[guest post by JVW]

We’ve talked about it before: that present mania of various political advocacy organizations to suggest that you steer the family Thanksgiving discussion into the realm of hotly contested debate. I mean, why let a family gathering ostensibly set around an elongated weekend of quiet reflection on the things for which we are extremely grateful be devoid of peckish quarrels about taxes, or health care, or foreign policy, or the Deep State, or wokedy-wokeness? You’ve got your captivated audience; why not use the opportunity to unload your entire sense of injustice and victimization?

Fortunately, as in years past, social media is full of ideas as to how to ensure that mom ends up quietly crying in the kitchen, Uncle Ben storms out of the house in a huff, and cousin Kate nervously drinks herself into a stupor. First up, the ever-redoubtable ACLU:

Some of our personal favorite Thanksgiving conversation starters:

💬 "My pronouns are…"

💬 "Firing people for being LGBTQ is illegal and Trump asked SCOTUS to change that"

💬 "Who loved Pose season 2?"

💬 "Please pass the pie, and the Equality Act"

— ACLU (@ACLU) November 27, 2019

Maybe those topics are too safe and generic for you, though. Perhaps you want to ensure that a quiet yet earnest discussion quickly escalates into a red-faced shouting match. I know: bring up abortion, a suggestion that elicited this hilarious response from National Review’s Charles W. Cooke:

“Hi guys! It’s so great to see you. Hold on, let me go back to the car to get the graphs, articles, and toolkit for my abortion presentation.”https://t.co/55oixmnVez

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 27, 2019

I don’t know about you guys, but in my family we always stuck to pretty safe and conventional topics at holiday meals: the severity of the recent snowstorm, whether the Broncos will be able to bounce back next year, and mild gossip regarding a cousin who was away at college and didn’t make it home for the holiday. I think in the long run that will be much better for family cohesion than knowing that Katie’s new “boyfriend” prefers to use “ze” and “zer” for the third-person pronoun.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

– JVW

[guest post by Dana]

No joke: As President Trump worked to distance himself from Rudy Giuliani during an interview with former Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly, Giuliani’s lawyer directed Giuliani to call Trump and reassure him that he wasn’t serious about having any sort of “insurance policy” on him in case Trump threw him under the bus:

The attorney, Robert Costello, said Giuliani “at my insistence” had called Trump “within the last day” to emphasize that he had not been serious when he said he had an “insurance policy, if thrown under the bus.”

“He shouldn’t joke, he is not a funny guy. I told him, ‘Ten thousand comedians are out of work, and you make a joke. It doesn’t work that way,’” Costello told Reuters. Giuliani has already said that he was being sarcastic when he made the comments. Trump, too, has brushed them off, telling reporters in the Oval Office this week that “Rudy is a great guy.” The White House declined to comment on Costello’s remarks.

Also noteworthy, during his interview with O’Reilly, Trump denied that Giuliani acted on his behalf in the Ukraine:

Asked point-blank if Giuliani was acting on his behalf in trying to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden—an issue now at the heart of an impeachment inquiry—Trump said, “No, I didn’t direct him, but he is a warrior, he is a warrior.”

When asked what Giuliani was doing in Ukraine, Trump deflected and told the ex-Fox anchor that he would “have to ask that to Rudy.”

“I know that he was going to go to Ukraine and I think he cancelled the trip. But Rudy has other clients, other than me. He’s done a lot of work in Ukraine over the years,” the president continued.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

pic.twitter.com/11nzKwOCtU

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2019

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana