Patterico's Pontifications

7/27/2020

Freedom of Expression More Protected Than Ever – Legally. Culturally, Not So Much…

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:37 am



[guest post by Dana]

A new national poll by the CATO Institute delivers some not good news:

The survey found that self-censorship has become extremely widespread in American society, with 62 percent of adults saying that, given the current political climate, they are afraid to honestly express their views.

“These fears cross partisan lines,” writes Emily Ekins, Cato’s director of polling. “Majorities of Democrats (52 percent), independents (59 percent), and Republicans (77 percent) all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share.” The survey’s 2,000 respondents sorted themselves ideologically as “very liberal,” “liberal,” “moderate,” “conservative,” or “very conservative.” In every category except “very liberal,” a majority of respondents feel pressured to keep their views to themselves. Roughly one-third of American adults — 32 percent — fear they could be fired or otherwise penalized at work if their political beliefs became known.

Key difference:

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence, freedom of expression has never been more strongly protected — legally.

But culturally, the freedom to express unpopular views has never been more endangered.

More speech, more speech, more speech…

–Dana

98 Responses to “Freedom of Expression More Protected Than Ever – Legally. Culturally, Not So Much…”

  1. Good morning.

    Dana (25e0dc)

  2. 1984, is a how to manual for them, his name is strangio, is this on?

    narciso (7404b5)

  3. ‘we will not let you be involved, you will have a new history’

    narciso (7404b5)

  4. I wonder if this phenomenon also applies to political polling these days.

    Biden had better hope not.

    Hoi Polloi (2f1acd)

  5. Alexis De Tocqueville wrote about the same phenomenon in 1835-1840. Public opinion as a “species of religion” with its own ministering clergy. In America.

    nk (1d9030)

  6. Reminder that we were discussing this nearly five years ago, and instead of getting better the situation has only gotten worse.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  7. remember microaggression, the incidents at yale missou dartmouth, what has bill ayers influence on the curriculum has wrought, same with susan rosenberg, howard zinn,

    narciso (7404b5)

  8. Aren’t we just seeing the principles of capitalism getting applied to the marketplace of ideas?

    “The world fashioned by the mass media is a public sphere in appearance only.” Jurgen Habermas

    Leviticus (efada1)

  9. I would have preferred michael fumento,

    narciso (7404b5)

  10. How many are willing to express their views on Facebook? I’m not.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  11. I wonder if this phenomenon also applies to political polling these days.

    Unlikely, especially as many phone polls are now robocalls. While there may be a small effect, the preference to call landlines is a far greater bias.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  12. And the only group that feels like they can openly express their views are far leftists. Why not when you have big tech and the media leading the way.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  13. Only proles and animals are free. Trump has to worry about re-tweeting a moron chanting “White Power”, the moron has nothing to worry about because he has nothing to lose.

    nk (1d9030)

  14. two minute has gotten over extended, all including his family is fair game, with obama well it’s much like what gillum was caught doing, what they sent walter jenkins away for,

    narciso (7404b5)

  15. it began with shutting down administration officials in the 80s, it escalated to injuring congresspersons and worse in the 2016 cycles, and mere followers were fair game, then they play these stupid games, with the boogaloo nonsense and other idiocy,

    narciso (7404b5)

  16. “How many are willing to express their views on Facebook? I’m not.”

    – Kevin M

    I’m not on Facebook. Never have been. I’ve boycotted it – I think the product is toxic. I would think this decision concerns no one.

    So, if I boycott an “idea-product” in the marketplace of ideas – and encourage others to do the same – is that really so different? Would I be “endangering” the idea that I decided to boycott?

    Leviticus (efada1)

  17. Most online people blog and comment anonymously. Before the internet, folks typically limited their deepest thoughts to family and close friends. Anonymity online has given us more opportunities to share our thoughts, not less, and ultimately it is the thoughts that matter more than our identities.

    This isn’t really a change for American thought. Thomas Paine’s influential book Common Sense was published anonymously.

    DRJ (aede82)

  18. corporations close ranks, law abiding citizens are as much at the mercy of corrupt prosecutors as with the rioters themselves, you think that’s a natural state?

    narciso (7404b5)

  19. speaking of corrupt officials, they can sign bill of attainders based on raw gossip, and turn the lives of citizens upside down, and lo to the one who tries to correct the record, because the corrupt press except for a handful are complicit time and again,

    narciso (7404b5)

  20. outright falsehoods are printed in scientific journals, who are conflicted by their sponsorship by certain corporations, sometimes it’s by commission, sometimes omission,

    narciso (7404b5)

  21. 20.Most online people blog and comment anonymously. Before the internet, folks typically limited their deepest thoughts to family and close friends.

