As of today, Donald Trump is no longer the president of the United States. We’ve talked about Trump a lot here at The A.V. Club over the last five years or so, not because we ever really wanted to, but because Donald Trump was a pop culture nuisance long before he was a political one. In 2016, he was a guy from TV who was running for president, so it made sense to cover his campaign at the time—even if it was just an excuse for us to publicly criticize him and the awful things he tends to say and do. Very few thought he’d win, but he did, and before we knew it, Donald Trump had somehow become another thing that merited coverage at The A.V. Club. We fell into a trap, essentially, where ignoring Donald Trump meant turning a blind eye to the many atrocities of his reign while continuing to cover him, even critically, meant giving him the attention that he has always so desperately craved. We gave in to the cathartic appeal of mocking him and exposing the ridiculous antics of his family and his enablers. Really, though, Trump and his goons managed to pull that same trick on everyone, infecting every aspect of our lives with hate and misery simply because of how omnipresent the MAGA movement became.
So yeah, we’ve talked about Donald Trump a lot here at The A.V. Club because we felt like we had to. Well, dear readers, we’d like to make an announcement in honor of this long-awaited day: We’re done. We’re sick of constantly paying attention to Donald Trump, we’re sick of constantly talking about Donald Trump, and we’re sick of constantly writing about Donald Trump. He is no longer the president—and while the repercussions of his catastrophic behavior in office will be felt for a generation and the impact of his hateful policies will befall marginalized groups long after his lingering presence has been exorcised from the White House, we feel that it’s in the best interest of everyone to leave the analysis of his rotten legacy to the experts. As for us, we would like to do our own little part in ushering him off to a new life in irrelevancy by no longer giving a fuck about what he does or says. Starting now, The A.V. Club will no longer be covering Donald Trump in either Newswires or Great Job Internet posts.
We’re not saying this because we want credit—far from it. If that were the case, we would’ve instituted a policy like this a long time ago. And there will, perhaps, be those rare moments where Trump and/or his cronies cross over into such major news that we can’t avoid acknowledging it, but we will no longer be treating them like a more destructive and pathetic version of Game Of Thrones (as much as Rudy Giuliani may wish he lived in that world). We’re sorry we’ve covered them to the extent that we have, and we know that establishing a cutoff now doesn’t necessarily mean squat. If anything, we’re saying this because we trust you, our readers, to hold us accountable. We don’t want you to let us get away with breathless coverage of Donald Trump anymore just because it’s what everyone on social media is talking about. Again, we’re sick of it and we don’t want to do it anymore, so we’re not going to.
Whether you’re new here or you’ve been with us since the old websites and the old commenting systems: Thank you for reading The A.V. Club. We’re going to go back to writing about whether or not Matt Damon is still alive in the MCU, why The Muppet Show is an important part of television history (if not the most important part), and how Anne Hathaway actually prefers to be called “Annie” but didn’t think to tell anyone until now.
388 Comments
It’s over. He’s finally fucking gone.
The average AVClub reader has already heard this in too many slashers/monsters movies.
*shouting at screen*Look Out girl! He’s behind you!
“suddenly, a tiny hand bursts out of a grave bag of cheetos.”
I feel like this is like closing the barn doors after all the animals got loose. I personally would like to hear the news when Trump gets arrested. In addition, we have to be vigilant of the next Trump. Because he will not be a bumbling moron. It’s crucial that we never forget what Trump and the GOP did and will continue to do or it will happen again.
And when he dies.
“Because there’s one thing I know, I’d like to live
Long enough to savor
That’s when they finally put you in the ground
I’ll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down”
— Elvis Costello, “Tramp the Dirt Down”
And when the line starts forming for “Evacuation of Bowels on Trump’s final resting place”.
That would help stuff grow there, I’d rather that plot of land be salted.
I’m fine with shit mushrooms growing on Dump’s grave.
Peeing would be more tasteful.
You won’t need a news website for that. You’ll just feel an overwhelming sense of peace wash over you as a force of pure evil leaves the world.
When he dies it is important to ensure that the tradesmen who build the dancefloor above his grave are paid per their contact, as a final insult to his business practices.
Dies from sudden , yet mysteriously deadly ‘flu’ or something window based? I’m taking bets.
When he dies, he dies.
I personally would like to hear the news when Trump gets arrested. I am going to bet another website will cover that. Maybe two.
Not a bumbling fool? Josh Hawley. He’s smart. He’s evil but wicked smart.
Josh Haahley is wicked smaht?
Unfortunately. yes, he’s wicked smaht and very well educated and thinks he’s betta than you. He wasted $150,000 on an education he coulda got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library.
In addition, we have to be vigilant of the next Trump. Because he will not be a bumbling moron. It’s crucial that we never forget what Trump and the GOP did and will continue to do or it will happen again. Yeah, and I think it will be a movie star next time. I’m barely even joking when I say keep your eye on Chris Pratt.
Yeah I’m sure there’s nowhere else to read about that
I take some solace in the notion that his pathological unearned confidence despite all of his ineptitude was what really resonated with many of his followers, and someone competent (McConnell) just scares them off.
Hawley is the danger. Trump was a moron. He was mostly oblivious to the fringe movement he became the focus of. Hawley is not stupid, he’s a sociopath, and is intentionally courting the Trumpians as a political bid for power. If it turns out that that doesn’t work he’ll change course because he’s a snake.
Just go to any other site then. AV Club’s coverage of Trump hasn’t even been timely, they usually get their headline out hours or a day later, my assumption is they need the extra time to come up with the snarkiest verbiage to throw into the article.
The USA next presidential election is going to be won by a dark horse candidate, on that you can bet. – MiniLin, Boston, United States, January 24, 2015
bojack?
How about when I release the pee tape?
At some point, Trump is gonna weasel his way back on the internet in some form, and there will be plenty of gullible or disingenuous agents who will be happy to amplify his hateful bullshit. I think we’re best off depriving his actual statements of oxygen as much as possible, but at the same time there should be multiple reckonings for what he’s already done and whatever lies and damage he’ll perpetuate in the future. But there are definitely other sites that can do a better job of that. So this is just a long-winded version of saying I agree with this article.
I give it a year before the right tries to either rehabilitate him or they try to spin it that Trump was the “Bad GOP” and that they’re the “Good GOP”. The only difference between the two is that the former says the quiet parts loud.
Oh, they’re definitely already working on that. The real question is if Trump will let them. If he can reestablish a presence on social media, he’ll dominate the GOP discourse easily. He won’t be like Bush who just went away. He’ll be there, every day, reminding everyone of how horrible he is.
I never realized until now that what you said about W is exactly what happened: He went away. He didn’t try to pull a Carter and become the best ex-POTUS ever. He just -went- away. Oh, he paints now? Bless his heart.
W didn’t go away so much as was basically excommunicated. He was pretty absent from any campaigning future republicans were doing.
Oh, those were the days; when sense mattered. Do you want sauce with your wall?
Yeah, W’s approval rating was just above 50% at the time of his second inauguration. It started falling immediately afterwards and basically never stopped. He had sustained levels of disapproval not seen since the Carter administration, but even Jimmy’s numbers popped back up from time to time (During W’s lame duck phase, when the economy cratered, he entered downright Nixonian 25% approval territory.)
From the miserable Katrina response to the banking crisis to the dawning realization among even the most fervent flag-waving “patriots” that Iraq had dick-all to do with an existential terrorist threat and we weren’t actually going to “win” anything over there, his entire second term became an albatross around the GOP’s neck.
I’d prefer him in jail and silent, at the very least barred from running again, but otherwise… let him start his Patriot Party that he’s apparently now talking about… Split the idiot and hypocrisy vote between them and the GOP and the Dems are victorious. Not the worst idea.
It won’t take anything near a year. At least 100 congresscreatures are staunch supporters already.
It won’t surprise me to find them playing Good GOP, Bad GOP.
I have a feeling that it’s going to come down to whether or not Trump sticks to his threat to form his own political party.I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to tell how seriously the GOP takes that threat with the coming conviction vote in the Senate. McConnell’s already turtling up with “vote your conscience”, if the GOP is seriously considering the reality of a Trump 2024 independent run siphoning off every single GOP MAGA vote? They’ll probably convict.
I think this is actually the GOP’s biggest fear. Trump is already discussing starting his own competing party: The Patriot Party. That just sounds like a recipe to splinter the Republican/conservative base, which can only be good for Democrats.
Oh, like they’ve done with every other candidate, successful or not, since Reagan?
