right now.

According to the Democratic response, right after Trump Jr. set up the specifics of the meeting, he had two calls with a number in Russia belonging to Emin Agalarov. Between those two calls, the Democratic response recounts, Trump Jr. received a third call from a blocked number. Who might it have been?

Democrats wanted to find out, but Republicans blocked it from happening, according to the Democrats’ response.

“We sought to determine whether that number belonged to the president, because we also ascertained that then-candidate Trump used a blocked number,” Schiff said during our interview. “That would tell us whether Don Jr. sought his father’s permission to take the meeting, and [whether] that was the purpose of that call.”

Schiff added that Democrats asked Republicans to subpoena phone records to determine whose number it was, but Republicans “refused,” Schiff said. “They didn’t want to know whether he had informed his father and sought his permission to take that meeting with the Russians.”

Okay exactly WHY would the Republicans stop the Democrats from accessing those phone records unless they already knew to whom the blocked number belonged?

But do you know who probably already has that information?

Robert Mueller that's who.

This whole House Intelligence Committee "investigation" was nothing but a distraction to keep the public from focusing on the real investigation which is ACTUALLY looking for the truth.

And that truth is coming, whether Donald Trump and Devin Nunes want it to or not.

Does Donald Trump deserve credit for peace between North and South Korea? Not so much.

2018-04-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

After this admittedly historic meeting, Donald Trump was quick to jump in and snatch the credit.

After a furious year of missile launches and Nuclear testing, a historic meeting between North and South Korea is now taking place. Good things are happening, but only time will tell!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2018

KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2018

But is it credit that he deserves?

What do you think?

Courtesy of The Independent:

In a historic and opulent ceremony, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) to sign the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula during the Inter-Korean Summit and officially ended the war that began when the north and south split in a battle over communism and democracy that began on 25 June 1950.

Dr TJ Pempel, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley told The Independent while Mr Trump “deserves some credit but not as much as he’s taking”. While the United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang involved the US push from Ambassador Nikki Haley, that is “hardly the whole story”, Mr Pempel said. “China’s agreement to the sanctions was far more important,” he noted.

The important point to note, he said, was that North Korea developed its nuclear programme considerably after Mr Trump took office. “The North is convinced that it has the upper hand in negotiations because of its nuclear and missile testing successes; the US thinks it has the upper hand because it believes Kim is negotiating because of the sanctions. It’s the combination that has triggered the North’s willingness to sit down”.

That is likely part of the explanation for Kim Jong-un's sudden cooperativeness, but this next story is likely an even bigger factor.

Courtesy of Forbes:

North Korean president Kim Jong-un recently announced his country has halted its nuclear testing program. While it is unclear whether this is a political move in preparation for meeting with the United States president Donald Trump, recent evidence suggests the country may have been forced to halt testing.

A recent study by a group of geologists discovered that the mountain used by North Korea for its nuclear bomb testing has collapsed as a result of the explosions. The collapsed mountain is raising concerns about radioactive fallout, which could make its way into China.

Scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China believe this could be the true reason North Korean President Kim Jong-un announced the halt of their nuclear testing program.

So Kim Jong-un is not negotiating because he is suddenly all reasonable and shit, it's because he realizes that he needs to change tactics before his bluff is called and his enemies recognize that he is not the nuclear threat that he has made himself out to be.

He's like a thief who attempts to rob a liquor store, realizes that he forgot to load his gun, and then suddenly says "Look, Just give me a bottle of vodka and I will leave without taking your money. Deal?"

Donald Trump has a history of taking credit for other people's work, and this looks like one more example.

Firing a Catholic priest, having teenagers arrested for exercising their 1st Amendment rights, Paul Ryan just doesn't give a f*ck anymore.

2018-04-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

I am blowing this Popsicle stand, so fuck all of you!

Courtesy of the NYT:

The chaplain of the House said on Thursday that he was blindsided when Speaker Paul D. Ryan asked him to resign two weeks ago, a request that he complied with but was never given a reason for.

The sudden resignation of the chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, shocked members of both parties. He had served in the role since he was nominated in 2011 by Speaker John A. Boehner, a fellow Catholic. In an interview, Father Conroy was categorical: His departure was not voluntary.

“I was asked to resign, that is clear,” Father Conroy said. As for why, he added, “that is unclear.”

“I certainly wasn’t given anything in writing,” he said. “Catholic members on both sides are furious.”

Father Conroy said he received the news from Mr. Ryan’s chief of staff. “The speaker would like your resignation,” Father Conroy recalled being told. He complied.

Father Conroy does have a theory about why he was fired:

Though Father Conroy said he did not know whether politics were behind his departure, he pointed to a prayer he had given on the House floor in November, when Congress was debating tax overhaul legislation.

“May all members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle,” he prayed. “May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.”

Conroy says that he was chastised after that prayer for getting "too political," and not long after that he was out.

However Paul Ryan says "Nuh uh. that's not why I did it."

