Outside the Beltway

SaturTabs

Steven L. Taylor
32

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Dan Meyer, a national security attorney in Washington, DC, said the incoming Trump administration “doesn’t want harmony.” They “don’t want the FBI to coordinate a norm; they want to hammer the norm,” he said.

  • Via WaPo: Trump tests loyalty of Republican allies with wild opening salvoes. I think, clearly, part of what is going on with the slate of truly unqualified and abhorrent nominations (specifically Noel, Hegseth, Gabbard, Kennedy, and Gaetz) is a test to see how far the Senate GOP will go, as well as how much official pushback that he gets. Getting Murkowski and Collins upset doesn’t matter to him, nor to the broader project. There was less official resistance in 2016 than I thought was warranted, and I think there will be even less now.
  • For the “Checks and Balances Will Save Us” crowd (as quoted in the link above):

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32 responses to “SaturTabs”

  1. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    WRT: Background checks

    If I were Biden, I would order the FBI to conduct background checks on all candidates whether the background checks are requested or not.

    No more fooling around. And no more being intimidated by Trump and his goons.

    Results can be submitted directly to the Senate.

    11
  2. Michael Reynolds Avatar
    Michael Reynolds

    @Scott:
    Biden is a tired old man. He’s not going to do anything.

    4
  3. Michael Reynolds Avatar
    Michael Reynolds

    For the Senate to do anything at all we’d need two more Republicans in addition to Murkowski and Senator Concerned of Maine. I’m betting in the end only Murkowski will oppose anything.

    6
  4. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Michael Reynolds: I think Murkowoski will oppose all of the kooks. And I expect one of the kooks to go down as a sacrificial lamb–maybe two, but see most of them making it.

    5
  5. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    “Your body, my choice. Forever” ought to make any semi-self-respecting woman insane with rage.

    Forever.

    10
  6. DeD Avatar
    DeD

    My sentiments on Your Body, My Choice:

    Every woman should carry a .38 revolver and an ice pick. Any dude who expresses that trashy mindset should be considered an immediate threat of bodily harm and dealt with accordingly. Ladies, the first asshole who reaches his hands in your direction, give it to him good and hard. Cuz f*k em.

    11
  7. Sleeping Dog Avatar
    Sleeping Dog

    Your body, my choice. Why incels will remain incels.

    6
  8. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @Sleeping Dog:

    Unless “their choice” is rape, which I think many of them would vastly prefer anyway.

    3
  9. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    @Scott: There are parts of background checks that require the cooperation of the candidates. Even if Biden directs the FBI to start, they won’t be complete.

    2
  10. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    @DeD:

    I think you vastly underestimate the number of men who feel entitled to grope women. I constantly have men sticking their hands up my skirt. The last guy ran his finger from front to back. When I turn around to confront him he gloated and smirked.

    It was the second time I was groped that night.

    1
  11. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    Why does it seem like Nehls questioned whether his tie was appropriate. But not for the reason you think. More likely, he questioned whether stylizing Trump’s name with an American flag debases the name rather than the flag.

    It’s a little like when someone tells me they are honest. Once, in context, it raises no red flags. But if that word gets used multiple times, I am done believing it.

    Ostentatious displays of religiosity?Considering some of the content in the Gospels, the intent of the wearer seems obvious to me. And not for the reason they think.

    3
  12. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Beth:

    No, no, no Beth. You see, you made the choice to wear a skirt. If you do not want to be treated like a slut, do not dress like one. How can you expect adult men to control themselves in that situation?

    Just in case: /s

    IIRC, you have issues during phone calls wrt to your name and your voice. Did you by chance say anything to these men? Because if you did, it may have caused a psychological crisis for them. Not saying it makes up for sexual assault. But, it is a bit of comeuppance.

    Then again, it could be a danger to your safety.

    1
  13. Steve V Avatar
    Steve V

    Mark Cuban could be an ok “Rogan of the Left” if he took up podcasting. (If he already has a podcast, shows you how much I know.)

  14. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    @Kurtz:

    I have before. It doesn’t really do anything. They don’t care. Women are objects to these men. They don’t care what noises the object makes.

    Also, trans porn is hugely popular. Many men won’t admit to it. Many men are liars. The fact that I’m trans makes it better for a subset of men.

    I can also say with confidence that my experiences with this are quite normal among women. Ask the women in your lives what happens to them and just listen.

    2
  15. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Beth:

    I apologize if I was offensive.

    Also, I did not mean to give the impression I was not aware of the prevalence. I have seen enough in person and looked at enough data to know it is pervasive.

    Actually, it happened to a past girlfriend on one of our first dates. I was distracted by something, and a man groped her right next to me while my attention was in the opposite direction. She told me about it later.

    The disconnect between public and private behavior of some of the most vocal bigots is interesting, but not at all surprising. After all, if one accepts that sexual assault is not, at base, about sex, but about power, then it follows that groping is primarily about asserting a claim to ownership.

    Moreover, the pattern of sexual assault in the contexts of war, chattel slavery, and prison, the social attitudes that excuse or justify that behavior, and the disconnect between other expressions of bigotry and the forced sexual act, probably reveals a lot about social psychology.

    Again, I sincerely apologize if my post was flippant. It was not intended to be. Upon reflection, I should have just directly asked about the reaction to your voice.

    2
  16. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @Beth: Based on DeD’s original comment, I’m thinking that your complaint is that there aren’t enough bullets in a .38 to shoot all the men you’d have to shoot?

    2
  17. Stormy Dragon Avatar
    Stormy Dragon

    @Kurtz:

    Because if you did, it may have caused a psychological crisis for them. Not saying it makes up for sexual assault. But, it is a bit of comeuppance.