> Trump was the “Bad GOP” and that they’re the “Good GOP”.This is the ONLY reason you might peel off 17 R’s to convict him in the senate trial. Barring him from office will lose the GOP the far right wing-nut vote, but ‘til Trump, they were largely doing without it. The Jesse Helmses and George Wallaces having mostly died off. Trump brought in a whole section of lunatics that were disaffected by the ‘softening’ of politics and upset you couldn’t use ‘negro’ in polite speech anymore. They just stopped voting, ‘til Donnie brought ‘em back.The GOP can either save Trump, keep some of the wingnut vote, and take a hammer to the independenet/moderate wing of the party (probably a net loss in numbers) OR they can convict trump, forever lose the Nazi/KKK vote, and try to convince America that no no, they’re just about low taxes and deregulation. His threatening to start a party to split the right, thus nearly guaranteeing dem-controlled govt for the next few years is probably the best way to get the GOP to permanently bar him from public office.It’ll also provide cover for any social media company that doesn’t want to put up with his bullshit. He can no longer hide behind the ‘candidate for office’ shield.
there should be multiple reckonings for what he’s already done and whatever lies and damage he’ll perpetuate in the futureAnd my money on the item to crack that nut? The Dominion lawsuit(s).They have money (VC-backed – this is a slam dunk that amounts to a pocket investment for them), they have receipts, and they have a legitimate beef spurred on by Trump.
I am thoroughly enjoying the specter of those Dominion lawsuits hanging over the heads of the cultists but I don’t recall any of them mentioning Dipshit directly? Hopefully that was because he was president (but E Jean Carroll sued him for defamation while he was president)? But the idea that he could be chastened as thoroughly as Fox News and the others were when Dominion threatened them is delicious, and if he isn’t and doubles down, then we get to see him go to court again. Win/win.
Oh, I don’t care much about dipshit as far as Dominion goes. I’m more in it to see the lie completely exposed.By the time this is over, if these fuckos aren’t sneered at as derisively as we sneer at moon landing truthers, we’ll have failed.
Eh whatever. At this point I’m just secure in the fact that he’s gonna die some day.
In this case, the both-sides argument has merit; a lot of outlets across the spectrum got a lot of oxygen when talking about Trump. I’m interested to see how MSNBC, for one, handles this.
Let’s face it though, acting like MSNBC has any real kind of left-wing ideology is like saying playing MLB The Show 20 is like being in the starting lineup at the World Series.
This will make MSNBS transition to Pornhub.
Lawrence O’Donnell and Andrea Mitchell have their eyes on retirement. Chris Hayes could use a switch up. Maddow should take a three month vacation just to settle her nerves. When she gets back, send Nichole Wallace on a similar sized vacation. Retire Chuck Todd and give Meet the Press to Hallie Jackson. They got Shep Smith on NBC Business as a jumping off point for something….Or maybe fry the whole network and put what’s left on Peacock. I don’t think the “MS” in msnbc means anything anymore. Microsoft? What?
He is more media than politics and always has been so this will be a challenge, though I respect the effort. He’s still going to be a parasite until he’s gone, probably still blowing up online from time to time or even starting his own network. But I do think that just not covering him is a good preventative measure.
I’m not sad because I didn’t like him very much.
Who?
You never had to talk about him in the first place. You’re a pop culture website, nobody was coming here to hear about all the shit Trump did, especially since they could read about that on actual news websites. You could have been a refuge from the crap, instead you fed right into it. Also, politics is not pop culture, even when you have a reality TV host sitting in the White House, and treating it as such only feeds into the trend of treating it like it’s all a lark, with colorful characters and soap opera-like drama, when there are real lives at stake.
The best thing about Biden winning is that this will (presumably) end the daily hysteria. After four years of jackassery and “resistance”, did Trump change anyone’s life in a meaningful way? Can comedians and late-show hosts go back to actually being funny again? Can there be less incoherent political ranting and more cat videos on my FB feed?
I think the kids locked in cages and the people who lost family to Covid found it pretty fucking meaningful. He also undermined our elections and attempted to overthrow the government, which to quote Joe Biden is “A Big Fucking Deal”. I could go on but I’m sick of the fucker. Do not minimize the fucker, shit was not ok and resistance was the only sane reaction.
Qwhite a take.
“did Trump change anyone’s life in a meaningful way”Pardon me, but what? The man’s incompetence and ineptitude let 400,000 Americans die – the amount of people that died in the entire World War II. There’s also plenty of other shit his administration done that changed EVERYONE’s life in a meaningful way. How about stripping away regulations – including for the climate, of which the climate change crisis is an existential threat, potentially, to the entirety of mankind. So, yeah, one could say he changed life in a meaningful way for a lot of people – in horrible ways.
“The man’s incompetence and ineptitude let 400,000 Americans die – the amount of people that died in the entire World War II.”Are you just talking about combatants? Because otherwise I think 6 million Jewish people would disagree with you for a start.
Yeah, my bad. I meant American combatants. Otherwise I’d be leaving out 6 million Jewish people, 20+ million Russian combatants, and I don’t even know how many other European civilians, etc.
Fair call. From context (as you’re talking about American COVID victims), I probably should have guessed you were comparing with American war dead.
You nerds really need to learn that not every tiny thing needs to be argued about or clarified.
He’s talking about Americans being killed due to the dereliction of duty by an American President. The millions of people who were exterminated by the Nazis were not counted among U.S. casualties for the very obvious reason that they were not U.S. citizens.
The person probably meant Americans. As we know, and as pop culture has taught us, only Americans fought in WW2.
Blaming Covid on Trump is incredibly naive. He did a lot of harm but most of the tangible power to regulate and shut things down is at the state, county and municipal level.
Sure, buddy, he can’t institute a federal mandate to wear masks everywhere, but you know what he COULD have done that would have been better than what he did? Just about anything. Hey, remember that time he told people they should use flashlights and ingest bleach to get rid of the virus? Hey, remember those months of him promoting hydroxychloriquine like that was going to cure people despite the lack of scientific evidence that that was true? Hey, remember that time he completely dismantled the pandemic response team that Obama had in place when he entered office, effectively neutering the country’s ability to respond to a pandemic, given that that’s exactly what the team was in place for? Also, how many times was he wearing a mask in public, or did he stress to people that it’s their choice whether to wear a mask or not? How many times did he intentionally (his own words) “play down” the pandemic, despite knowing how severe it was, resulting in his follower’s underestimating the severity of the illness caused by the virus?You talk about “tangible” power as if the only thing a leader can do is mandate people wear masks or something. Your head is stuffed somewhere, my friend, if you’ve lived through these last 4+ years and not figured out that the President’s words and behaviors matter.
Why have the last four years turned every ostensible adult into a ranting baby? Good lord you people need to listen to yourselves. My point is fair comment- for as shitty and dangerous a job Trump did ultimately most of the actual action was within the power of the States which weren’t going to shut down just because Trump said they should. You saw as well as I did what the people in places like North Dakota are like. You can get angry at me and hate me for that, like an emotionally stunted child, but it’s the truth.
I laid out material things Trump did that hindered the pandemic response – including DISMANTLING A PANDEMIC RESPONSE TEAM – and you want to talk about how he’s absolved of guilt because states have the power to shut down the government. The pandemic would have likely struck us in similar ways as it did other countries had we actually had competent leadership. How do we know? Because most other countries had competent leadership in handling the crisis, and had far, far, far less death than we did. Yet you want to claim that states are all to blame because they’re the only ones that can shut down? If we had a competent leader in the federal government, we could have had more supplies and more competent communication for the science behind the virus to mitigate its reach. Instead, we had Jared Kushner telling Trump to let “blue states” die of Coronavirus because they didn’t vote for him. We had the bleach injection suggestion. We had Trump bitching about Fauci because he took the headlines, while Fauci was trying to save lives – undermining the very scientific communicators trying to inform the public about the health consequences of the virus during the pandemic. And you want to call ME a fucking ranting baby? Like some anonymous online Lincoln Project Republican dipshit is going to hurt my feelings because he can’t make a competent argument. Anyone who thinks that Trump didn’t exacerbate the effects of the virus is fucking fooling themselves.
You’re so fucking stupid it’s astounding
“Blaming Covid on Trump is incredibly naive.”Every single dumbshit “let’s keep the economy open and also masks are bad mkay” governor would have fallen in line had Trump taken this seriously.Instead of a narrow and porous travel ban, he could have properly locked down the country for infection vectors.Instead of constantly arguing with his health advisors (and appointing dumbshit flunkies to run the Covid response), he could have properly used the tools and institutions he had at his disposal to get the word out and co-ordinate effective responses.The deal toll could easily have been a quarter of what it actually is, and that’s pretty much all on Trump.
You’re free to believe the people in places like Arizona and Montana would have happily shut down if Trump asked them to but I think that’s naive. You don’t have to have a visceral emotional reaction over my opinion. It’s possible to just be like ‘huh I disagree’. And a quarter death toll? Not even countries that went balls out pulled off those per capita numbers.
Right, because believing people who’s worldview is rooted in the “strong daddy” frame would snap to when their dear leader told them to is idiotic.As for the death toll, you’re talking pure nonsense.https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
My comment is nonsense, but the US did better than Italy which had some extreme measures. And better than the UK. Hmm….but sure, Trump, with no power at the statw level, could have saved 300,000 people.Canada, which went balls out, has 40% of the US per capita deaths, but Trump, with no state power, is going to best that number? It’s just no happening. And I’m not trying to absolve Trump, I just don’t think it’s helpful now that he’s gone to make home the bogeyman for this country’s problems.
