It’s Thanksgiving Morning!
1 It’s also my wedding anniversary. I am very thankful , and proud, frankly, that I am one of the very few people among my pretty large and diverse community of friends, acquaintances and colleagues still married (after 37 years…yes, I married at 13) to the same person I pledged to make a life with “til death do us part.” It’s not easy, for anyone, and determination and commitment, forgiveness and contrition, are a large, crucial, indispensable part of it. A lot of the journey is based on ethics, in other words.
2. Surprise! More accusers of both Rep. John Conyers and Senator Franken surfaced yesterday. Conyers’ new alleged victim is Melanie Sloan, formerly the head of CREW, the left-wing D.C. ethics watchdog that somehow manages to see unethical conduct by Republicans about five times more often than it fingers Democrats. Sloan says she was not sexually harassed, but alleges that Conyers called him into his office to verbally abuse her while being dressed in his underwear. Uh, Melanie? If your boss is ever berating you in his underwear, that is per se sexual harassment. This is a hostile work environment; I don’t care if your superior is built like Batman…well, like his costume.
The predictable proliferation of accusers was why, in the hypothetical apology I authored for Alternate Universe Al, I included the part about mistreating other women. It was a sure thing; harassers harass, and if you are going to pretend that the first accuser was “just a mistake,” you might as well skip it and head for George Bailey’s bridge. In the sexual harassment training field, nothing is more certain than the fact that with the real harassers and predators, if there’s one victim, there are many. This is why the narrative about Anita Hill amounts to a Left-driven, media-driven smear of Clarence Thomas for the crime of being a black conservative.
An unanticipated horrible consequence of this leg of the Harvey Weinstein Ethics Train Wreck, which also includes new allegations about the Democratic Party’s keynote speaker when it was accusing conservatives of a “war on women,” as well the revelation that the GOP President who selected Thomas emulates his favorite magician, “David Cop-a-Feel,” is that it very well might elect Roy Moore, who is worse than any of them. Meanwhile, most analysts think that both Franken and Conyers will have to resign. ( I would eagerly vote for a mad scientist-make hybrid of Conyers and Franken—Frankenconyers!—before I would even shake Roy Moore’s grubby hand…and really, who knows where it’s been?)
Republicans have been incredibly lucky with their choices of foes, luckier than they deserve.
3. No sympathy from Ethics Alarms whatsoever. That cute stud, Texas Congressman Joe Barton, appears to have been the victim of “revenge porn,” which is illegal in Texas. Here’s a tip, Joe: If you don’t send disgusting nude selfies to women, they won’t be able to send them around the web after you go back to your wife. Yeah, it looks like his ex-girlfriend broke the law. It doesn’t change the Naked Congressman Principle in any way.
4. How brave of you… Another unethical side effect of the various wrecked careers as the Weinstein Express rolled over them is the proliferation of opportunistic cowards, who didn’t have the courage to criticize these predators while they were thriving, suddenly kicking them while they writhe on the ground. I am not speaking of the victims, but of vultures like Eve Fairbanks, who authored a piece for BuzzFeed called “We’ll Be Paying For Mark Halperin’s Sins For Years To Come.” His sins, in her eyes, are not so much the fact that he was a sexual predator (and another proud masturbator…what is it with these guys?) but that he—ready?—paved the way for Donald Trump by convincing the public “that politics is only comprehensible, like nuclear science, to a select few.” Eve saw this imagined sinister plot by a man who about 90% of the American public couldn’t pick out of a line=up all along, of course, but only now chooses to blow the whistle on him. This would be like standing over a pedestrian crushed by a falling safe and shouting, “Look out!,” if her assertion weren’t complete nonsense as well as craven.
Also in this unethical category is former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, who chooses now to be critical of her party, Bill Clinton, and Enabler in Chief Hillary for lying, covering and rationalizing so Bill’s serial sexual misconduct didn’t interfere with the Democratic agenda.
5. A depressing list…but impressive! If you haven’t kept up with the list of powerful men done in by this classic witch hunt, the New York Times did a nice summary two days ago. This means it is already out of date, however. I wonder what turkey will be outed today?
Ethics Alarms 
DId you see the 9th Circuit overturned Trump’s Turkey pardon?