    …. or rest room walls. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  22. A new national poll by the CATO Institute delivers some not good news: The survey found that self-censorship has become extremely widespread in American society, with 62 percent of adults saying that, given the current political climate, they are afraid to honestly express their views.

    Actually, this is VERY good news– to one Donald J. Trump.

    … and The Silent Majority smiled.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  23. Freedom of Expression More Protected Than Ever – Legally. Culturally, Not So Much … More speech, more speech, more speech …

    #18 – narciso: it began with shutting down administration officials in the 80s, it escalated to injuring congresspersons and worse in the 2016 cycles, and mere followers were fair game, then they play these stupid games, with the boogaloo nonsense and other idiocy,
    _____________________________

    It began well, well before that. For example, when WE capped the legislators – both fed & state, thereby cutting off the power of the People and began/caused the structural change from a Representative Republic – to an Oligarchy.

    See the lawsuit Citizens for Fair Representation v. Padilla, Case No.: 2:17-cv-00973-KJM-CMK http://stafnelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dkt-039-2018.03.19-2nd-Amended-Complaint.pdf ;
    The Role of Electoral Accountability in the Madisonian Machine (2008) New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy by Christopher M. Straw https://thirty-thousand.org/documents/Straw_Winter2008.pdf ; and,
    The Disappearance of Representative Government: A California Solution (1990) by Robert T. Monagan (Former Speaker of California Assembly) ISBN 0-933994-10-9 .

    Further example, see the USSC 9/0 case of New York Times, Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), which clearly was way overbroad, if not wrong, and caused an evisceration of the law of defamation, reputations, journalism and has led to a national food fight. See Was New York Times v. Sullivan Wrong? (1986) University of Chicago Law School by Richard A. Epstein https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://duckduckgo.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2295&context=journal_articles

    Of course, there are other causes/reasons, but the above are 2 big factors before the 80’s.
    More speech? Yes, but to get that, We need more members added to the legislatures, smaller legislative districts that are actually representative and better Supreme Court decisions on the law of defamation.

    Liberty & Truth require constant vigilance. GLZ.

    Gary L. Zerman (a1521c)

  24. Jennifer Rubin
    @JRubinBlogger
    [‘Conservative opinion writer‘ @WashingtonPost]

    7/27/2020

    Under Trump, the term “conservative” has become almost meaningless, in large part because the party that identifies with conservatism has become a cult of personality extolling whatever position Trump latches upon, no matter how incoherent or repulsive.
    __ _

    Jennifer Rubin
    @JRubinBlogger

    7/24/2020

    We’re all AOC.
    __ _

    harkin (42c195)

  25. ultimately it is the thoughts that matter more than our identities.

    Once upon a time, yes, but in today’s world, I think that is no longer true for a huge swath of online Americans. Two people can say essentially the same thing, and if one is left and one is right, the one on the right will be taken to the woodshed, while the one on the left – who said essentially the same thing – will be overlooked because tribalism.

    Dana (25e0dc)

  26. The twitter and social media mobs suck. So does the Prez’s constant public belittling of the press and. Using his influence to stifle the free expression of NFL players trying to kneel for the flag. And pressuring the NFL in their decisions about how to deal with it.

    JRH (52aed3)

  27. Once upon a time, yes, but in today’s world, I think that is no longer true for a huge swath of online Americans. Two people can say essentially the same thing, and if one is left and one is right, the one on the right will be taken to the woodshed, while the one on the left – who said essentially the same thing – will be overlooked because tribalism.

    Dana (25e0dc) — 7/27/2020 @ 12:42 pm

    There’s some of this that’s exactly what you say. Some of it is the assumption of good faith.

    When Tom Cotton says something that could be interpreted as disparaging of Christians people will look at it and think of other ways to interpret it. Those interpretations would probably be what he meant.
    When AOC says the same thing people will assume that it was intentional or reveals her honest opinion.

    One thing that’s interesting is that when the Cultural right was more popular it was the left that was more committed to free speech as a principle. Now that the cultural left is more popular it’s switching, but institutions like the ACLU aren’t responding as fast. This is harming free speech as a concept. The ACLU is a free speech organization with a leftist bent. They’re not a leftist organization. This harms free speech because there are people within the ACLU and donating to the ACLU that are fully free speech focused. The leftist bent impedes those people’s ability to do good work.

