Man, sometimes these wingnuts just make it too easy. The first high-profile name that turns up in the Ashley Madison leak? That would be Josh Duggar. Yes, of those Duggars.
This happens so often I wonder if it’s even worth making sport of. Here in Michigan, we’re still living with the drawn-out story of Todd Courser, the tea party legislator fighting for his life, and he seems incapable of going a day without a Facebook posting. Frankly, it’s getting a little ludicrous, as seen here:
Normally in the morning I will listen to praise music on my way into work, but some mornings this song just feels right – eye of the tiger. I know with all the controversy it might be hard to understand, but when you fail, you acknowledge your failure, you put safe guards in place to guard your heart as unto the Lord, then you work to repair all those relationships that you have let down. Then you have to decide to either shrink back or lean on God’s promises and just get up in humility and in the fear of the Lord and return to fight for those things that matter and go out and do the job you were hired to do.
I’ve just run out of things to say. Why even be surprised?
A good Neil Steinberg blog, about the Amazon stories. He points out, correctly, that being shitty to the help is nothing new:
Why? Maybe somewhere we lost our humanity. Maybe decent work environments were a phase, a mid-20th century American fad, and now we are reverting to form. The philosophical groundwork is certainly being laid. Politicians used to paint themselves as the workers’ friend. Now a truly loathsome billionaire like Donald Trump can be the darling of the party of Lincoln, just because he promises to bring his secret rich guy knowledge to the table. Scott Walker is running on his success at crippling public unions in Wisconsin, and Bruce Rauner is aping him. We went from a society that asked itself why teachers don’t get paid like athletes do, to a society that wonders why teachers get paid so much, and tries to see that it stops, in the name of economy.
And with that, another early exit. Gotta go pull the brisket apart.
Brandon said on August 20, 2015 at 2:10 am
So, will you keep your Kickback Lounge?
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Dexter said on August 20, 2015 at 2:21 am
Joe, I remember our team bus going through Hagerstown, MD, but we were on our way to a baseball gig in Northern Virginia. We spent about a week in the Tidewater area, playing in pro parks as well as some high school fields. Somehow I knew Hagerstown had a baseball pro team…maybe one of the Bryan or Defiance men who are now in the Major Leagues played there for a while and I had read it.
About 20 years ago on a vacation in the Carolinas, I tried to re-visit some of the old ball fields I had played on back in the late 60s. Many were simply gone, many were unrecognizable. Progress and all…things change quickly.
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Brandon said on August 20, 2015 at 3:58 am
http://ringoffireradio.com/2015/08/civil-rights-activist-cornel-west-throws-support-behind-bernie-sanders/
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David C. said on August 20, 2015 at 6:15 am
Josh and Todd, like Newt love America (and baby Jesus) so much they forgot not to fuck around.
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coozledad said on August 20, 2015 at 6:56 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufGlBv8Z3NU
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 20, 2015 at 7:15 am
Salsa verde, please.
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Suzanne said on August 20, 2015 at 7:36 am
David C. I nearly spit out my morning coffee.
And I’m waiting for my very conservative evangelical Christian Facebook friends to start defending him. So far, crickets…
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alex said on August 20, 2015 at 7:42 am
Poor Jared from Subway. He might have saved himself a million point four and twelve years in the slammer if he’d just talked some mishmash about listening to praise music and leaning back on God’s promises and guarding his heart unto the Lord. If it works in Michigan, surely it would work in Indiana.
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Julie Robinson said on August 20, 2015 at 7:47 am
Wonder if Jared Fogle’s name will be in the Ashley Madison files? Though he seemed to do pretty good all on his own: http://www.idsnews.com:8080/article/2015/08/fogle-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-child-porn-sex-with-minors. The operative phrase here is “the younger the girl, the better”.
Bassett, we enjoyed driving north of Seattle to see acres and acres of tulips growing in the spring, and south to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Otherwise, what Sherri said, especially a ferry trip.