The US is in tenth place for deaths per million, worldwide, and you want to keep quibbling?Also, don’t tell me we took extreme measures in the UK. We fucked up our response good and proper just like all the countries with conservative governments. We also don’t have anywhere near the resources and wealth the US does, which just makes the comparison look even worse.
Tenth in deaths but look at its population, and also consider its the most populous developed nation which, let’s face it, are the only ones keeping accurate tallies. You can rely on China and Russias numbers but I’m sure they are bullshit. But anyway, fine, Trump is solely responsible for 300,000 of the deaths, not state and local governments and the asshats who live in them. Whatever you want. It doesn’t matter anyway
“Tenth in deaths but look at its population”I already did. The US is tenth in deaths per million. Total population in this context is meaningless.“It doesn’t matter anyway”You already made that perfectly clear.
You are an absolute monstrous piece of shit
Another stunted little baby who throws themselves on the ground and pounds their fists to make the bad words stop. We’re on the same side you stupid fuck. I agree Trump is a bad man who caused death with his pandemic messaging and planning. My actual point, you sniveling cunt, is that blaming it on Trump disregards the fact local attitudes and political powers are what really could have made a difference.
So…you DIDN’T see the story today about how Trump had nothing in the way of a vaccination plan to pass off to Team Biden, then. Or do have some facile talking points to minimize that, too?
What does that have to do with the past? I believe he had no vaccine plan because he’s a garbage person but I stand by my point tray pretendjf Trump is the apex of the problem is likely false and there’s no reason to suspect the stubborn ass people in this country would have shut down just for Trump. It disregards so much about this country’s culture
No reason at all, unless you know the first thing about cults. If Trump had tweeted that masks prevent conservatives from involuntary mandatory abortions delivered by LIBERALS, you know exactly what would have happened.
So he could have gone balls out and prevented deaths and what you just don’t care?
Fuck off you piece of shit
He was the worst president in so many ways, but not for those ways. COVID’s spread is more (comparatively) due to its super-virulence and the recklessness of people. The Paris climate accords are empty symbols. It’s possible to give a big thumbs-down to Trump and not be on the left. The trade war with China only hurt our people, he undermined NATO, he left the Kurds to die, he tried to extort Ukraine, he gathered around him wackos like Steven Miller, Steve Bannon, and Rudy Giuliani, he encouraged white nationalist groups, he dragged the presidency into the mud with his conduct, and worst of all he incited the violent overthrow of our government. Point being, his miserableness is well-rounded, there’s something there to condemn for everybody. Whatever good things were done by this administration got done by normal people who will never get credit.
Counterpoint: He was worst in those ways, too. See my post to that other guy for why his response to COVID was the worst. He literally dismantled a pandemic response team, and then we had a pandemic, and it killed everyone. He downplayed the virus intentionally. He touted some ineffective supplement for months. His incompetence led to the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of Americans, and if you don’t believe that, then you’re hopeless.Then, with regards to the climate: do you think leaving the Paris Climate agreement is the only climate-related act he did in these 4 years? Look at what the EPA’s fucking done in these 4 years, buddy. Look at who’s in charge of the EPA, for that matter, under him.You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about.
Yeah how could a president that refused to wear a mask or even suggest others do so, that literally had no plan to help us, that pushed bullshit medicine proven to not work, suggested people inject bleach as a cure, refuted actual science and muzzled the actual scientist trying to help us possibly make it so much worse than it needed to be? You disrespect the hundreds of thousands of people that needlessly died and the countless more that lost their loved ones with this disgusting bullshit
Climate hysteria and blaming a president for a virus. OK.
Thank you for showing your ass. Now we all know to ignore your opinions
Besides all the kids who were put in cages, hundreds of whom can’t be reunited with their parents, plus all the Muslim people who couldn’t see any of their relatives for the past four years because they were banned from coming into this country for no other reason than their religion, not to mention the 400,000 people who are now dead because of Trump’s mishandling of, and complete abdication of leadership during, the COVID pandemic, nobody’s life was affected was changed in any meaningful way.
Are you another one of those who isn’t aware that migrant kids were put in cages when Biden was last in the White House? And no Muslims were banned because of their religion. Citizens from from some dysfunctional/unstable Muslim majority countries that don’t have a away of vetting their citizens were banned from coming to the US. Incidentally the United Arab Emirates have also brought in a similar so called “Muslim ban”, but no one seems to be getting outraged about that for some reason.
I’m the daughter of immigrants. I spent every day of Trump’s administration terrified that their green cards would be revoked. Every time I saw a car with a MAGA sticker I shrank into myself because I was afraid I would be the victim of a hate crime. I watched people lose jobs and die during this pandemic. I watched my old workplace, a nonprofit which serves the HIV+ and LGBTQIA community, struggle when government funds were cut. So yes, peoples’ lives were “actually changed” by Trump’s regime.Editied to add: you unfeeling, selfish, ignorant, entitled jackass. And also: F*CK YOU
Every time I saw a car with a MAGA sticker I shrank into myself because I was afraid I would be the victim of a hate crime.Seek professional help.
“did Trump change anyone’s life in a meaningful way?” Yeah in a lot of very bad very “meaningful” ways.You’re a moron. Who ungreyed this idiot?
‘Who ungreyed this idiot?’ —The AV Club
If you don’t understand the relevance of politics in the world you’re welcome to shut the fuck up about it and go watch some cat videos at any time.
“did Trump change anyone’s life in a meaningful way?”You do not have to look hard for multiple (negative) examples of this (those kids in cages not make it to your feed?) but he certainly didn’t prevent anyone from being funny. I can’t say I’ve noticed any hysteria other than from people trying to shout down legitimate criticism of the orange fuckwit. All that said, I too am glad we’ll see less of him on here, despite that bullshit comment of yours.
Migrant kids in cages? Which also was done during the Obama/Biden administration you mean? If you didn’t know that, perhaps you should ask yourself why not.
Great, one of these guys. How’s the weather in Florida?
Are you in the Olympics for monumentally bad takes, because this is a gold medal. I hate using this phrase, but check your fucking privilege you twat. Get back in the fucking greys with you.
Objectivity. Look it up. It’s a Groovy Scene, now that The Cunt’s gone x
“Did Trump change anyone’s life in a meaningful way?”Hello, fellow white straight male.
check your privilege.
Yeah I’m pretty sure Trumps actions, or lack thereof, definitely affected people’s lives in meaningful ways.
This is a bad take and you should feel bad.I’m just a small city lawyer living in a city Trump sent unbadged federal troops to disrupt, while appointing three Supreme Court justices who define what is and is not legal (one of whom has practiced for less time than I have, despite being a professor), while doing harm to me through both the tax cuts and clumsy attacks on social security, but yes, Trump has managed, despite all that, to impact my life and the way I live.
I’m gay and I lived in fear of my own government everyday for the past 4 years after pretty much being able to tune out the previous 8.So, yes. My life was changed meaningfully, thank you for asking.
Wow, that’s not hysteria at all.
Um, what? He dramatically decreased the odds of abortion being legal in the next 6 months. He locked up children in cages, he set back foreign policy decades, doubled the deficit again, and crippled our ability to finance our own government.Go fuck yourself, you stupid asshole.
Hundreds of thousands of people died
Holy shit what a stupid fucking question. Seriously, take ten steps out of your comfort zone once in a while, because this might be the stupidest fucking thing I’ve seen in text in my life
My friend’s grandparents who raised him, and who I’ve known since I was a teenager, died because of Covid 19. His life has certainly been impacted, and their lives are over. I wish nothing but the most hateful worst on that evil old man. May his life collapse in ashes, and may three doors down play at his funeral.
did Trump change anyone’s life in a meaningful wayGee, you should probably ask one of the people who had their kids taken away from them for having the temerity to show up at the border.
They could have kept their kids, but they decided it was more important to continue on into the US. BTW, who built those cages again?
First off, you’re an absolute shithead.But who cares who built the cages? If I lock somebody in your basement for a few months, is it your fault because you built the house? What a dumb question. The only people who bear responsibility for the consequences of carrying out an inhumane policy is the people who instituted the policy and put it into practice. Are you going to claim the policy of child separation was crafted or put into practice by Obama? (Hey, maybe you’re are. You are, as noted above, a shithead.) Are you claiming that I’m saying that detaining people at the border is wrong, prima facie? Are you a shithead? Let’s say no, no, yes and continue.Secondly, people fleeing countries are not sipping coffee in the morning and going over the terms and conditions of what happens when they show up at a border. The first groups of arrivals wouldn’t have even known such a policy existed as it was put into practice pretty much the moment it was announced. And that’s to say nothing of the idea that their *kids* should be made to suffer for the consequences of their parents actions? Therefore the idea that either the parent or child deserves to suffer an arbitrary consequence of their actions, no matter how inhumane, is an opinion – hey look at that – only the bigger shitheads among us would have. Shitheads who need the world to be very simple and very black and white, because their little shithead minds can’t emotionally handle a world in which blame isn’t a quantitative one or zero property and where people are not islands.At any rate, what is it that led you to become such a shithead? Nah, just kidding, I’m not interested.