    FIRE does good work also, and has more of a right wing bent, but I think it’s a good bit smaller than the ACLU.

    Time123 (235fc4)

  28. Trump is probably whispering to the flag that it looks like Ivanka. That line always works.

    JRH (52aed3)

  29. JRH, What a gross and nasty thing to say. You should leave the presidents Daughter’s sexuality alone. If you want to go after her for nepotism or things she’s done/said have at it. But that was just gross.

    Time123 (235fc4)

  30. *I* should leave it alone? The Prez himself has made an issue of it many times and has seduced women by telling them they look like his daughter. Yes, gross. If I should leave it alone it’s bc it’s O/T.

    JRH (52aed3)

  31. @36
    No, The kids and family of elected officials should be handled with kids gloves. Even adults who are members of his administration / campaign should get some extra discretion. Similar to when someone has died. Or you can be a garbage person. Your call.

    Time123 (235fc4)

  32. @37. If she were a minor I’d agree. They are both adults and the Prez’s decision to sexualize his own daughter is fair game for discussion, imo.

    JRH (52aed3)

  33. Masked Plagiarist JoeyBee pays ‘tribute’ to Dead John Lewis in Capitol Rotunda w/his masked white wife at his side and two other masked white women.

    The only black there was dead in a casket.

    Way to go, Joe.

    Idiot.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  34. @42 why idiot? He’s got the black vote pretty solidly. Now he needs to look non-threatening to older white people.

    Time123 (235fc4)

  35. To be clear, I’m not disputing Joe’s an idiot. I just don’t see this as an example of it.

    Time123 (457a1d)

  36. Under Trump, the term “conservative” has become almost meaningless

    No, Jennifer– it was hollowed out long ago by the “don’t-do-as-I do-do-as-I-say” crowd: the Reagan Seeds like Newt Gingrich, Bill Bennett, etc., etc.

    Donald Trump is a Reagan Creation. Deal with it, dear.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  37. We’ve had partisan politics since our founding but they called it factions, not tribes. Europe has, too.

    DRJ (aede82)

  38. @43. If every black voted for Biden he still couldn’t win w/o whites– America is 73% white. It looks bad; and he looks bad– has an old man’s duck tail — he can’t even stand up straight. At his age with his mental, health and gaffe problems along with avoiding the press and being bunkered like a mushroom? The second he bows to pressure and picks a bossy black babe as his running mate is the moment he loses whites– and the election. ‘Whitey’ checked the black box in 2008 and 2012 and the babe box in 2016- at least by popular vote.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  39. @44. Image over substance rules– never forget, in this era Americans don’t want to be governed; they wish to be entertained. Trump understands this in spades [no pun intended;] plagiarist JoeyBee–or certainly his campaign staff- do not.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  40. I think this idea that people even remember Reagan (that was several thousand years ago) is really interesting. Kinda like speaking elvish to open the crumbling gates of the Capital Hill Club.

    Make America Great Again.

    If every black voted for Biden he still couldn’t win w/o whites–

    I am out and about a lot these days. Folks are miserable. They are scared about the future for their kids. Economic hope, national prestige, that basic sense of forward momentum, it’s just not present. That’s part of how Trump ain’t Reagan. That and about 30 IQ points.

    Biden will do well with black voters, but he’s also going to do well with Texans. I actually think he’s going to do so well that the perceived mandate will cause a lot of changes people aren’t voting for. They see the guy who walks tall in those aviators and they are just hoping he’s up for this because who else are they going to vote for?

    The more Biden talks, the more we realize he is not up for this, so maybe things tighten. But this notion of racial voting is kinda missing the Barack Obama election.

    Donald Trump is a Reagan Creation. Deal with it, dear.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/27/2020 @ 2:45 pm

    But we’re well aware of the conservative movement’s total trainwreck situation. This idea that Reagan is the root of all darkness is probably in your head. Remember why Carter lost. National prestige, hope, forward direction, that stuff matters.

    Remember, DCSCA, Biden is you. Dear.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  41. Notre Dame withdraws as presidential debate host site
    University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announced today the University has withdrawn as the host site for the first of the 2020 presidential debates, scheduled for Sept. 29.

