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Posts posted by Gap03
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7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:
“He uses it as an excuse to put his testicles all over me!”- 1
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A great summary of where we are on this whole Clarence Thomas / Harlan Crowe situation by Jonathan Last:
QuoteMOAR GIFTS!
This morning we awake to news that conservative billionaire Harlan Crowe also paid for a couple years of tuition at a private school for a kid Clarence Thomas and his wife were raising.
Let me give you the most charitable reading of the story:
In 1997 the Thomas’s brought their great nephew to live with them, presumably because his home life was not optimal. They took legal custody of him and raised him. Justice Thomas’s good friend Harlan Crowe suggested that the young man might thrive at Crowe’s alma mater, Randolph Macon Academy. Crowe then paid for the kid’s first year of tuition.
After the first year, the child was sent to a different boarding school, in Georgia. Crowe paid for this year of tuition, too.
This is the official story from
journalistlawyerspecial-friend of the justice Mark Paoletta, who seems to have taken on the job of crisis coms for Thomas.¹How much did Crowe spend on tuitions for this kid? That’s unclear. More than $6,000. Maybe as much as $70,000. Fancy Southern boarding schools aren’t cheap.
Was Thomas required by the letter of the law to disclose any of this?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But that’s not really the point.
Even if Thomas was in some violation by not disclosing this . . . what do we call it? A gift? Help from a friend? Even then, it wouldn’t be the biggest deal in the world.
Look: The Thomases did something extraordinary in taking this child in and raising him. God bless them for that. It sounds like they made a difference in his life. And when people take on extraordinary duties, sometimes they need help. That’s why friends and even strangers organize meal trains and start GoFundMe’s. When I was a kid and Hillary Clinton wrote It Takes a Village I laughed and called her a commie. Now that I’ve been around the block and seen the elephant, I realize she’s exactly right. Raising kids is hard. We all need help.
But the ick-factor on this new Thomas story is that it’s part of a pattern.
First we got the stories about Crowe donating money in order to pay the salary of Thomas’s activist/dilettante wife.
Then we found out that Crowe provided many lavish vacations for Thomas and his wife.
Then we learned about Crowe letting Thomas use his private jet for personal travel.
Then we found out that Crowe paid for a gigantic monument to Thomas’s 8th grade teacher.
Then it was discovered that Crowe bought property from Thomas and now allows Thomas’s mom to live rent-free in a house that he (Crowe) owns.
Any one of these things and you might say, “Hmmm. That’s a little strange. But whatever. Rich people are weird and if you have a rich friend maybe they do weird friend stuff.”
But take all of them together? Now we go from “a little weird” to “this is what cam girls hope for in a sugar daddy.”
And call me crazy, but while it’s fine for Supreme Court justices to have good friends, I think it’s not healthy for the Court for them to have sugar daddies.
The recap is perfect and restated for emphasis:
"Any one of these things and you might say, “Hmmm. That’s a little strange. But whatever. Rich people are weird and if you have a rich friend maybe they do weird friend stuff.”
But take all of them together? Now we go from “a little weird” to “this is what cam girls hope for in a sugar daddy.”
And call me crazy, but while it’s fine for Supreme Court justices to have good friends, I think it’s not healthy for the Court for them to have sugar daddies."
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4 hours ago, Neonmoon said:
Alito can get fucked
Alas, if only he could have gotten fucked in his youth, I suspect he wouldn't be the piece of shit he is today ...
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Too bad they weren't all strapped ...
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32 minutes ago, TexEx15 said:
Agreed. The facts he presents here is just mind boggling.
Serious people like this guy and Katie Porter should be leading all Congressional budget discussions. It's too bad the rest of Congress has absolutely no interest in actually addressing the deficit / national debt issues and instead are just hell-bent on (1) pointing fingers at the other side and (2) ensuring the pork continues to flow for their constituents. Unfortunately, with the way the country is going, Jeff and Katie will be out of office in 2024 doing TED Talks. Oh well ...
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Charlie Sykes had a nice piece on the Abbott pardon this morning. I hadn't seen all of the details summarized like this before. If this is all accurate, it's fucking astonishing that he's considering going down this path. You'd think that the open carry cos-players that like to hang out at protests with AR-15s would understand how this could all play out ("he could have shot me in less than a second and he seemed so angry, I just had to gun him down first!"), but then again, I guess we all understand that this only works in one direction. Infuriating.
Greg Abbott's Jury Nullification - by Charlie Sykes (thebulwark.com)
QuoteI am a bit late to this story because, I have to admit, part of me thought: surely, this cannot be as mind-bendingly awful as it sounds.
But it is.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott appears determined to pardon Daniel Perry, who was just convicted of murdering BLM protester Garrett Foster.
And so begins another chapter in our political devolution.
