Not enough Whisky for this Tango Foxtrot

[River]

Post-op complications? You'd think they'd take every precaution to prevent the First Lady from catching a nasty hospital bug but that doesn't mean she didn't. Or, since it's an open secret she hates her job, she's milking her health situation for all it's worth to get some time off.

I've seen other theories but I'm being parsimonious.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Witness protection!

[River]

I've heard that one. I've also heard she's recovering from plastic surgery, that she got beaten black and blue, that she's left the White House and her marriage, that her OS is being upgraded, and that she's dead. But I still think the most obvious and parsimonious explanation is her medical condition got complicated and she's not making any public statements because she doesn't see it as anyone's business. Of course, times being what they are and this White House having its very special relationship with reality, the silence is being filled with conspiracy theories.

[yovargas]

There's already plenty enough real-looking conspiracies going around, no need to add new made-up ones to the list.

[Inanna]

Yeah. It’s her business and only hers.

[Frelga]

I just want to travel to the parallel universe where Bill Clinton is the First Gentleman.

[River]

How do you think he would have decorated the White House for Xmas?

[River]

I submit to you this fine, upstanding, Congressional candidate.

Nathan Larson, a 37-year-old accountant from Charlottesville, Virginia, is running for Congress as an independent candidate in his native state. He is also a pedophile, as he admitted to HuffPost on Thursday, who has bragged in website posts about raping his late ex-wife.

In a phone call, Larson confirmed that he created the now-defunct websites suiped.org and incelocalypse.today ― chat rooms that served as gathering places for pedophiles and violence-minded misogynists like himself. HuffPost contacted Larson after confirming that his campaign website shared an IP address with these forums, among others. His sites were terminated by their domain host on Tuesday.

On the phone, he was open about his pedophilia and seemingly unfazed about his long odds of attaining government office.

“A lot of people are tired of political correctness and being constrained by it,” he said. “People prefer when there’s an outsider who doesn’t have anything to lose and is willing to say what’s on a lot of people’s minds.”

As for what he stands for...

According to Larson’s campaign manifesto, his platform as a “quasi-neoreactionary libertarian” candidate includes protecting gun ownership rights, establishing free trade and protecting “benevolent white supremacy,” as well as legalizing incestuous marriage and child pornography.

In the manifesto, Larson called Nazi leader Adolf Hitler a “white supremacist hero.” He urged Congress to repeal the Violence Against Women Act, adding, “We need to switch to a system that classifies women as property, initially of their fathers and later of their husbands.” He also showed sympathy for men who identify as involuntary celibates, or incels, suggesting it is unfair that they “are forced to pay taxes for schools, welfare, and other support for other men’s children.”

To reiterate, he's running as an independent. That whooshing sound you heard was every political party everywhere sighing with relief that they don't have this trash heap claiming membership and asking for their support. But seriously...WTactualF.

[River]

How a GOP Congressman is tackling women's issues:

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, is planning to hold a Women's Summit on June 9 that he's billing as "an opportunity for women to learn about relevant topics that have a direct impact on their lives," according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Some of the topics the summit will address, according to its coral-pink flyer? Gardening and losing weight.

BTW...

Bilirakis voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013 and against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009. His spokesperson Summer Robertson told the Tampa Bay Times that he supported the original VAWA but did not approve its reauthorization because "the final version of the bill diverted a large amount of funding from domestic violence programs to sexual assault programs without any substantial proof or coherent argument that such a transfer would lead to more convictions or greater protections for women."

.

I like to keep politics out of my garden but hey, to each their own...

[Frelga]

Keeping pests away is such an important part of gardening. Aphids on roses. Crabgrass on the lawn. Republicans in Congress.

[Impenitent]

Too funny!

Sent from a tiny phone keyboard via Tapatalk - typos inevitable.

[Frelga]

Russians quoted whoever said that Trump was desperate to meet with anyone named Kim.

I don't often watch Russian state TV, but I managed a whole half hour today. There's a knack to deciphering news from state media in an authoritarian regime. I was expecting the "Trump has seen how wrong everyone was about Russia and is charting a new course away from his old allies" approach.

Instead, they spent more time sneering at Trump than they did ranting at Ukraine (the Babchenko story, WTF was that even?) or thanking Putin for his attention to whatever cause or industry was the subject (flashbacks!).

Their angle was on Russian friendship with North Korea. Lavrov, the foreign minister, was quoted as warning Trump "not to make sudden movements" and be mindful of joint Russian - North Korean interests.

They were particularly inventive on the tariffs, which they called a declaration of a one-sided trade war. Some choice phrases were "Trump turned American diplomatic agreements into toilet paper which he tears up for his personal needs" and comparing American relationship with Europe to an abusive marriage.

I think it's on YouTube somewhere. You guys should watch it, it'll give you a good idea of what Trump is trying to build here.

[yovargas]

Is this "the letter I got from North Korea is very interesting and I have not read it yet" bit for real, or is it a bit of comedic spin?

[Frelga]

It's for real and the Russians were all over it, too. Given that Russia is about the only country not targeted by Trump's policies, it kinda stings to see them make fun of POTUS. I remember they were vicious about Reagan, but they treated him as a hostile, not an incompetent.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

How's the "boiled turnip" looking, yov?

[yovargas]

Not as boiled as I would like... keep hoping to find him in real hot water! [rimshot!]

[Primula Baggins]

He's here all week, folks.

[Frelga]

Breaking: President Trump said at a White House signing ceremony that he is "directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces.”

The NPR. Not, I repeat not, The Onion.

[Túrin Turambar]

At least he didn't announce it first on Twitter.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This is just plain weird. Yes, her sartorial choices are her own, but there is no way this doesn't mean something, though it is beyond me to determine what.

Melania dons jacket saying 'I really don't care. Do U?' ahead of border visit