    After consultation with Dr. Mark Fox, St. Joseph County deputy health officer, and with the unanimous support of the Executive Committee of the University’s Board of Trustees, Father Jenkins made what he called “this difficult decision because the necessary health precautions would have greatly diminished the educational value of hosting the debate on our campus.” In a letter earlier today to the Notre Dame community, Father Jenkins said that “the inevitable reduction in student attendance in the debate hall, volunteer opportunities and ancillary educational events undermined the primary benefit of hosting — to provide our students with a meaningful opportunity to engage in the American political process.”
    …….

    RipMurdock (d2a2a8)

  42. 5. 14. re: polling

    The ting to know about polling is that the percentage of people who answer a random telephone poll has dwindled to well under 10%. It’s both distrust and the number of telemarketing calls.

    I just got two. One that claimed to come from Apple (they rarely claim to come from a particular company telling me how my Apple iCloud account something. I pressed 1 and said this was strange since I didn’t have one. Then: Abrupt disconnection.

    Ten I got a call claiming to come from my “utility company” saying I was overcharged and I was eligible for a 30% rebate. After I pressed 1 this conversation lasted a bit longer but as soon as I seemed to show I knew what I was talking about again I got an abrupt disconnection.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  43. Now about polls:

    People who vote for Republicans tend to answer polls less frequently than people who vote for Democrats, and to distrust the, (from 1936 to about 1960, it was people who voted for Democrats who distrusted polls. Then after it was about even, and later reversed. I think what happened in 1936 is that there was an organized campaign to stuff the Literary Digest poll. Ballotrs were eft in public places like post offices.

    There is a whole art to adjusting (weighing) poll results.

    On some noncontroversial topics the way people who answer the poll and the people who don’t answer the poll wold answer it are similar. On others there is substantial difference of opinion related to propensity to answer the survey. It can still be adjusted correctly based on known information if that also is related to propensity to answer a survey.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  44. @49. If you’re suggesting Plagiarist JoeyBee is a Make America Great Again guy… it is a line lifted/stolen from that fella from 10,000 years ago— Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign.

    But this notion of racial voting is kinda missing the Barack Obama election.

    ?? That box was checked—twice, a thousand years ago by your calendar, in 2008 and 2012. It’s 2020 now.

    This idea that Reagan is the root of all darkness is probably in your head.

    More like the halls and cubicles of government– go down the roster, Reagan Seed is everywhere. Trump is a Reagan Creation; deal with it.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  45. U.S. Conservatism Down Since Start of 2020
    ……
    In January and February, an average of 40% of Americans identified as politically conservative. This was up from an average of 37% in 2019 and was tied for the highest rate of conservatism Gallup had recorded in the past six years. This coincided with President Donald Trump being acquitted of impeachment charges. It also came amidst strongly positive economic signals in the form of near-record-low unemployment and the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching record highs.

    Nevertheless, the percentage of Americans identifying as conservative reverted to an average 37% in March and April as the coronavirus pandemic emerged. It fell further to 34% in May and June as the pandemic has worn on, Trump’s job approval rating has tumbled, and the racial justice movement emerged as a national focus following the death of George Floyd.

    Meanwhile, the percentages identifying as liberal increased from an average of 22% in January/February to 26% in May/June.
    ……
    …..[It] was more pronounced among adults in upper-income households as well as among middle-aged adults (aged 35 to 54) than their counterparts.

    The conservative falloff has also been stronger among White and Hispanic Americans than Black Americans. Relatively few Black Americans (25%) identified as conservative in January/February, and thus there may have been less opportunity for the rate to decline.
    …..
    ……[Y]oung adults, college graduates, Black Americans and Democrats are the exceptions with more identifying as liberal than conservative. Still, aside from Democrats, all of these groups are most likely to identify as politically moderate.
    ……

    RipMurdock (d2a2a8)

  46. @50. Smackdown: Biden is an Irish Catholic.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. Calling Biden an idiot is understandable given his many gaffes, but it also reminds us that both candidates are mentally impaired.

    DRJ (aede82)

  48. Like people who were painting themselves blue just yesterday could create anything. It takes a Greek. The silent majority and nattering nabobs of negativism are Spiro Agnew creations.

    nk (1d9030)

  49. Like tom tsaldaris and rita kalamata

    Narciso (7404b5)

  50. @49. Remember, DCSCA, Biden is you. Dear.

    Uhhh, no Dustin– JoeyBee is a known PLAGIARIST.

    Every caught somebody committing plagiarism?