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coozledad said on August 20, 2015 at 8:01 am
Todd Courser, in translation.
Normally in the morning I will listen to praise music and make a spectacle of myself on my way into work, but some mornings this song just feels right – Hung Up In Your Love. I know with all the controversy it might be hard to understand, but when the love is good, you sweat, and the little hairs on the back of your neck can’t barely wick off the perspiration, know what I’m sayin? The Lord knows cause he’s the one that split it where I hit it, baby.
When you’re on the DL, you gotta put a few Benjamins by, and watch your back. You might even have to tell a staffer you love the dick. Then you have to decide to either shrink wrap your naked self and ride on the roof of a cab, or tell people there’s a Mafia in Lansing. I’d be stroking me some Gamrat now, if I could bear hearing her talk again. That voice of hers is the only thing that keeps me from blowing a load in my shorts.
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Basset said on August 20, 2015 at 8:21 am
Acres of tulips, mrs. b would enjoy that – she really liked the lavender farms in oregon.
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brian stouder said on August 20, 2015 at 8:32 am
I’m waiting for the book about the inner-Courser; his struggles with the urge to fling off his pants, and lay on Ms Gamrat’s office floor, and the like.
Since, in the end, it’s HER fault and all, y’know?
And, Holland, Michigan has the ‘acres of tulips’ thing down, baby!
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Julie Robinson said on August 20, 2015 at 8:33 am
http://www.tulipfestival.org is the whole month of April. You can take tours of the farms and they have events scheduled, but we also enjoyed just driving around the fields for mile after mile. The colors are breathtaking.
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beb said on August 20, 2015 at 8:43 am
So many juicy topics today… where to start?
I was disappointed to hear that Jared Foley will be pleading guilty to the charges of sex with minors and child pornography. His story — his Subway story — of losing gobs of weight through exercise and sensible eating was very inspirational. To learn that he’s just another dirty old man is disappointing. Worse is that flags were being raised about him as early as 2008 and Subway did nothing about it. They have scrubbed their web sites of all reference to Jared but it still remains that they created him.
Ashley Madison, I was surprised to learn was a dating site for married people. In another words a site that facilitated adultery. Either the news media expects us to know what Ashley Madison is about or they’re afraid to talk about a sex site on the evening news. I’m a little shocked that Josh Duggar’s name on its client list while, apparently, Jared Foley’s is not.
Meanwhile the Duggar clan, media-whores that they are, is trying to flog a new show to TLC about counseling sexual abuse victims. I’m unclear whether this involved filming the counseling their two abused daughter are getting or whether they will be counseling other abuse victims. I would think TLC ought to have learned y now to avoid these people like the plague they are but apparently The Learning Channel is not very good at learning anything.
Another person who just can’t learn is Rep. Courser. He surrounds himself with “praise” music yet somehow missed the whole lesson on not committing adultery. It’s true Jesus was big on forgiveness. But he was also unforgiving of smug bastards who wrapped themselves in their religion. Also jesus’ father… not a big forgiver.
A footnote to Neil Steinberg’s article, Railroad magnate Pullman was so hated by his employees that when he died it was feared that they would dig up his body and discreate it. So they buried it in a lake of cement. So sociopathic employers is old, old news.
And in today’s appalling Republican policy, nine of the 17 candidates have already declared that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution is unconstitutional. The remaining 8 candidates probably have not been asked yet. The 14th amendment declares that any child born in the United States is automatically a citizen of the US whether or not his parents are citizens. This ties in with an article on World News Daily that according to some tea party thinking four of the Republican candidates are not citizens and therefore not eligible to run – Ted Cruz (born in Canada) Bobby Jindal (not sure if his parents were citizens at the time), marco Rubio, Cuban refugee and Rick Santorum (again, not sure if his Italian parents were citizens at the time. The fever swamp runs so deep in the Republican party that you’d think the media would be forced to notice it by now….
