That self-satisfied, sanctimonious tone, the total spinelessness of speaking secretly from the shadows without actually doing anything to address a very dangerous national crisis, the smug expectation of not facing any real consequences for writing that NYT piece—even without the “lodestar” stuff I was sure Mike F-ing…

I apologize for using the wrong title for the Queen. I think I actually knew better but was carried away by the historical resonance of the older title.

This is so very obviously a signal to powerful women-despising/abusing men in the business. “Hire me! I’m on your side and won’t hold you accountable for what you do to women. In fact, maybe I’ll join you!”

The truth is even better: the Queen of England herself directly ordered the performance. No stuffy colonels could get in the way of that. She has been a true fan for decades.

I feel no sympathy for her, but I do for her children. Growing up mentally and emotionally healthy will be a challenge. And they have horrible Huckabee for a grandfather, too.

Stupid? Sounds more like a narcissist to me. They typically believe that nothing is ever their fault and that they can convince people of anything given a chance.

That’s so funny! Mazin was ahead of all of us in enduring Cruz and paid a heavy price: living in a single room with him for a hellish school year. My favorite Mazin/Trump takedown was cited earlier in this thread: after politician Cruz held forth in typical eye-wateringly pompous style to the effect that touching…

This line about Beto O’Rourke using that version of his first name deliberately to appeal to Latinos has been tried. In another thread a poster pointed out that Cruz himself tried it, and O’Rourke responded with an old photo showing himself as a little boy in a shirt that says “Beto” (https://www.theroot.com/182854134…

Yes, Mazin’s larval-Cruz (or maybe pupal-Cruz, as he was swathed in that paisley bathrobe) zingers are deadly and utterly consistent with his later behavior. Cruz was apparently born for today’s horrible GOP politics, he didn’t need to be corrupted from innocence. What a nightmare roommate he must have been.

Well, even the Texas GOP hesitated to show their boy Cruz at that formative young age, wandering around the end of the dorm hallway where the the girls’ rooms were in his paisley bathrobe, creeping them out enough that they kept having to ask his roommate Craig Mazin to keep him away.  

No argument can be made that maybe Francis is being deceived by lying advisors and really does not know. The documentation is there to be read, and it is damning. The hypocrisy and protection of abusers go to the top, even the “cool pope.” Rotten to the core.

McCain’s political legacy should be largely that of someone who frequently and loudly toyed with doing the right thing and yet decided to do the other thing almost every single time, and who was a willing and active participant in the destruction of one country and helping the racist, authoritarian right rise in his…

As someone else suggested earlier in this thread, I would not assume she was willing. He would be bigger, stronger, richer, with a history of assaulting women, and she needed to keep her job.  Who could she complain to, and how would it help her?

I read Mary Roach’s fascinating book Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal (https://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventures-Alimentary-Mary-Roach/dp/0393348741/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535167544&sr=8-1&keywords=mary+roach+gulp) a couple of years ago, and she had a section on megacolon. In at least some of the cases, the…

I agree. IMO another issue will be making the characters relatable and recognizably human. The books were about ideas, not people. The main characters were not only mostly nominally male, they were cardboard cutouts, placeholders for concepts, and they did not ring true as human beings. To me, it was as if a very…

That’s great! I had not seen it. Cruz would not come off well in a debate with O’Rourke unless its format allowed him to tell lies without challenge. Texans appreciate a sharp sense of humor skewering self-important hypocrisy.

No, usually more cagey than that, calculated to appeal to Trumpites. Like saying his first name is deliberately used to dishonestly pander to Latinos or that his position is disrespectful to veterans. These comments are pretty much drowned out by the positive ones, though, and any sane person actually listening to…

Oh yes. He’s been working hard to be heard and to connect to Texas voters though, and it’s been getting through. I recommend this video from his Bill Maher interview in March:

The Guardian has the question and O’Rourke’s answer without the irritating and unnecessary background music:

I agree.  I initially thought they actually had “dropped” it, as in cancelled it.  A letdown to find the word was misapplied in this context and was being used for the opposite meaning, “announced.”