    I have… Dear.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  51. ?? That box was checked—twice, a thousand years ago by your calendar, in 2008 and 2012. It’s 2020 now.

    LOL very fair point.

    but if a black man can be president in America, this nation has changed a little bit over the years.

    Reagan Seed is everywhere.

    Also a fair point. Even Obama wanted us to think he was like Reagan. Something tells me that will be another distinction between Reagan and Trump, not that you’re wrong that Trump attempts to invoke some kind of capitalist optimism.

    But Trump’s a Soviet. Reagan was not.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  52. Check out video of Kudlow trying to wear a mask at his presser today– it keeps slipping off his snout because— he has the mask on upside down.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  53. Uhhh, no Dustin– JoeyBee is a known PLAGIARIST.

    I take it that you mean that because Biden has shown his lack of character and work ethic, by stealing the work of others, you resent being associated with him. But Biden is definitely the result of the culture of opposing Reagan, optimism, national prestige. The apology tour, where we run around and feel bad about being America leads to some very … empty leaders.

    I mean, if you think nevertrumpers Are Trump all the time this isn’t even a stretch.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  54. Obama said reagans dark deeds motivated hin to community organizing whether bill ayers actually wrote that is immaterial, but the fruits of his works to make us weaker are undeniable.

    Narciso (7404b5)

  55. I don’t want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what’s different are the times. I do think that, for example, the 1980 election was different. I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that, you know, Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not.

    He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like, you know, with all the excesses of the 60s and the 70s, and government had grown and grown, but there wasn’t much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people just tapped into — he tapped into what people were already feeling, which was, we want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.

    (Obama on Reagan)

    I can see how one would say Trump is a new iteration of a movement seeking a bold, optimistic businessman. The only problem is that Trump really isn’t that. Maybe some of his fans thought he was, but people always say their candidate is going to help the economy. Al Gore was going to usher in a green economy, etc. If we are so simplistic that everyone who liked Reagan = Trump, then we’re probably painting by numbers.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  56. Meanwhile sandmann rightly received some acccountability from the post and cnn, but like strangelove, they resort to old habits

    Narciso (7404b5)

  57. If only Trump was just a plagiarist.

    RipMurdock (d2a2a8)

  58. But Trump’s a Soviet. Reagan was not.

    Uh, no. Trump is a showman; Reagan was as well, stage managed by Mike Deaver. Trump is a Reagan Creation. It was inevitable, too; the caboose of the GOP gravy train. Deal with it; ‘denial’ is a river I Egypt.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  59. No, The kids and family of elected officials should be handled with kids gloves.

    Ivanka is no child, she’s a 38 year old woman who has a political job in the White House. Everyone is someone’s child, at what point does that cease to matter?

    I also think the Donald’s gross talk about his daughter is fair game, as he’s the one who said it. It’s about him and his scumbaggery, that she gets some splash back from it, she volunteered to work in the White House, it’s time for her to adult.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (305827)

  60. 65. From the Tablet magazine article:

    To pull a metaphor from this strange moment: I thought I’d seen the outbreak, when I was really just hanging out in the wet market.

    This is an illustration of how Communist Chinese propaganda manages to make its way into all sorts of place.

    The place that authorities in Wuhan pointed the finger at wasn’t a wet market!

    It was a seafood market.

    Which could not possibly have been a place where infected animals were, or, realistically, a source of infection.

    It was located only 300 odd yards away from the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (English name) Not to confused with the Wuhan Center for Virology, 8 miles away.

    Chinese authorities sometimes try to pretend Covid 19 can be transmitted through seafood.

    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/12/world/china-signals-shrimp-virus-risk-salmon-debacle

    China said a handful of packaging samples of imported shrimp tested positive for the coronavirus, raising questions again over whether the pathogen can spread through food or frozen products.

    The virus tested positive on the outside of about five shrimp packages and the inside of one shipping container, said China’s General Administration of Customs. The samples were from three Ecuadorian plants, and imports from those processors will be halted, it said. A leading Ecuadorian shrimp exporter disputed the findings.

    A lot of people by now know it was seafood market, but the old “wet market” propaganda from January through about May still persists.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  61. 68.If only Trump was just a plagiarist.

    He’s a Presbyterian.

    And for another $1200 check, my vote is his.

    “Love For Sale” – Cole Porter, 1930

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  62. And for another $1200 check,

    Do you accept rubles?