A whole lot of name-calling, and very little substance. Fits right in with the the Orange Man Bad syndrome we’ve all had to listen to for five years.The simple fact is, we can’t afford to be the caretaker for the entire world.And if I got to the border and they said “Nope, you have to leave your kids here” I’d turn around and go home. I wouldn’t leave my kids anywhere. Know who does that? A shithead.
A whole lot of deserved name calling, of course – but a whole lot of substance you simply won’t engage with because you’re not emotionally mature enough to grapple with the specifics on its own merits: the seperation policy was put into place a year before it was announced. So a lot of parents had their kids taken from them without a) any opportunity to know that that’s what would happen b) the choice of turning around. People were simply prosecuted and their kids taken from them. In the thousands of cases with no documentation or attempt made to keep track of the kids. Think about that. Children taken from their parents, and absolutely no intent on returning them to their parents. I don’t care if you think their parents should have had their heads chopped off, on what planet do you think you’re not simply a bad human being for thinking it’s worth it at the cost of doing that to children? That desire to feel emotionally unaffected isn’t a marker of being an objective, realistic mature person who is capable of “doing what it takes.” It’s a marker of being a shitty human being. All that matters to you is that people who do bad things have bad things happen to them. It’s purely to feed an emotional requirement. Nobody needs America to be a caretaker for the entire world – and nobody is asking America to do so (unless you’re worse at math than I already suspect you are.) Immigrants via the southern border are already a small minority of the source of America’s illegal immigrant “problem”. There’s no mathematical case to be made that it’s a significant drain on American resources. Yet you suggest a) enforcing immigration is impossible without such inhumane policy b) inhumane policy is a meaningfully deterrent compared to traditional deterrents, neither of which is demonstrably true.
And so here we are, you’re still a shithead.
His long ass post filled with substance has no substance
Comment-username synergy AF.
I’m gonna go WAY out on a limb and guess that you’re a middle class white guy.
Did you miss the pandemic? I haven’t left my house in a year, he definitely affected MY life in a meaningful way.
I can only assume that you don’t know anyone who has lost everything because of Trump’s disastrous handling of the COVID pandemic. Nearly half a million Americans are dead, the most in the world and millions of lives are ruined.Try and work on that empathy thing.
“Hysteria”? Seriously? 400K+ dead?Wow. Sorry people dying in droves is interfering with your cat videos.
I know, just like COVID its all total madness. I haven’t even seen ONE dead body in a whole year and yet the MSM says 400k people are dead? Total hysteria its nuts.
I agree with this for the post-mandate era. Even if we want to hear about justice potentially catching up with him, there will be news on other outlets.BUT I disagree with it for the past 4 years. For me, these boards have been quite soothing precisely because I could see Americans share the outrage and disgust that I was feeling from afar. It’s a somewhat decent and witty place filled with somewhat decent and witty humans, and those were the humans whose reactions I required to read.BUT I’d agree with it for the pre-mandate era. Trump has been built by the public’s cosy familiarity which entertainment medias provided. The funny little media monsters that we feed with attention easily invite themselves in the serious realm of politics, and when such aspirations can be guessed, it’s important to pull the plug instead of contributing to inflate them in public consciousness. I don’t know how the AVClub was dealing with him back then, but as a whole entertainment (and news, which function on the same rules unfortunately) are certainly responsible for his power.So, yes, but no, but yes.
I wouldn’t have minded the site covering Trump if it hadn’t been so constant and if they actually had something more meaningful to say.I think it seems kind of telling that Gizmodo Media Group shut down Splinter and drove out all of the original Deadspin writers over their political coverage, but left this site alone.
Lighten up Francis
I’d argue a pop culture website covering him and communicating his many harms to America and Americans made it a little harder for fans of pop culture—who hated politics and weren’t knowledgeable about it—not to learn about about the latter. Even if they didn’t click on those stories, those readers saw something that could have educated them.This is how I sort of became politically conscious about two decades ago about the awfulness of the GOP—in part through old Gawker and its coverage of the malfeasance of the party’s politicians back then. (Hey, whatever that worked, since ignorant young me wasn’t a regular consumer of political news.) Granted, that site covered more than pop culture, but my view is that whatever covered can help illuminate, even if through a pop culture lens. And Trump’s reign was like Don DeLillo airborne toxic event, seeping into everything, as it should have. For he threatened everything about America, including its culture, and therefore there was no excuse Americans shouldn’t have known deeply about him and his term. But I agree that the confluence of politics and entertainment, the first genetically becoming the second, is a very bad and underrated problem, and a big reason we got into this mess with him.
It didn’t bother me that they covered Trump but I’m glad they aren’t going to anymore. I’m tired of my couch riding vigilance. I hope Colbert et al. go the same way. I’m 98% sure I haven’t gone through the same brainwashing that Qanon people have but I’m 80% sure that the brain chemistry involved is very similar. Not a good place to be in.
Horseshoe theory is stupid, please stop.
Horseshoe theory – Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › Horseshoe_theoryIn political science and popular discourse, the horseshoe theory asserts that the far-left and the far-right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear political continuum, closely resemble one another, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a horseshoe are close together.Thanks for the term. I didn’t know there was a word for that. But that’s not really what I meant. I agree that the idea is wrong. All I was trying to say was that I’ll be happy to dial back my own social media use going forward. I don’t think how I’ve been using it has been good for me. There are other things to do in life besides Trumpwatching.
If nothing else it finally moved a number of people from indifference to caring and it seemed to upset white suburban status quo which is what so many people here were expressing. You’re not obligated to care but don’t position yourself as a soothsayer is really the point.
Soothsayer? I want to use social media less. I don’t get it.
Politics has been the ad-break in reality tv for years. They don’t Govern. They Sell. Now watch this drive …
What a farce for Barsanti and Co to have turned the AVClub into a rage-bait click farm and then proclaim they’re above it all. It reminds me of how they used to have daily newswires about Amy Winehouse and then after she died they tried, with a straight face, to scold us over our voyeurism.
Oh fuck you, this is such a tired fucking take.Here: Just don’t come here. If you’re upset that they’re getting you to ‘rage-bait click’ and here you are pretending you’re a soothsayer, just fuck off. Nobody bought your argument, now tug your microdick elsewhere.
You sound like another kid who was never told no by their parents and can’t handle hearing anything they don’t like, so they kick and scream and have a little temper tantrum to make the bad words stop. How did someone with your lack of emotional resilience even make it through the last four years without throwing yourself off a fucking bridge? Grow up you little brat.
I love it.This is how you know a troll is shitting his pants, folks. When instead of taking it like an adult and walking away going ‘wow, my dumb hot take wasn’t well taken’ they try to say YOU’RE the jerk for calling them the shithead they are.God damn, you even leaned into your own bullshit claim of soothsaying.I imagine you don’t take being told to fuck off well, how is that tantrum you just threw working out for you?
Do you think your reply is somehow disproving what he said? You do sound like an unhinged kid.
Dude, chill.
I despise Barsanti and agree with your take, but if this policy sticks I will applaud it. The only attention Trump should be getting is from state and federal prosecutors. The rest of us should be focusing on WandaVision, getting a vaccine, and expelling as many republicans from office as possible in 2022 and beyond.
“Oh My God, Why Is Everyone Giving This Jackass A Platform?” Says Website Giving Jackass A Platform.
Trump is a pop culture figure. He has been a pop culture figure my entire adult life (I’m 53). That’s what he WANTS to be. He ran for president for the purpose of getting more coverage. It’s hard for a pop culture web site to avoid talking about him.
It never hurts to be informed. Everyone has a choice to not read articles about certain topics, no matter what site their on.Personally. I’m glad they offered coverage. But, yes, now we can stop talking about him here.
This. At some point, during the first year of his term, there was something like four or five newswire items a day, what Trump had just done, what the late night show hosts had said on Trump, etc. It was really repetitive, as if you had a daily quota to fill. People complained. I complained.The thing was that the AV Club coverage brought exactly nothing to the cause of defeating Trump. You had nobody to convince. No one here is a Trump supporter who would see the light after reading a second or third hand account of something about him. You didn’t have a unique or interesting viewpoint, and the snark you tried to add was a shadow of what the site provided years ago. The only effect these stories had is that they made the writer feel good about themselves, “Hey, look at me! I’m fighting Trump! I’m part of the resistance.” And it was some bait for commenters who would double down on talking about their feelings about Trump, without doing anything constructive. Of course, writing this stuff also took resources that would have been better invested on actual pop culture coverage, and contributed to the decline of the site.Around 2018, you finally curbed down the Trump coverage, without really acknowledging it. It’s a good thing that you’re addressing this, even belatedly. Yes, it was a mistake. And you paid the full price for this.