Courtesy of Politico:

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tried to quell the controversy Friday morning by addressing his decision to fire Father Patrick Conroy during a private GOP conference meeting. Ryan said Conroy's ouster wasn’t politically motivated, as some have speculated. He said it came after complaints from multiple members about how the Jesuit priest wasn’t meeting their “pastoral needs,” as several Republican lawmakers exiting the meeting put it.

Oh yeah, how many priests do we know that were fired for not providing enough Jesus juice to the flock?

(Actually this is the first time in history that a priest has EVER been given the old heave ho by the Congress.)

But Ryan's scorched earth policy did not end there.

Naomi is in high school, she just got arrested while peacefully protesting outside of Paul Ryan's office. Naomi has a message for @SpeakerRyan. Please retweet this and tweet out the link to make sure he gets it.@_naomi_abigail_ #DworkinReport #NeverAgain https://t.co/gWXJmCndr4
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) April 27, 2018

Apparently since Ryan has no plans to run for reelection he is not even going to pretend that he is not a festering pustule on the face of humanity.

I am one of those who has known that Paul Ryan is a hateful little prick since he first came on the scene.

Now with one foot out the door he no longer seems interested in hiding that fact.

A poll of Fox News viewers believes that the Mueller probe should continue, and that it will find impeachable offenses.

2018-04-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Fox News:

Most voters think it is important to continue investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia -- but more believe President Trump will fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller before he’s done.

About two-thirds, 67 percent in the latest Fox News poll, say it is at least somewhat important the investigation continues, and 56 percent think it’s likely that Mueller’s probe will find Donald Trump committed criminal or impeachable offenses.

And those are FOX NEWS viewers.

The numbers are much higher for the truly informed.

Some members of the Senate are also concerned that Trump will fire Mueller.

Courtesy of the NYT:

The Senate Judiciary Committee fired a political warning shot at the White House on Thursday, advancing on a bipartisan vote long-stalled legislation to allow special counsels such as Robert S. Mueller III to appeal their firing to a panel of judges and possibly be reinstated.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has stated unequivocally that he will not bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. But with four Republicans, including the committee’s chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, joining Democrats to vote in favor of it, the measure sent a clear message to President Trump that there would be serious consequences to firing the special counsel.

Even senators who voted against the legislation warned Mr. Trump against trying to dismiss Mr. Mueller. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the longest-serving Senate Republican, said that “firing Mueller would cause a firestorm and bring the administration’s agenda to a halt. It could even result in impeachment.”

I think that if Trump tries to fire Mueller that even Republicans like Mitch McConnell will turn on him, and then his days will truly be numbered.

Your face when you start an interview with Donald Trump vs your face when you finish an interview with Donald Trump.

2018-04-28T02:00:00.000-08:00

The start of the interview vs. the end of the interview. (The faces tell it all.) pic.twitter.com/BW7BfsOjKe
— Richard Hine (@richardhine) April 27, 2018

Watching these three try and fail to protect Trump from himself was pure comedy gold.

Russian lawyer involved in Trump Tower meeting admits that she was an informant for the Kremlin.

2018-04-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of the NYT:

The Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower in June 2016 on the premise that she would deliver damaging information about Hillary Clinton has long insisted she is a private attorney, not a Kremlin operative trying to meddle in the presidential election.

But newly released emails show that in at least one instance two years earlier, the lawyer, Natalia V. Veselnitskaya, worked hand in glove with Russia’s chief legal office to thwart a Justice Department civil fraud case against a well-connected Russian firm.

Ms. Veselnitskaya also appears to have recanted her earlier denials of Russian government ties. During an interview to be broadcast Friday by NBC News, she acknowledged that she was not merely a private lawyer but a source of information for a top Kremlin official, Yuri Y. Chaika, the prosecutor general.

“I am a lawyer, and I am an informant,” she said. “Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general.”

Not exactly surprising news I know, but still nice to hear her finally admit it.

Veselnitskava also brought a certain memo with her to that meeting.

Courtesy of Business Insider:

The Russian lawyer who met with President Donald Trump's son, son-in-law, and campaign chairman last June at Trump Tower brought a memo with her to that meeting that contained many of the same talking points as one written by the Russian prosecutor's office two months earlier.

The memo Natalia Veselnitskaya provided to the Trump campaign last year focused on banker-turned-human rights activist Bill Browder, whose reputation has become inextricably linked to the global human-rights campaign he launched in 2009 after tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in a Russian prison.

..........

The document's language closely mirrored the contents of a memo provided to Republican US Rep. Dana Rohrabacher by the office of Russia's chief federal prosecutor Yuri Chaika while Rohrabacher was in Moscow last April.

The document is marked "confidential" but made the rounds on Capitol Hill upon the lawmaker's return to the US and was obtained by Business Insider.

Go ahead, act surprised that Rohrabacher is the one who received this memo.

So now it's confirmed that Junior, Kushner, and Manafort all met with a Russian spy during the campaign. (Well at least one that we know of.)

If you are looking for proof of collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign you really do not have to go much further than this Trump Tower meeting.

But of course it is by no means the only evidence of collusion.