    Dustin (4237e0)

  63. Had we not shutdown the countrys economy, we wouldnt need this stupid check. That was more on carrion cuomo and gruesome newsome

    Narciso (7404b5)

  64. Now thats igor danchenko’s line, the drunk behind the steele dossier and a protege of fiona hill.

    Narciso (7404b5)

  65. @74. Rubles? No. The Discover Card? Yes.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  66. No, that was the corrupt criminal traitor hiding the pandemic for as long as possible so that his family and friends could dump their stocks and hedge their foreign deals.

    nk (1d9030)

  67. No that faucis best bud adhanom and his wuhan rep, who did that

    Narciso (7404b5)

  68. I also think the Donald’s gross talk about his daughter is fair game, as he’s the one who said it. It’s about him and his scumbaggery, that she gets some splash back from it, she volunteered to work in the White House, it’s time for her to adult.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (305827) — 7/27/2020 @ 4:15 pm

    So you have no problem degrading women as long as you can use it against someone else?

    NJRob (125407)

  69. It was not Fauci, Cuomo, or Newsome who said they had a beautiful phone call with Xi Jiping and had made a beautiful trade deal and that Xi Jinping had the coronavirus under control and it was a Democrat hoax to bring down the economy and keep them from being reelected.

    nk (1d9030)

  70. It was Trump who degraded his daughter when he said he would date her (his words) on national television, and again when he told Stormy Daniels that she reminded him of his daughter before she spanked him with a Forbes magazine. We’re not supposed to remind people of that because it means that now we are the ones who are degrading Ivanka? I don’t think so.

    nk (1d9030)

  71. You gotta nibble at the margins, Narciso. If Javanka starts cosigning some Somali (as opposed to regular A-A) causes, you know their aiming for 400+ EVs

    urbanleftbehind (08b3a1)

  72. It was Trump who degraded his daughter when he said he would date her (his words) on national television, and again when he told Stormy Daniels that she reminded him of his daughter before she spanked him with a Forbes magazine.

    He also agreed with Howard Stern, during a nationally broadcast radio interview, that his daughter was “a piece of ass.”

    Dave (1bb933)

  73. A quote at last:

    “Baseball been berry-berry-good for me.” – Covid-19 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  74. @80, you have a really good point. If dropping a line of attack because it also hits the kid of a president in their personal life than that’s what they should do.

    Her Being there as a product of nepotism, her vapid response to easy questions, her official phot ops as a White House staffer being odd are all fair game. But her body, her sexuality, and her personal life should be given extra discretion. As should Obama and Bush’s kids.

    Time123 (9f42ee)

  75. 19.“How many are willing to express their views on Facebook? I’m not.”

    – Kevin M

    I’m not on Facebook.

    Ditto.

    First thing you learn in marketing is information is power and data has value. Never give it away for free.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  76. RIP John Saxon (83).

    Rip Murdock (361788)

  77. It was Trump who degraded his daughter when he said he would date her

    There are also a number of creepy photos, and a creepy reply when an interviewer asked him and Ivanka what things they both enjoyed doing.
    And a creepy reply to a question about the infant Tiffany.

    Radegunda (e1ea47)

  78. @94, Yes, Trump is creepy. There’s plenty of evidence to support the claim that he views women almost entirely sexually. If not from the standpoint that he wants to have sex with them, then through the standpoint that their value is derived from their sex appeal. This is part of what makes Trump a loser. But because Donald Trump is a loser doesn’t mean it’s now OK to attack Ivanka Trump in the same way he might.

    There are 2 principles at play here.
    1. The President’s kids (or any public figure) deserve extra discretion when you talk about them.
    2. Attacking women through their appearance & sexuality is wrong.

    I don’t think think “A 3rd party sexualized her in a creepy way” is exception to those principles. I do think responding to actions / statements she makes is fair. But that’s not what this is.

    TL:DR
    Just because Trump is garbage doesn’t mean everyone else get’s to act like garbage with a clean conscience.

    Time123 (306531)

  79. Republican senator David Perdue digitally enlarges his Jewish opponent’s nose in attack ad claiming he’s trying to “buy Georgia”.

    The nose is lengthened and widened, while everything else in the image is unchanged.

    Perdue pulled the ad after getting caught, offering an absurd excuse but no apology.

    Dave (1bb933)

  80. Here’s a Killian-memo style overlay of the two images.

    Shameful.

    Dave (1bb933)

  81. 96/97.

    Reaganoptics.

    DCSCA (797bc0)


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