Yeah all left leaning sites should just never post about a scary and dangerous president. Probably should only let right wing sites write about it
You obviously haven’t read what I posted. Where do I state that the AV Club should have never posted anything about Trump?I mentioned the days where there would be four or five newswire items about Trump, taking more than half the overall coverage. That was what happened in 2017. An item about what Trump has posted last night, an item about Trump’s recent political acts, an item about what Colbert said about Trump in his monologue, an item about Alec Baldwin doing Trump for SNL, etc. These were just short summaries of what had already made the news, for people who wanted to hear the gist of it, so they wouldn’t look lost during a watercooler conversation.The AV Club was far from being the only site that fell into this rabbit hole and became obsessed with Trump after the 2016 election. And with a narcissist who fancies to be the only center of interest in a position of authority, it can easily happen. It’s just that many of the other sites managed to find some kind of balance within months, where they would still cover occasionally Trump, when they had something relevant to add to the mainstream coverage, while the AV Club needed more than a year to final curb down the generic Trump pieces they would put together. It was basically a display of what conservatives could rightly call triggered liberals and variations on “orange man bad”. Compare this to what Sarah Silverman did with I Love You, America or Anthony Atamanuik on The President Show, and you’ll see the difference.
what a bad, wrong, stupid, cowardly take.
Spot on. I hear about Trump from much smarter people with much better commentary than “TRUMP IS AN ORANGE CHEETO!!!” which is pretty much what this website’s coverage boiled down to.
So your argument is that a pop culture website should ignore something that directly affects its existence, almost every day? They covered Obama pretty breathlessly as well; were you complaining then?
I agree with the sentiment here. The Root and Jezebel covered the Trump disaster just fine. So did Splinter, while it existed. The AV Club and other sites going all Trump, all the time just gave him what he always wanted: constant, nonstop attention on him. You hardly resisted him these last four years. You enabled him, AV Club.This is a chance for all G/O sites to recalibrate. Maybe bring back some classic AV Club content? Hire more writers? Diversify coverage?
The real bind that the AV Club was in — and I’m surprised that Sam didn’t mention it — is that Donald Trump was a pop culture nuisance of the type the AV Club loves to cover, but also one that became president. How could you possibly ignore hi under those conditions? He would have been covered from time to time had he never run, of course, but with a celebrity D-lister in the White House, how could an “entertainment” site just stop covering him altogether?
You could say, “Well, this site shouldn’t cover politics,” but he’d been a famous-for-being famous celebrity for years before he got seriously political. I’m by no means a Reagan fan, but at least Ronnie quit acting before getting into politics. You could argue that, because of his social media feed and obsession with the TV, Donald never stopped being an entertainment figure for a second, even while in office. How could a site like this just look away?
This take is bad and you should feel bad.
I think you’re being a little harsh. Like American hero Lindsey Graham, all The AV Club did was suckle from the teat of Trump for five years, only releasing their embrace once the well was dry, but pretending at the last moment to make a moral stand. It’s the American Dream writ large!
I’m sure someone has already said this but: pop culture = politics. There’s no artistic expression that doesn’t equal politics.
Fuck off back to Pureland.
I know, just like COVID its all total madness. I haven’t even seen ONE dead body in a whole year and yet the MSM says 400k people are dead? Total hysteria its nuts.
This is a good, strong position to make. In mid-2015.
Uh-huh. sure you are
I would like to see this extended to the ‘Hey, somebody said something on Twitter’ Stories as well.
Since we probably can’t unring the “politician twitter” bell, I hope that the presidential twitter for the next few years is just Biden tweeting “ffs,” plus occasionally retweeting an article about classic rock.
I don’t know. Twitter is pop culture, at this point. People make entertainment on there (@dril, just for one). It’s more anonymous and/or distributed than more traditional entertainment, but not necessarily worse. Way I see it, it’s like getting jokes from each individual member of a late night show instead of having them all filtered through the host. And I would expect a pop culture website to cover late night show jokes that people are talking about the next day or week (which this site also does). But that’s just my opinion.
Oh heavens yes.
Can Biden sign an executive order making it illegal to talk about Twitter anywhere else but Twitter?
Damn. I would never have to hear about Twitter again. I’m all for it.
“First rule of Twitter Club….”
You are not going like what they have to say about Kylie Jenner’s shower pressure! That’s pop culture, right? I mean, some people might call it inane celebrity gossip, but what do I know? I’m just a fart eating grey.
The only time I want to hear about this corrupt, vile, murderous motherfucker again is when his luck finally runs out and can no longer escape his legal and financial troubles. Same goes from his horrid spawn. They can all eat shit, fuck off and die for all I care (order being entirely optional).Yes, I’m still angry and bitter. How could any decent person not be? That being said, I fear the media will continue to chase him and give him a platform like they have for decades until the day he dies.
THANK FUCK
The only time I want to see any more news about that malignant pile of manure will be his obituary from the day that his daily cholesterol intake finally clogs his arteries to the point that his heart stops, or he gives himself brain bleed due to adderall abuse.
Trump is a ridiculously unhealthy person for all the reasons you mention and probably more. Which is why I feel like that POS is going to live to 110 or something.
Unrelated note: AV Club now has resources to devote to episode reviews of The Batchelor – since that, like President Trump, simply wasn’t covered enough – but not the shows the AVC faithful actually….watch.
I wonder if they’ll give him a Presidential Library. This may be a stupid question, as the obvious answer should be, “ Hell no!” But it’s fun to imagine one, what it’ll contain, and where it’ll be. Since NYC has run him out of town, maybe Florida, or Arizona, since that state’s GOP is reportedly doubling down on his aupport by censuring home base Republican officials who were critical of him. If the library is somehow built, I expect a permanent section of the cleaning staff devoted to scraping poo off the walls. Those poor bastards.
If he’s impeached I’m guessing not. There’s a reasonable chance of it since Mitch isn’t against it.
Convicted. He’s already been impeached twice. Conviction or acquittal is what comes after impeachment.
Thank you for the correction.
Mitch is against it again now that Trump is threatening to start his own party. He was only “not against it” to keep Trump from doing something really crazy in his last few days.
I understand his motivations, but also think Trump should be convicted. He should not be allowed to ever run again and should be stripped of his salary and secret service protection.
Yeah, Trump should absolutely be convicted and stripped of the ability to run again. Just don’t put any faith in Mitch to help the effort.
I don’t want to put faith in Mitch, but I actually could see him moving to convict.Ol’ Yertle the Turtle cares about exactly one thing: Remaining in power until his mummified husk is carted off. Being a Trump toady and embrace the MAGAs was a way to do that – as long as he was seen as an ally and as long as Kentucky had a huge population that would vote Republican to spite the “durn Libruls” he had nothing to worry about.However, as soon as the whole “Patriot Party” thing started to be floated, that was a huge issue for him. Anything that splits the stupid-wing is a risk to him, because whether he stays Republican or jumps ship to the Nazis Patriots he’s at a huge risk of a split vote leading to a Democrat getting in from Kentucky. Even without that clear risk, there were enough Republicans turning against Trump that it’s hard to continue to support him without losing some power. While you’d have your Cruzes and Grahams who Trump clearly has some dirt on – not sure what the hell he has on Cruz, but Graham doesn’t want to be outed even though it’s an open secret and nobody actually cares anymore – most Republicans can see the Trump ship is sinking, and like any good rat they’re hopping off. Everything McConnell does is a calculated attempt to cling to power until his crusty, decaying hands fall off.Also crazy people were going to shoot him, he also didn’t like that.I can’t see Yertle ever doing the right thing for a good reason, but in this case the right thing would be done for a completely self-serving reason, and you know he’s all about being completely self-serving.
Gotta think if he gets a library it’s just gonna be filled with unread copies of his books and old Hustler magazines
Presidential libraries aren’t really ‘given.’ They have to be fundraised privately (or through non-federal funds) and have an endowment for operations/maintenance expenses to offset some of the expense to NARA. In fact, they don’t even have to include NARA: Obama’s will be completely privately owned and operated by the Obama Foundation and will just have digitized records from NARA on site.
Seems hard to imagine Trump won’t follow a similar path as it’s a great way for him to get people to give him money to set up a museum dedicated to pumping up his ego.
I wonder how many presidential libraries have aged out and gone out of business. Like the Rutherford B Hayes library is just a cardboard box in somebody’s garage right now.
They didn’t start doing presidential libraries until Hoover.
Thanks. I was too lazy to Google it. Trump’s will no doubt be a VR “library” replete with nausea and seizure disclaimers.
Artists rendering:
It still exists, and I’ll have you know it boasts not only a handsome website and searchable database of Ohio obituaries, but also this very tasteful portrait of Balki Bartokomous (the inspiration, presumably, for his mysterious middle initial):
The Hayes library predates the establishment of the Presidential Library system which initiated with FDR. The Hayes library is operated by the Ohio Historical Society and Hayes Presidential Center Inc.
Seems every president is represented, although some have their papers located within a larger research library distinct from a museum or commemoration site (for example, Madison’s papers are at UVa rather than Montpelier).
I mean, LBJ’s is still going gangbusters. Any of the presidents who built their libraries at universities have seen their libraries be pretty popular, I think. That said, Trump will build his as an extension on Mar-a-Lago, I’m sure.
also there is NO chance that at least some of the absurd $3 billion he allegedly wanted for his library wouldn’t go in his pocket. None.
I’m picturing a wax figure at the foyer where you can “Put your own money in Donald Trump’s Pocket” and then it prints out novelty pardons or certificates of patriotism or somesuch.
ideally you’d put the money in his mouth and the “pardon” would come out of his ass
👏👏👏
And also to skim some of the money for himself.