**
“The jury’s verdict was both reasonable and consistent with Texas law,” writes Radley Balko, but the “entire horrific incident is now firmly enmeshed in the culture war.” As usual, Fox News has seized on the case with a torrent of misinformation, and Abbott has seized on the murder as an opportunity for tossing more bloody red meat to the base.
I suppose we could think of it as the Kyle Rittenhouse Effect, but this case is much worse.
The day the jury unanimously convicted Perry, Abbott declared on Twitter: “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney.”
Nick Catoggio notes that Abbott makes “no specific allegation of misconduct. The closest Abbott gets is accusing the jury and local district attorney of having ‘nullified’ the state’s ‘stand your ground law, which smells suspiciously like code for ‘reached a verdict that offends my political prejudices.’ ”
Either Abbott is suggesting that Perry’s account of what happened is so compelling that it should override the considered judgment of the D.A., a grand jury, and a trial jury—which is unlikely—or he means to signal that anyone who kills a left-wing activist in Texas should and will be excused provided there’s a fig leaf of self-defense.
And, indeed, that seems to be exactly what Abbott is signaling.
**
Radley Balko breaks down what we know about the case:
— According to multiple witnesses, Perry ran a red light, then accelerated directly toward a group of protesters. He could easily have driven around the protest. He did not.
— According to multiple witnesses, Perry’s car nearly struck Foster’s fiancée Whitney Mitchell and the man who was pushing her wheelchair. (Mitchell is a quadruple amputee. Not related, but also awful — year later, an Austin police officer would dump her from her wheelchair during a protest.)
— According to multiple witnesses, protesters then surrounded Perry’s car, some of them kicking or slapping at the outside of it. Foster stood next to the car, holding his rifle. Multiple witnesses say Foster never pointed his rifle at Perry, though it’s worth noting that these witnesses were protesters, and thus hostile to Perry. The only photo of the incident is ambiguous.
— Perry himself initially said Foster never pointed the rifle at him. During his police interrogation, Perry said, “I believe he was going to aim at me. I didn’t want to give him a chance to aim at me.” If someone is holding a rifle in your general vicinity, but not pointing it at you, you do not have legal cover to kill them.
— According to multiple witnesses, Foster also gestured for Perry to move on. He also instructed Perry to stay in his car to avoid any further confrontation. Neither is consistent with someone who presented an immediate threat to kill or harm Perry.
— Despite claims from right wing personalities, Foster never fired his gun.
— Even if Foster had pointed his gun at Perry, he would not have been in violation of Texas law. Based on Perry’s actions — running a red light toward a group of protesters — Foster had good reason to believe that Perry was attempting to harm Foster and those around him. He had the right to use lethal force to defend himself and others.
— At Perry’s trial, a defense expert testified that Foster could have raised his rifle and shot Perry in well less than a second. This is irrelevant. Texas is an open carry state. Anyone openly carrying a rifle could, in theory, point, aim, and kill someone in a fraction of a second. If what Foster did justifies lethal self-defense, you could plausibly argue the same about anyone carrying a rifle in public, particularly at a protest, or at any tense situation where there’s the possibility of conflict.
The court record is filled with details about Perry’s possible motivation. “There is ample evidence,” writes Balko, “that Perry intended to harm the protesters.”
— In one Facebook comment responding to a post about protesters in another state, Perry wrote, “send them to Texas. We will show them why we say don’t mess with Texas.”
— A friend of Perry’s also testified that a month before the incident, Perry had texted him to ask about other incidents in which someone had shot at protesters, and inquired if those shootings were legal.
— In the weeks leading up to the incident, Perry had conducted internet searches on the phrases “protest tonight”, “protesters in Seattle gets shot,” “riot shootouts,” and “protests in Dallas live.”
— After that latter search, Perry texted to a friend, “I might go to Dallas to shoot looters.”
— Among the other messages and comments he had recently sent or left online: “I might have to kill a few people on my way to work they are rioting outside my apartment complex,” and “No protesters go near me or my car.”
**
But in the right-wing media ecosystem, it is Foster who is being demonized, while his murderer is lionized. Writes Balko: “You only valorize Garrett Foster’s killer if you’ve convinced yourself that Foster deserved to die….
If Abbott and the Texas pardon board want to free Perry and clear his record, they have the power to do it. But we ought to be clear about why they’re doing it. This isn’t about the rule of law. It’s the rule of ideology, enforced with violence.
Balko’s analysis here is scorching:
For all the degeneracy on the political right in the Trump era, this is what I find most alarming—the dehumanizing of political opponents to the point where violence isn’t merely justifiable, it’s almost a moral imperative.
Their opponents aren’t just wrong, they’re criminal.
People accused of crimes aren’t just presumed guilty, they deserve to be abused by police. Immigrants aren’t just crossing the border illegally, they’re mostly rapists and criminals.
Protesters aren’t merely misguided, they should be flattened by big-ass trucks.
Exit take: This is how a cold civil war becomes a hot one.