    Which could result in them murdering Beth and getting away with it because of a trans panic defense

    Jury acquits Maryland man who shot and killed transgender woman Meghan Riley Lewis

    1
  18. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Stormy Dragon:

    See the last line:

    Then again, it could be a danger to your safety.

    1
  19. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:
    Surely this is the use case the Colt Super .38 was designed for?
    (An uncle of mine used to have one such, many years ago)

  20. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @Steven L. Taylor:
    As per my previous comments: imho I suspect some of these nominations are about setting up a confrontation with sane Senate Republicans, and them “submit, or get primaried”.
    How many Republican senators are now safe from an ultra-MAGA primary attack?

    1
  21. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    @DeD: it’s really unfortunate that mace isn’t legal in all states. We should be encouraging less lethal self-defense mechanisms.

    The problem with women getting guns is that statistically the larger danger is the man they date, who might get access to that gun.

    I believe the biggest danger is that the man will get ahold of the gun, kill himself and leave a mess. Just like men to leave a mess for women to clean up.

    I feel like I have gone over some kind of line, but I can’t tell where it was. Anyway, we need mace legal everywhere and canisters designed to be foolproof. And women should consider whether lesbian relationships might be right for them.

    4
  22. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    @Kurtz:

    After all, if one accepts that sexual assault is not, at base, about sex, but about power, then it follows that groping is primarily about asserting a claim to ownership.

    I’ve often wondered if the creepy foot fetishists online who like to comment “thank you for wearing open toed shoes” to women they don’t know are really into feet, or whether they are just into humiliating women.

    I would think it’s all the latter, but apparently people can make money selling pictures of their feet, so… I have no idea.

    I would feel better if the quiet-foot-enthusiasts would comment things like “what the hell is wrong with you?” when someone does that. Maybe with a #notallfootfetishists tag.

    There must be decent foot fetishists who remember that women are people, and just quietly enjoy and don’t try to drag random women into their fantasies, right?

    (As a tall man, #notallmen makes me slightly uncomfortable… tall foot fetishists might also be uncomfortable with that)

    1
  23. Stormy Dragon Avatar
    Stormy Dragon

    @Gustopher:
    If I remember correctly, during the Vietnam War, nearly two thirds of infantry, despite extensive training, would not shoot to kill, even when faced with imminent mortal peril.

    The big problem with self defense firearms is that most people aren’t psychologically capable of killing another person, so they can’t actually defend themselves with a gun even in perfect circumstances.

    5
  24. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    @JohnSF:

    The felon has already set up a PAC for just that purpose.

    So, we’ll be back to the refrain that they must knuckle under, because otherwise worse people will be elected. For instance, those who would knuckle under.

    4
  25. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Gustopher:

    (As a tall man, #notallmen makes me slightly uncomfortable… tall foot fetishists might also be uncomfortable with that)

    As a man of average height, this is pretty funny. It seems like height is a binary–tall/not tall. This tendency is often seen in sports–a player is either a superstar or trash to some people.

    Overall, caucasian cis-men deal with comparatively small problems that are related to phenotypic identity.

    1
  26. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @Stormy Dragon:
    This is one reason why combat veteran formations were always regarded in European armies as far more effective than new formations.
    Training to kill, and yet not produce psychopaths, is a perennial problem of modern armies.
    Especially in the post-musket era.

    I vaguely recall a British study on this from the 1940’s: experience from WW2 indicated that navy, air force, and armour units had far less problems in the “shoot to kill” issue, perhaps because it was less “up close and personal”.

    OTOH, various veterans I’ve known came to set aside all such inhibitions.
    But one thing is telling: almost none would readily talk about it casually, if at all.

    I got some to speak of it on the basis of historic information.
    But some never would.
    My maternal grandfather was with KSLI (that is, assault infantry) at the Somme.
    He had a “commendation in despatches” for his actions.
    He would never, ever, talk about it with anybody at all.

    OTOH, an uncle once told me that most SS troops they captured after seeing the concentration camps were “shot trying to escape”.

    The lesson generally learnt: war and civil society are very, very different things entirely.
    Few combat veterans I have known thought being “armed and dangerous” was a sensible way to go about one’s everyday business.
    Whatever the NRA might think.

    3
  27. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @Kurtz:
    Ah, but how tall is “tall”?
    I’m 6′, which is only 3” over the UK male average.
    And yet apparently I can loom quite a bit. 🙂

    Otoh, if among a bunch of rugby players, (average height 6′ 3”, and often MUCH wider in proportion) I’m Mr Tiny. lol.

    I don’t know if American Xitter chat is at all representative. Probably almost certainly not, thinking about it.
    But it strikes me that in most cases of the incel misogynists, body image is the least of their problems.

    A basic course in moral philosophy might be more helpful.
    Proposition 3: “You do NOT have an right to expect others to comply with your preferences.”

    2
  28. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    @Kurtz:

    No worries. I understood where you were coming from.

    Honestly I consider it a failing on my part that I didn’t realize how bad the problem was until I transitioned. Hell, I didn’t ever worry about being raped until I was on the el and 4 men sat near me and talked about raping and beating me.

    For what it’s worth, I’m 6’0 and 200 pounds. It won’t matter that I’m physically large. I’m not strong at all.

    2
  29. Kingdaddy Avatar
    Kingdaddy

    @Beth: But in a truly civilized society, we shouldn’t need to make such calculations at all.

    3
  30. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @JohnSF:

    A basic course in moral philosophy might be more helpful.

    You can lead an incel to reason, but you can’t…

    1
  31. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Beth:

    My initial thought was that you and I have interacted enough that it would be clear.

    But then I second-guessed.

    1
  32. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @Kurtz: You can lead an incel to water, too, but holding his head under it is still a homicide charge. 🙁

    4

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