First Presidential Library of Audiobooks
…
First Presidential Library of Audiobooks Dvd’s of the movie “Bloodsport”
There might be one, but he won’t like it. I imagine someone, somewhere, will set up a computer and a bank of monitors that endlessly scroll every one of his asinine Tweets.
mostly unopened Max Tucker autobios and dog-eared paperback romance
*swallows bottle of Imodium*Just getting prepared for the library opening.
Don’t start saving up now, it’ll only hurt you in the long run. One week before the opening, switch to a diet of spinach salads and aged cheese. Two days before the opening, start taking a stool softener at least twice daily. The morning of the opening, drink no fewer than three cups of black coffee. And then, on your way of the building, leave a generous donation for the cleaning staff.
He’s already fundraising for his library. He’s asking for a few Billion (with a “B”) to build it. I’m sure every penny will go to its construction and not for hookers.https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/trump-presidential-library/67-7f4531be-9f91-4c22-b383-710310d637f3
I feel like Trevor Noah’s Trump Twitter Library exhibition really ought to be good enough.
It’ll be one fat centrefold. One. No, what are they called … words? in that illiterate fuck’s, um, ‘library’. That said, he does sign Bibles.
I wonder if they’ll give him a Presidential Library.They better include crayons to going along with the books. 🤣
In all seriousness, what else would there be in the library except propaganda? No doubt every presidential library is a mini shrine to whomever but this one would be far more shrine and far less of a useful archive.
There’s the sort of museum bit, but there’s also an archive that is important for researchers. The archive is really much more important than the (usually) fawning museum bit.
The Donald Trump Presidential Library, Sponsored by PornHub
You don’t know PornHub if you think they’d go anywhere near Trump. They’re quite politically outspoken – and they’re not particularly on the side of society that most needs them.
I’m ok with being ignorant of the political leanings of porn sites.
Did you mean to say ‘casino’?
He’ll want it in Florida, but despite all of Florida’s inherent Florida-ness, there will still be a ton of pushback there. He could get it approved in a minute in the super-Republican states like Alabama or West Virginia, but no way does Twumpy-Wumpy want anything of his in a low-class place like that.
If you go to Berlin, there are several brilliant and haunting Holocaust museums and memorials, and Hitler’s bunker (where he killed himself) is just a parking lot now. Food for thought
The presidential library will mostly consist of annotated issues of Penthouse, usually a phone number and a price scribbled down next to the photo of the model.
This is a fascinating thought experiment. I imagine it would be the first library that advertises the ‘loosest slots in town’. I also imagine it would be garishly decorated with gold-trimmed everything, contain a luxury VIP reading area, and loudly boast having the most books of any library. And not only the most books, but the most important books. The President Trump Presidential Library would only stock the best and most important books, would have the most of them, and they would all have pictures, too.
Soon to be the Official Trump Library:
I’m sure Costa Rica is beating down the door to host the Presidential Kiosk containing all of Trump’s favorite periodicals+pamphlets.
It’ll be an archive of tweets.
I never minded it since snarking on his fuckshit with the AVC crowd helped with the constant onslaught of said fuckshit, but come on, guys, there were more than a few times where you went out of your way to mention Trump. Still, glad to see the end. It’ll be a while before I can retrain myself to not do my daily news rounds of “How fucked are we today?” (and really, it’ll be a while before I actually have that luxury anyway, it’s not like all the other problems left with Trump), but not having that obnoxious face everywhere is a fine start.
I am going to gloat so hard when we get a Trump headline within the next (to be generous) two weeks. Not in like a triumphant way, more in a sad, “my only power exists in these comments” way.
Personally, I’m astonished that he left the White House without a federal pardon. Sure, he was never going to dodge the state charges, but federal convictions could get him actually sent to FPMITA prison.
He had no avenue to pull it off. To pull a Nixon/Ford he would’ve had to resign. He refused to do that and reports say Pence wouldn’t have pardoned him if he did. The self-pardon route, which he was apparently considering, was shot down by his remaining inner circle just a day or two before the inauguration. It was seen as legally untenable and easily challenged. A presidential pardon, per the Supreme Court in 1915, is an admission of guilt. The unprecedented act of trying to pardon oneself would go right to the SC and his team warned him that, in the least, he’d have to specifically name what crimes he’d be trying to pardoning himself for. Even with that they told him a self-pardon wouldn’t survive legal scrutiny. Ford’s pardon wouldn’t have even survived legal scrutiny. It was an amorphous “whatever he did as President” pardon that wasn’t challenged because Congress just wanted to move on during a failing war.
Good. But as a progressive website you’re gonna put the rapist Biden under the deserved same scrutiny and mockery as you did the rapist Trump of course? Hello?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. You’re expecting consistency when there are petty partisan points to be scored? This is the A.V. Club, buddy. Moral hypocrisy is the name of the game.
And a good derrrrrrrrrrp to you as well.
GaslightObstructProject <-- you are here
Incorrect.
Lol the guy who’s clearly projecting is POSITIVE he’s not projecting.
Are we getting the spillover from the Parler shutdown! I hope one of them starts ranting about censorship!
And of course you have conclusive proof, right? And multiple accusers as well…I’ll wait.
I believe women ‘cus I’m not a monster. But please hold your breath while you wait for conclusive proof of a crime that is known to be incredibly difficult to prove as the stats for rape convictions and prosecutions show.
I believe women as well. But it seems odd that Biden’s accuser only came forth when he was running for President nomination of the Democratic party, and the fact that she “loves Putin” per her own words make me wonder about her mental health. Lastly, under oath she never mentioned said rape but instead and I quote ““Well,” Reade responded, “I worked originally for former U.S. senator Joseph Biden as a legislative aide. He worked on the Violence Against Women Act.”In the January 2019 testimony, Reade seemed to praise what Biden started as a U.S. senator, saying that “going way back to my former boss, Joe Biden,” there has been a “movement” to “take the onus off the victim” by encouraging neighbors or other associates of victims to report domestic violence to authorities.”So her story seems a bit fishy to say the least. She also lied under oath about her education as well.
Rape victims have complicated reactions to the trauma. Rape victims develop mental health issues because of the rape. Rape victims aren’t necessarily perfect or good people. I’m glad to see you’ve dropped your knowingly gross request for conclusive proof though.
Still seems circumspect to say the least.
That’s what rape apologists also say. You’re smart you know there’s no “correct” way for a rape victim to act and when you’re reminded of that you just double down on it.Hope you know that.
It’s a good thing no one on the face of the earth cares what you think about anything
You do.
You’re right. I care to the extent that I’m taking 10 seconds out of my day to tell you you’re an idiot. If that’s the kind of “caring” you hope to inspire in people then more power to you.
Thanks for admitting you’re wrong.
Jesus, look how desperate for attention you are. Just off yourself already and get it over with.
And wrong again. You’re 0 for 3.
Lol. Ok that’s cool. Bye
No worries. I accept you conceding.
Your take has left me so sour that I’m abandoning reading the rest of this thread as you’ve brought a lot of negativity with you. Get lost.
Ok. No need to give me commentary. I didn’t ask and I don’t care.
Are you trying to argue that he shouldn’t speak out about rape apologists… I’m starting to wonder if you’re a rapist.
Your opinion means very little to me. And it genuinely bothers me that people as stupid as you exist.
People who have been raped probably do, they are people.
What a stupid comment. Are you 14 or something?
Yes there is a correct way for rape victims to act: report it to the authorities. The end.
And of course you instantly believe white Karen’s accusing black folks of crime, correct?
Don’t pretend you aren’t aware of the reason for “believe women” is because of the power disparities. That’s more rape apologism. You’re actually trying to invoke the murder of Emmett Till here, you’re fucking gross.Yeah fuck it I’m done enjoy your last word. You guys arent as bad as MAGA assholes but you’re still fucking assholes who don’t care about things that make you uncomfortable or might take the sheen off your sense of righteousness and relief.
So I should believe every Karen who accuses a black man of rape as well? You can’t just pick and choose what person or creed you want to believe. Believe ALL WOMEN. So by your logic poor Emmitt Till, until proven innocent, was guilty right? You’re the only asshole here, Chief. You wouldn’t see me defending Trump and other low lives: by and large I always believe the woman including that scumbag Kavanaugh’s accuser. But it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at something objectively at times, especially considering the source.
With its current feeding grounds destroyed through deplatformation, trolls like MyThoughtsNotYourInferences have had to make do with the unfriendly environments of places like the AV Club. This young troll will be in a constant struggle to ever reach a comment over two stars.
The adolescent troll is quickly faced with a wall of reason, but as Harry Dean Lerner will learn, logic and facts will have no effect on the surly troll.
You’re a really reallllllly dumb person
Not sure why my posts were removed (well, probably you crying) but again: you would have believed the white woman who accused Emmit Till, or the folks accusing the Central Park Five. AKA Go Fuck Yourself.
Incorrect on both counts. David Twattenborough above being a troll was the reason. Also you are pretending you don’t understand power disparities so you can be a rape apologist.