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28 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:
add him to the list:
And this motherfucker would have gotten off with suspended prison / jail time (for raping a foster child over multiple years) if the court hadn't rejected his plea deal:
QuoteIn a proposed plea agreement filed for court's consideration dated Nov. 7, the maximum sentence for Koskan would have had a suspended execution of sentence with prison and jail time suspended. That plea agreement would have also included the following:
- Completing a psycho-sexual assessment as well as pay the victim's individual therapy sessions with a therapist of her choosing if she decides to attend therapy, according to the agreement.
- Paying the victim's course of study, including any tuition, fees, books and room/board at an accredited academic institution. The obligation will cease upon the victim's graduation or until she reaches the age of 22, whichever comes first, according to court documents.
- A 2017 Chevy Malibu in the victim's possession provided by Koskan will be signed over to her guaranteeing her continued use of the vehicle.
- Providing health, eye and dental insurance for the victim until she graduates or reaches the age of 22, whichever comes first, according to court documents.
- Koskan will have no contact, either by direct or indirect means, except as authorized by the court with the victim.
Judge rejects Joel Koskan's plea deal in child abuse case (argusleader.com)
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4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:
Kanye?
Clarence:
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3 minutes ago, C-Man said:
So exactly what Dotard and his family did. Exactly.
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6 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:
Huh. This must be something new. Also, your echo chamber is showing. The fastest growing demographic in firearm purchases are first time POC. Might want to look a bit deeper into your majority.
... he says with no introspection whatsoever ...
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17 minutes ago, YGIFS said:
What if we pronounce it both ways?
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3 minutes ago, HamsterHookah said:
I read somewhere that this guy had no legal record or medical alerts and was generally a regular guy who didn't raise alarms with neighbors, etc. Short of pre-crime and thought police, how can you keep guns away (in the current status quo) from someone who is mentally ill but hasn't been flagged as it yet?
That was my questioning response to sawbonz as a response to his rhetorical question.
Well, it would seem that he had so many concussions as an athlete that he wore a helmet when playing basketball. Given the correlation between CTE and impulsive / aggressive / violent behavior, maybe we could require a bit higher threshold before we let someone with this history buy a gun - especially an AR-15?
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5 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:
Toys?
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1 minute ago, CTC2 said:
The politicians in power in Texas reflect the positions and will of those who elected them. The TexAgs politics board is probably way more reflective of the sentiment in Texas than anything you would find stated in the Cloak Room.
Texas politics is shitty because most of the electorate is shitty.- 6
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35 minutes ago, Satchel said:
I have to agree. The Texas Three of Abbott, Paxton and Patrick is hard to beat.
It's a testament to how shitty Texas politics is when you have a discussion about the shittiest politicians in the state and don't even get to Ted Cruz (with shitstains like Gohmert, Sid Miller, Chip Roy, Troy Nehls, Jared Patterson, Brisoe Cain and Bryan Hughes still sitting on the bench). Fuck this state sucks.
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5 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:
Man, someone needs to give this gif the Looch treatment.
Dude - it's the internet. You know they're on it. Spoilered for the sensitive.
Spoiler- 2
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2 hours ago, Mo Horn said:
Might as well just cancel SXSW, Austin City Limits, and close down most of 6th street. Sorry broadway fans, Bass will no longer be bringing in shows. All local news anchors are out of jobs. Oh, and I hope next time hot wheels is giving an address on TV, there better be police ready to arrest him.
Nahh - it's limited to cross-dressing performers:
QuoteSec. 43.28. CERTAIN SEXUALLY ORIENTED PERFORMANCES PROHIBITED. (a) In this section, "sexually oriented performance" means a visual performance that: (1) features: (A) a performer who is nude, as defined by Section 102.051, Business & Commerce Code; or (B) a male performer exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience; and (2) appeals to the prurient interest in sex. So it could definitely end impacting Kiss or Poison, but unfortunately wouldn't catch this (as much as I'd love it if it did):
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6 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:
What kind of person has 8 cAses before the Supreme Court ?
Rich fuckers who want to make sure that nobody is going to stand between them and "their money" or stop them from keeping their boots on the necks of the common man?
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Just now, Biff Tannen said:
Why don't I get this reference?
Search Mussolini + Esso.
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36 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:
Again....that approach works really, really well. It's terribly effective. Right up until the moment it's not. And that's the moment you end up at an Esso station.
I like this idea as the first step for the counter-fascist movement. We should definitely buy up some gas stations close to the fascist centers of the country (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Idaho, etc.) and re-brand them old school Esso as a not-so-subtle warning of what comes next ...
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47 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:
fun fact - this is who forrest gump was named after.
Not that guy- this one ...
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3 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:
Catholics believe in the loophole. You should visit Latin America.- 2
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20 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:
Puritans are the worst. They don’t do anal.
What???? They don't believe in the Loophole?
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A story about a pathetic man's downfall [34 Felony Convictions]
in Cloak Room
Posted