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Walter Biggins said on August 20, 2015 at 8:49 am
Over at Patheos, Libby Anne has offered the best, most nuanced takes on the Duggars for months. Here she is on the latest–b/c I’m sure there will be more–fiasco: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2015/08/josh-duggar-spent-nearly-1000-to-cheat-on-his-wife.html
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Peter said on August 20, 2015 at 9:32 am
I think we should all put on sackcloth, rub ashes on ourselves and go to the temple, because it’s becoming apparent that Trump, the Duggars, and Courser are just signs of the impending apocalypse if we don’t repent our sinful ways.
That’s the only explanation I got.
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nancy said on August 20, 2015 at 9:57 am
A friend suggests this lead for the Fogle story: “Subway spokesman Jared Fogel is charged with multiple felonies after ordering repeatedly from the kids’ menu.” Meanwhile, the NYPost went the classy route, with something like, ENJOY A FOOTLONG IN JAIL.
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brian stouder said on August 20, 2015 at 10:00 am
I gotta say, the ‘footlong in jail’ got me chuckling (imagine Mr Potter growling that phrase)
and – just to keep Michigan in the tulip discussion – http://www.tuliptime.com/
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Jeff Borden said on August 20, 2015 at 10:08 am
Of all the many faults someone can have, hypocrisy always bothers me the most. I wonder if it’s because I spent so many years in the news business, observing people saying one thing and doing another, or just another of my peculiarities. It’s especially grating when it’s people who cloak themselves in their faith doing the hypocrisy. They use their religion like soap to wash off the slime they roll in, then celebrate how clean they’ve become, all while professing how they’ve already gotten straight with the Lord. It apparently never occurs to a creep like Todd Courser or Josh Duggar that maybe some time of quiet reflection in the wilderness to reflect on their actions might be in order. Nope. They’re all up in our faces demanding we recognize their salvation. A pox on them all.
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Connie said on August 20, 2015 at 10:18 am
Brian, back in the day I was one of those costumed dancing dutch girls pictured at your link.
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ROGirl said on August 20, 2015 at 10:23 am
And on top of the hypocrisy of the “public Christians” who use their faith against those of us who don’t share their beliefs, there is the acceptance of someone like Donald Trump, whose lifestyle would probably be condemned by many of the believers, but instead they ignore those petty details because they agree with his political views.
Oh well. Hypocrisy.
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nancy said on August 20, 2015 at 10:25 am
Jimmy Carter can tell you a lot about that attitude ROGirl. Which is one reason I consider him a true Christian.
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Bitter Scribe said on August 20, 2015 at 10:26 am
The Jared thing does give a new meaning to “Eat Fresh,” doesn’t it?
One good thing for Subway: They’re finally rid of him. I mean that seriously. A few years ago, Ad Age had a good feature on how Subway had been trying to get away from Jared for more than a decade, only to go through this cycle:
1) Subway announces it’s “moving in a different direction” and hires an ad agency to produce ads with no Jared.
2) Sales stagnate or drop.
3) Franchisees scream for Jared to return. He does.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Alex @ #8: I’m as cynical as anyone, but I don’t think Jeebus could have saved Jared, because he committed actual sex crimes. What the guy in Michigan did was certainly sleazy and hypocritical, but it’s not against the law.
As for Josh Duggar, I’m still waiting for Mike Huckabee to weigh in.
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brian stouder said on August 20, 2015 at 10:32 am
Connie – good stuff! I recall knocking around Holland, and doing touristy things, and (at some point) riding a dinner cruise (to Lake Michigan) on some long lake or another
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Connie said on August 20, 2015 at 10:35 am
Lake Macatawa.
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Sue said on August 20, 2015 at 10:47 am
The only takeaway I have on the Amazon thing is:
*No one freaks out when Amazon’s idea of a good human resources practice is to make sure they have an ambulance available at their pick center to revive all the people collapsing from heat and exertion.