And with that, Tex wins the Interwebs for today.
Capital punishment is back in California?
Yeah! And they’ve already been tied to Russia.
With all the sexual assault allegations flying, hasn’t it been a sort of weird relief from hearing Democrats screaming about Russia?
# 4 (kind of) Some Lefty X-Chromosomal Units are now condemning Bill Clinton (MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski) or are saying he should’ve resigned (U.S. Senator Kirstin Gillibrand [D-NY])
Has anything new surfaced about the former Serial-Sexual-Predator-In-Chief to spur this brave, albeit sudden, ardently vocal desire to right wrongs from a time long past; was there no opportunity to do so on a more timely basis?
Is it because they don’t want raging, Karmic hypocrisy to take a big, wet bite out of their pampered pandering asses when they go after Moore, Barton, The Donald, and sundry other perverted Righty dicks?
Do they feel there’s nothing to lose, ergo, no down side by trying to look like they’re doing the right thing well after the expiry date?
Other Bill believes there exists the steadily increasing drumbeat of a Lefty Palace Coup afoot, zeroing in on the grifter extraordinaire heads of the Clintonista Crime Syndicate.
I believe he’s right.
Gillibrand is selling a particularly poisonous revisionism, saying that Bill Clinton should have left office because of his conduct toward women, while completely ignoring that the articles of impeachment concerned perjury and obstruction of justice (encouraging perjury by others).
”Gillibrand is selling a particularly poisonous revisionism,”
“Biting the hand that fed you” kinda poison?
She was appointed to HRC’s vacated Senate seat before being elected to it.
Philippe Reines (former SoS aide: “ ‘Ken Starr spent $70 million on a consensual blowjob,’ he wrote, referring to the investigation into Bill Clinton. ‘Senate voted to keep [President Clinton]. But not enough for you @SenGillibrand? Over 20 yrs you took the Clintons’ endorsements, money, and seat. Hypocrite. Interesting strategy for 2020 primaries. Best of luck.’ ” (bolds mine)
Ouch!!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/11/17/why-kirsten-gillibrands-bold-statement-that-bill-clinton-shouldve-resigned-is-a-big-deal/?utm_term=.98737f456631
I saw a headline for a story by the NYT’s Ross Douthout along the lines of “What if Ken Starr was Right?” I didn’t bother to read it because I wasn’t sure where I was on my ten freebies per month on the Times. But that was a shock. What a bunch of weirdos.
The question for the Dems is if not Hillary or Biden or Nancy Pelosi or Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer, who’s going to be a national candidate in 2020 or other wise lead the party? The leadership is stepping into the grave and there’s just nobody coming up behind them. Who is Wall Street going to back among the Dems? Silicon Valley? Bernie and Liz Warren are unelctable (and annoying). I think the Resistance notwithstanding, the Dems are in real trouble, a real power and leadership vacuum.
They may have to trot out Harrold Stassen, I mean, Hillary R. Clinton again and pretty darned soon.
”The leadership is stepping into the grave and there’s just nobody coming up behind them.”
Ya think?
While no endorsement of the fitness or the efficacy of the Republican Party, I’m thinking the “up-n-comers” are of the same…um…mettle as the tit turd son “Junior” of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (played by “The Great One” in the eminently kitschy “Smokey And The Bandit” trilogy)
Anywho, the leadership views itself the same way Michael Corleone viewed Hyman Roth: “he (Roth) thinks he’s going to live forever.”
I get the idea (deftly planted by you) that no one(s) want(s) to be identified as the one(s) that directed the Clintons onto the ice floe that will hasten them to the next stage of their existence; Gramma/Yoga/Grandkids/Golf, what-have-you.
The latest iteration (Chair Tommy Perez) of the Brain Trust of a cascading failure better known as the DNC waxes hysterically philosophical: “the party needs to go to the suburbs, the exurbs and rural America, and talk to people.”
Yet this same party: “Scroll down the Democrats’ home page and you’ll find a dull party platform with 93 bullet points and a list of links entitled ‘People.’ Each link leads to a subgroup: Women. Hispanics. LGBT people. ‘Ethnic Americans.’ There are 17 different groups, and a different message tailored for each.” (bolds mine)
https://nypost.com/2017/08/26/democrats-wont-win-in-2018-unless-they-start-doing-this/
That’s a lotta groups, am I right? Think that 17 includes the White working class?