So you only believe a person who claims to be raped by a white man? Is that correct? It sounds like you’re the rape apologist as long as it fits your mind view.
Incorrect.
You literally said that poor Emmit Till’s accuser was not to be believed at the time but Biden’s should be. You racist you.
You’re pretending you don’t know what literally means so you can continue to engage in rape apologism. So you’re preferring to appear stupid instead of not be a rape apologist. Think on that.
Oh, I get it: you’re a racist. It’s okay, we all have our faults: me, I like Larry Buchanan movies. I like how you ignore all the other posters who showed that said Biden woman ended up being discredited to boot. Shows real maturity and class.
1. You’re preferring to appear stupid instead of not be a rape apologist. Think on that.2. Incorrect.
1. You clearly are stupid. And a racist who feels only white men are rapists.2. Hi, Donald!
You haven’t stopped being wrong and haven’t stopped being a rape apologist. https://news.avclub.com/1846108076
Nice dead link. You haven’t stopped being wrong on Biden’s accuser and being a racist. So I repeat: should I have believed Emmitt Till’s accuser or the Central Park Fives accuser automatically? The way you believe Biden’s accuser simply because he’s white?
You’re half right.I haven’t stopped being wrong because I never started being wrong. All you’ve done is engage in rape apologist tropes from the start and then doubled down on that with the “oh what about a black man” Reddit tier nonsense which ironically is a classic right wing “gotcha”. So you’ve not just engaged in gross rape apology you’ve now turned to right wing talking points to defend it. Classy. Bringing up the CP5 case is particularly gross as unlike Till a rape was actually committed and you’re using that to defend your view that another rape wasn’t actually committed. Presumably you don’t believe in hell because you’d be on track to go to it for that slimy comparison.
Coming from someone who can’t follow his own moral principles and bases these accusations on race, I don’t think you should be talking about class.Not sure if you removed those other posts calling you out on how Biden’s accuser was easily discredited, but she was. And look: in all seriousness I did believe her at first and was willing to listen. Until additional evidence and circumstances showed she was not telling the whole story or may have fabricated portions of it. And YES: in all seriousness I get that black men are in a power of less power and so a claim of rape should be vetted out.
You haven’t at any point asked me my moral principles you’ve perhaps inferred them incorrectly (the charitable take), or made up your own version of them in order to engage in right wing talking points defending rape apologist tropes.
I would assume your moral principles are as rigid as to wait for a traffic light before crossing, and that you only live on your own wastes as you do not want to hurt vegetables.
Look everyone an idiot has something to say
And to think you tried so hard to show you didn’t care.
I don’t recall ever saying that. I remember telling you that you’re a dipshit with little to no insight into anything.
Then you have the memory of a goldfish. Big wins for you here.
Ok.
Just think: by your logic the Central Park Five were instantly guilty. Is that you, Trump?
This person is clearly mentally ill. Just ignore so they can stew in their own misery
Cuz no proof means no rape!
You seem fun.
Yes that’s exactly what I said, right after you advocated that all black men accused of a crime are guilty.
The troll, now tired from its incessant shitposting retires to his mom’s basement to rest and feed on the most recent right-wing talking points.
So Emmit Till was guilty of course…think of what you’re saying you moron.
Harry Dean Learner has stumbled upon a troll liar, an adolescent from the sounds of its complaints. It’s been busy eating its own feces, then defecating out conspiracy theories. Disturbing a troll while it feeds is always dangerous as it will almost immediately lash back with a bad faith argument.
At what point are people allowed to think someone is innocent?https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/tara-reade-loses-attorney-joe-biden-allegation.html
Have you been told you’re not allowed to do that? Wow.
You’re the one calling out the AV Club about this while referring to Biden as a rapist as if it is an irrefutable fact. I’m saying that the AV Club, like most of the world, doesn’t see it the same as you do.
So like no has said you’re not allowed to. And you’ve done global surveys and the matter as well. Wow.
Pretty sure you’re just a troll, but I’ll bite. I don’t have to do a survey because news outlets, voters, world leaders and even politicians of the opposing party haven’t treated it with any legitimacy. Her story was vetted and people have moved on. What do you want?
Ah so you mean a majority of US voters the press they listen to and other politicians. Interesting way to frame that as most of rest of the world very convincing use of hyperbole there.
It’s stunning how stupid you are.
Ok, where are all the people who agree with you? Why are you the only person in the comments bringing this up? Again, what do you even want (besides attention)?
1. There isn’t like one place everyone who believes women hangs out. 2. Pointing out a rapist is the most powerful person on Earth is important and it’s surprising to see it ignored or mocked.3. See point 2 (and obviously everyone here wants attention).
I’m going to blow your mind: you can believe women and take their accusations seriously while you gather facts and info. “Believing women” does not mean that everything that person says is indisputably true and that the accused is indisputably guilty.
And of course that process of gathering facts and info and the outcome of such is infallible which is why we don’t have the rapist Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.
I completely believed Ford but what can be done when there is no evidence or anyone who can corroborate either way? I thought Kavanaugh’s demeanor at his confirmation should have been disqualifying, but alas. That, however, was very much a “he said, she said” situation whereas as this is more like a “she said, everyone else said” situation. Her story has been vetted and it did not hold water.
Kavanaugh is undoubtedly a rapist but there were literal hearings where he was questioned and he still was confirmed. Reade OTOH was subject to about every single “untrustworthy”, “crazy”, “not morally pure” rape apologists trope in the book. It’s genuinely scary to me that some people can rightly understand the massive power disparity between Kavanaugh/his political party and Ford but fail to do the same for Biden/his political party and Reade. Instead choosing to lean into misogynist tropes like someone else was doing earlier or the old “well lots of people in positions of authority and lots of voters don’t believe her” schtick like you did with your hyperbole a few posts back. Let’s not forget how a lot the world’s media treated Lewinsky during Clinton’s presidency please. It’s very easy for media and politicians to close ranks and protect assets. “She said but everyone else said” is an absolutely terrible heuristic when evaluating claims about someone tipped to become the most powerful person on earth.
Like I said, I don’t really know what you want at this point? If you’re just going to assume that Biden is guilty and that there’s some grand conspiracy between everyone in Washington (including the fucking Trump administration) and all the news outlets (including fucking FOX News and OANN) to protect him then there is literally nothing that will give you some pause to consider that maybe one person presented a false story.
I’ve already answered both of those points. Obviously you can ignore them if you like, after all no one has said you aren’t allowed to despite your first reply to me pretending otherwise.
You want to call attention to something that isn’t a bona fide fact. Got it.
A bona fide fact would mean conclusive proof of a crime that is known to be incredibly difficult to prove as the stats for rape convictions and prosecutions show.You’re now doing rape apology like another person replying to me. I’d bet serious money you won’t even own that.
The troll has twisted the argument with a cunning whataboutism and Streets Ahead, with no idea of the trap, stumbles into it.
The answer is attention.
With dogged resolve, Streets Ahead pushes on. The troll, instead of being weakened by the onslaught of a rational argument is only getting stronger. The troll’s final gambit now is to reach “The Last Word” at which point it will claim victory and post screenshots to a right-wing website with the caption “look how I owned this libs derp derp derp.”
Streets Ahead is determined to catch this prize, but an experienced troll hunter would know that at this point it is foolish to chase the prey down into their circular logic shit lair.
Streets Ahead has reached a dangerous point of trolling, where the angry troll is now so full of its own shit that its ear canals are blocked and it can’t hear truth or reason.
A new troll hunter, Streets Ahead, arrives and points to an article that most likely contains a fact-based analysis of the issue, but it is a worthless gesture as the scent of “main-stream media” has rendered it invisible to the troll.
Derrrrrp
shut up
You’re so bad at this.
Im terrible at supporting rapist presidents yes.
Lol try harder, you failure.
Failing to be a rape apologist is good yes.
I will listen to any coherent accusation.
Glad you agree then.
You’re such a pathetic asshole
You are a troll or rape apologist or both.
That would be of interest if anyone on earth cared about your opinion. Which they don’t. Which is why you’re forced to spew your shit here. You don’t matter. Enjoy refreshing this page for the rest of this day. You clearly have nothing else going on
You’re still a troll or rape apologist or both and nothing can change that.
Nothing can change that *in your mind*. Which I’ve already informed you doesn’t matter. Feel free to believe whatever you want.
No you’re literally trolling in reality and it all matters to you hence you keep replying. But here’s an opinion – your temper tantrum is because you don’t like seeing rapists called out cus you’re scared it could happen to you too.
More stuff you’re wrong about. Weird. It’s almost like you have a tenuous relationship with reality and a need to see yourself in a heroic light while casting literally insane aspersions on people you don’t even know.
All you’ve done is throw a tantrum here for over 2 days. Fear of the MeToo movement causes many rapists to panic, freak out and get helplessly aggressive.
Also the definition of trolling isn’t “someone you disagree with”. Use more buzzwords. Super indicative of your lack of intelligence
Favorite tweet of today:
We should all bookmark this for when you totally forget about it.