*No one freaks when, rather than just pay the people they are forcing to stand in line just to get out the door after work at pick centers, they pay lawyers to take it to the supreme court and get wage theft legalized.
*White collar workers cry at their desks, the world explodes and Jeff Bezos goes into damage control mode with an “I am shocked, shocked” performance.
What is the difference between the workers from #1 and #2, and the workers from #3? It’s a puzzler.
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alex said on August 20, 2015 at 11:20 am
Bitter Scribe, I wasn’t writing to be taken seriously. I just couldn’t come up with anything as funny this morning as ENJOY A FOOTLONG IN JAIL.
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alex said on August 20, 2015 at 11:22 am
And Brian, if you haven’t seen this interview regarding the dumb shit people have been taught about the Civil War and Reconstruction, check it out:
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/20/people_know_next_to_nothing_about_reconstruction_the_pernicious_civil_war_revisionism_poisoning_american_history_students_partner/
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ROGirl said on August 20, 2015 at 11:30 am
Hearing about Jimmy Carter on the news this morning, I had the same thought.
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LAMary said on August 20, 2015 at 12:58 pm
Donald Trump’s mother was from Scotland. Not born in the US. His current wife is from Slovenia (I think) so his kid is not a citizen.
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Icarus said on August 20, 2015 at 2:09 pm
@beb, the piece Walter Beggins linked to, provides a link discrediting the victim counseling. Not to defend the Duggars but we have to not spread rumors or we are no better than the wing nuts
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Brandon said on August 20, 2015 at 3:03 pm
Of course, non-Christians do these things too.
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Heather said on August 20, 2015 at 3:34 pm
Josh says porn made him do it! Of course! http://gawker.com/josh-duggars-apology-i-have-been-the-biggest-hypocrit-1725405629
I wasn’t aware porn could take over your mind and force you to take out your credit card and sign up for Ashley Madison.
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Joe K said on August 20, 2015 at 4:30 pm
La Mary,
If trumps kid was born in the U.S., he is a citizen
Pilot Joe
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brian stouder said on August 20, 2015 at 4:38 pm
Joe – that’s the point; but The Donald (et al) wanna repeal the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.
Aside from that, Joe, what do YOU think of all these chuckleheads flying drones near airports?
I think these guys are either criminally stupid, or else wanna-be terrorists, and this is going to end in tears (if birds sucked into an engine can bring a passenger plane, these damned drones near airports are willfully dangerous)
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brian stouder said on August 20, 2015 at 4:39 pm
forgot the drone link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/faa-records-detail-hundreds-of-close-calls-between-airplanes-and-drones/2015/08/20/5ef812ae-4737-11e5-846d-02792f854297_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_evening
the lead:
On Sunday, a swarm of small rogue drones disrupted air traffic across the country on a scale previously unseen in U.S. skies.
At 8:51 a.m., a white drone startled the pilot of a JetBlue flight, appearing off its left wing moments before it landed at Los Angeles International Airport. Five hours later, a quadcopter whizzed underneath an Allegiant Air flight as it approached the same runway. Elsewhere in California, pilots of light aircraft reported narrowly dodging drones in San Jose and La Verne.
In Washington, a Cessna pilot reported a drone cruising at 1,500 feet in highly restricted airspace over the nation’s capital, forcing the U.S. military to scramble fighter jets as a precaution. In Louisville, a silver-and-white drone almost collided with a training aircraft. In Chicago, United Airlines Flight 970 reported seeing a drone pass by at an altitude of 3,500 feet.
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brian stouder said on August 20, 2015 at 5:14 pm
Alex – I’ve not yet finished the excellent article you linked, but (so far) was especially taken by this passage –
That’s one of the reasons for the failure of Reconstruction — it’s one reason. Of course, there were some states where they never had any white support, like South Carolina and maybe a couple of other places. Louisiana had very, very little (white support for Rreconstruction).