Me either.
Rant of the day. Awesomely eloquent.
Rantage? Allow me to recommend a book I was bequeathed by a Dear Friend: “The Rant Zone” by Dennis Miller.
It’s the only book that’s ever prompted open-n-loud guffaws from me; and in an airport no less.
More on the snowballing Clintonista Cleansing.
Former HHS secretary & KS governor Kathleen Sebelius: “Not only did people look the other way, but they went after the women who came forward and accused him (Bill Clinton). And so it doubled down on not only bad behavior but abusive behavior. And then people attacked the victims.” (bolds mine)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/22/politics/sebelius-clinton-white-house-behavior/index.html
Et tu, Kathleen?
May we take “people” to include HRC?
Got any stock tips, OB?
But then there’s THIS: https://www.salon.com/2017/11/24/heres-your-leftover-turkey-the-case-for-hillary-clinton-2020/
Kind of a mixed message in the weird headline though. Is Hillary a left over turkey? But maybe she’s all the Dems have for 2020 notwithstanding some people are trying to take her out. I’m sure this article was provided to Salon by Hillary’s PR machine.
Where has Dennis Miller gone? My son and I saw him do a show live in Phoenix a few years ago. Tremendous. He can just spew uproariously funny and damning stuff at a breathtaking pace. An interesting mind.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Anniversary!
Still you continue with the false allegations against soon to be US Senator Moore. False allegations are just about the most unethical behavior there is. Shame on ya, sport.
Wait…did we cross web addresses with the National Cretins Association?
Roy Moore would be disqualified from serving in the Senate if his dating practices were as chaste as Pat Boone’s. He was an unethical judge. He’s a theocrat. He has defied the Supreme Court. He’s a homophobic bigot. And he’s a liar. Nor do the allegations of child abuse appear to be false.
Get an integrity transplant, Sport.
Roy Moore would be disqualified from serving in the Senate if his dating practices were as chaste as Pat Boone’s. He was an unethical judge. He’s a theocrat. He has defied the Supreme Court. He’s a homophobic bigot. And he’s a liar.
And yet you still call Trump’s choice to support him ethical, because it may possibly prevent him from being impeached…
No.
Senators have absolutely no impact on whether anyone is impeached. As you should well know.
If the Democrats are willing to impeach and convict Trump for ANY reason they want (and given the rabid blatherings I’ve read, they do), the primary reasons they seem willing to consider is merely having majorities in the House and Senate in 2018. Such an impeachment for literally nothing but partisan spite would do far more damage to the Republic than the election of one bad Senator.
In that ethics balance it is *more* ethical for Trump to support Moore even if supporting Moore is unethical on it’s own.
Rabid blathering is not action. They are not going to impeach Trump for nothing; they can’t. Supporting Moore on the off-chance they will is absurd.
“They are not going to impeach Trump for nothing; they can’t.”
There is literally nothing stopping them but their own belief in the Constitution. If they had majorities in both Houses they could technically ram it through.
Securing the conviction would be a bit harder, as long as the Supreme Court believes in the Constitution.
It’s pretty obvious that the Dems WILL pursue impeachment when they get the majority. Let’s not make facile statements please.
Happy anniversary and happy Thanksgiving, Jack. Thanks for all your hard work at Ethics Alarms.
Second.
It seems to me that the Alabama Senate race goes back to the original deal to appoint Strange. If the governor had come up with a better choice, Moore might not have made it past the primary.
As it is, I think Moore may still go down in the election next month. However, continued harassment of Alabama voters by the media will probably only help Moore, in my opinion. No one likes to be bullied.
The good news? I think the seat is up for election in 2020, if memory serves.
Happy Anniversary, and Happy Thanksgiving, Jack!
Happy Anniversary Jack!
Thanks, Charlie!
This is a post you might appreciate. Reflections on the United States from a British perspective: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/7ezkk0/what_is_the_most_american_thing_you_can_think_of/dq8m3t6/
Happy Anniversary!
Hope you had a great anniversary and Thanksgiving, Jack.
Thanks! And you as well…except I assume it wasn’t your anniversary.