The problem of getting poor white support was very difficult and was exacerbated by the difference between the Northern Republican Party and the Southern Republican Party. In some of these states, like North Carolina or Georgia, there were poor whites, Unionists, and so on, who were interested in supporting the Republicans for economic advantages like debtor’s relief.
See – we’re back to that concept (which impressed me in the book about the history of the Republican Party titled To Make Men Free, by Heather Cox Richardson) – of the “mudsills”.
The bottom rung in society/’po-white-trash’/mudsill. You could pander to these folks, and they would vote
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Joe K said on August 20, 2015 at 5:19 pm
Hate them, how easy would it be to load one up with some sort of dirty bomb, and really cause trouble.
Did something today most civilian pilots don’t get to do, land at Langly Air Force base. Passenger is a 96 year old vet, giving a speech, pick him up tomorrow, saw 8 f-22 raptors depart, lots of history there.
Pilot Joe
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alex said on August 20, 2015 at 5:28 pm
Brian, it was interesting to note how the burden of taxation shifted. I hadn’t been aware of this before. Prior to the Civil War, only the planters paid taxes, and then only on their slaves and not real property. Afterward everyone paid taxes on real property. This helps to explain the southern resentment over taxation.
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brian stouder said on August 20, 2015 at 5:49 pm
Alex – I didn’t know that the land wasn’t taxed, either.
I was thinking that The Founders at least talked about a big estate tax, when a person dies – the better to avoid a landed aristocracy….but Uncle Google is shaking his head “no”
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Charlotte said on August 20, 2015 at 6:14 pm
Beb @14 — If old man Pullman was even half as mean as his great-granddaughter who bullied me through a couple of years of elementary school, then I can see why they’d worry about his workers digging him up.
Seriously though — I grew up in a suburb protected by an army base (Ft. Sheridan) that was built by the rich people after the Haymarket riots. The same rich people I heard lamenting the New Deal and post-depression financial regulations that prevented them from the sort of Gilded Age excess their grandparents enjoyed. Which they’ve repealed — it wasn’t an accident.
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Suzanne said on August 20, 2015 at 7:14 pm
Sue @ 26, I think the difference is that those pick workers are the lower eschelons who are considered too dense to know they’re being mistreated and they are assumed to be unable to get a better job. So, they just better be darn glad they have been given a job by the benevolence of the likes of Amazon.The white collar people though, those are the smart ones, the ones who have worked hard (because we all know that a 10 hour day in a hot, stuffy warehouse isn’t really hard work), the elites who shouldn’t be treated that way! Only thing I can figure.
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nancy said on August 20, 2015 at 7:20 pm
OK, some worlds just collided. The aide who was among those fingering Todd Courser was just outed as an Ashley Madison client. I really should hang it up; who can compete with reality?
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alex said on August 20, 2015 at 8:16 pm
Fingering Todd Courser. My, my. Get me Hibiclens now!
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Sue said on August 20, 2015 at 9:17 pm
So it appears Josh Duggar has apologized, again. Good for him, I guess, and I do feel bad for his parents. But no one in that family is going to understand that Josh Duggar was raised in an environment full of an extremely unhealthy obsession with sex and he’s just flipped over to the other side of the coin.
Not going to be much introspection going on, and no change on the horizon for any of them. No growth, no chance of escape.
To outside eyes, the family has been humanized by the pain they have to share with the world, but the creepiness inside that family won’t even be dented. It’s their culture and they’ll continue to embrace it.
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Sue said on August 20, 2015 at 9:28 pm
Suzanne@42 – exactly.
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Dan said on August 21, 2015 at 10:03 am
Of course, we can’t confirm the validity of the data in the Ashley Madison leak. Individual entries and the data as a whole are both in question. Celebrity names may have been added to make it more interesting, attracting more eyeballs. We’ll never know.
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