Guess what brought me here today!https://www.avclub.com/indictment-donald-trump-celebrities-react-1850286145
The SDNY can still charge his ass even when Trump is hiding in Florida (or Russia) right? Please tell me they can at least charge and/or indict him.
Alleluia! And mazal tov!
Too late or not, it’s like blocking an abusive ex on your phone and social media. Whenever it happens, if you want to move on, it’s gotta happen.
We are all Trump’s battered spouse
Eh better late than never. Heaven knows I agreed with much of what you were saying, but it’s not the kind of A.V. that prompted me to join this club.Honestly, I think the whole world has become fixated on the White House in an unhealthy way, so I’m gonna accept this apology and let you all off the hook with that hearty “Better late than never.”The entire world is gonna be in Trump rehab for a long time, and I wish it the best of luck.
In your defense I’m a long time poster and by and large sn’t the A.V. that prompted me to join this club for a LONG time..
A good promise, if you can keep it.
Excellent news! Fuck Trump forever.
So yeah, we’ve talked about Donald Trump a lot here at The A.V. Club
because we felt like we had to. You really didn’t.
Starting now, The A.V. Club will no longer be covering Donald Trump in either Newswires or Great Job Internet posts.
Thanks.
I think what Dr. McCoy said is important, both today, and going forward with all these idiots:“What the Klingon has said is unimportant, and we do not hear his words.”
As a side note, I started posting on the AV Club in early 2017 partly as a way to dumb the pain and drown out the constant horrors of the Trump administration. So thank you all for helping me keep my sanity during these past four miserable years, and I hope you all enjoyed today as much as I did.
::sarcastic slow clap that slowly becomes mildly enthusiastic but sincere applause::
If Ol’ Leatherface comes good on his presumed intention to start his own TV network (honestly a longer shot than I think a lot of people realise), then the silver lining is that it’s only a matter of time before branching into excitingly-bad low budget cinema. Sort of like a Steven Seagal novel mixed with, well, a Steven Seagal film. I’d be grateful if, failing all else, the AV Club covers that. But otherwise, yes, Trump reportage on pop culture sites while a grim necessity during the administration, should now be put to bed. Cheers AVC
What if there’s a serious doc on HBO, Netflix or something that covers all the behind the scenes chaos in the administration? Will you cover that? You’ve touched on docs like that in the past, or at least mentioned them in things like What’s On Tonight, and you know all that stuff is gonna start coming out now. It’s only a matter of time before a good informative doc hits the airwaves
Jesus, AV C, now The Bastard’s fit for an entertainment site! NO MORE YEARS! NO MORE YEARS!! NO MORE FUCKIN’ YEARS!!!
You could have made this decision at any point in the past four years. You didn’t. Now it’s moot. There’s no point in announcing a lack of coverage of something when there’s no coverage to be had.
About time! The Trump coverage felt like 70% of the website at the beginning of his presidency! He feeds on his critisism, its just a shame it took over 4 years to realise that.
I guess I’ll believe it when I see it. This site said the same thing when he was running for President. “No more coverage, he’s not worth it, nope, not gonna do it” and of course we know how that turned out. Even before he was elected, that changed and we were swamped with articles and news about him.I don’t have a problem with that. He was obviously newsworthy in the worst possible way.Just don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Thank you for this. I’m attempting a similar Trump media diet in my own life. I know there’s a good chance that he, his followers, his family, or his cronies will do something in the future that demands my attention, but, otherwise, I’m avoiding reading, writing, or talking about him. My greastest hope is that he fades away into irrelevance.
not because we ever really wanted to,Liar. You went out of your way to try to say “this new story about Trump is sort of related to pop-culture” just to talk about him. Meanwhile actual pop-culture items (still bitter about the Bob’s Burgers reviews) disappeared.You are the Mitch McConnell and Mike Pence of the internet, enabling Trump then once he’s actually done and can’t help you any more you step up and say “this is wrong”.
So does he get all his social media back now?
You were writing about Trump long before he became POTUS, because he has been a prominent figure in pop culture for decades. He was a figure from pop culture who decided to run for POTUS solely for the purpose of becoming more popular. It is totally understandable that you considered it necessary to cover a pop culture figure while he served as POTUS.
Thank you Alec Baldwin
As George Bush said after Trump’s inaugural address four years ago. “That was some weird shit” I believe we can look back at his presidency and repeat, that was indeed some weird shit.
The correct answer is to run a Search/Replace on the entire database: Trump/Turnip.
Go home Donnie!
I wish this was true for every media outlet. They continue to talk about him on my local TV channels. It doesn’t help that he now live less than two miles from my house. UGH.
We are all excited to see the AV Club transition your Presidential coverage to carrying Biden’s water. It’s a great time be be alive…
I realize it’s become a punchline at this point, but I am amazed just how euphoric it is to wake up an NOT have to read/hear about the verbal poo he decided to fling that day. Of course it’s going to take a long time to get over the political PTSD we’ve all been suffering from, but it’s a start.
Please make certain Perkins gets this memo before he writes another Saturday Night Live review
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Ironically, I found this article because Perkins linked to it in an SNL review.
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Hy
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Thanks.
Who?
Clickwhores claim they will no longer clickwhore
I did my level best to ignore everything he said/did anyway. If I’d had the money and guarantee I could take my kids with me, I’d have moved to New Zealand years ago.
So if you cover Trump again what’s the punishment? Chances are he’s going to do something batshit insane before he dies that will deserve mentioning. Also pretty sure you’re going to cover his death.
“Thank you for letting us profit off the continued antics of a fascist, we really didn’t want to do that”
Now, now–American Hitler gets one last gasp of coverage–his second impeachment.
Good riddance to bad trash.
Trump will go down as a highly underrated President. Sheople will always try to disparage him and blame him for things not do him, call him bullshyte names like “racist” when he is far from that however history will eventually tell a different story.Thanks for the good you did this nation President Trump, now stay off social media and enjoy retirement.
“We’re not going to talk about Donald Trump anymore, and heres’ 5 full paragraphs why!”
Just keep in mind that Trump didn’t just waltz his sorry ass into the White House. There were a lot of fucktards who voted for him. That’s the real problem.
When his televised hanging on the National Mall for sedition, treason and crimes against humanity is broadcast, you can write one more story.
So this is like Jezebel’s policy on Piers Morgan.At least guys were more serious about it than Inside Edition’s cringey, tabloidy way of covering him.
Don’t count your lies before they hatch….
Oh, go to hell AVclub. You talked about Trump cause it got you clicks. This stance would’ve been impressive a year ago. But now it’s just bullshit. And you’re STILL talking about Trump.
If you are done covering Trump, why are you still covering Trump? You could have just…stopped covering Trump. But you didn’t. You just had to make sure you told everyone that you aren’t covering Trump anymore.You realize that this is functionally equivalent to walking up to someone and telling them that you aren’t talking to them anymore. It’s like you’re still in junior high.
If you are done covering Trump, why are you still covering Trump? You could have just…stopped covering Trump. But you didn’t. You just had to make sure you told everyone that you aren’t covering Trump anymore.You realize that this is functionally equivalent to walking up to someone and telling them that you aren’t talking to them anymore. It’s like you’re still in junior high.
Why the Hell would you stop now? It’s going to be all court dates and increasingly laughable bids for political/cultural relevance from here on out. If anything, assign a fresh team of scribes to the guy.
Hey, no apologies necessary. You treated him like the buffoon he was and my life was more enjoyable as a result. In the words of Robert Loggia: Fuck him. He was trash.
If you were really serious about it, you’d delete every fucking thing this site ever posted about the Tangerine Rectal Polyp. But you’re not, because you think your deathless prose somehow merits the archival respect of the Library of Congress.
“WE’RE NEVER WRITING ABOUT TRUMP AGAIN EXCEPT TO SAY WE’RE NEVER WRITING ABOUT DONALD TRUMP AGAIN. AND WE MEAN IT. AND WE’RE GOING TO LEAVE THESE ARTICLES UP FOREVER TO SHOW HOW FRIGGIN’ SERIOUS WE ARE TOO. SO THERE.”
You’re worse than Meghan McCain telling everyone she’s getting ready to get bounced off Twitter. And just as boring.
If you were really serious about it, you’d delete every fucking thing this site ever posted about the Tangerine Rectal Polyp. But you’re not, because you think your deathless prose somehow merits the archival respect of the Library of Congress.
“WE’RE NEVER WRITING ABOUT TRUMP AGAIN EXCEPT TO SAY WE’RE NEVER WRITING ABOUT DONALD TRUMP AGAIN. AND WE MEAN IT. AND WE’RE GOING TO LEAVE THESE ARTICLES UP FOREVER TO SHOW HOW FRIGGIN’ SERIOUS WE ARE TOO. SO THERE.”
You’re worse than Meghan McCain telling everyone she’s getting ready to get bounced off Twitter. And just as boring.
Thank you; this is some of the best news I have had this week.
The first president in ages not to entangle the USA in an interventionist war. It’s obvious why the main power centers in America, especially the weapons manufacturers, came at him with a vengeance. From what I’ve heard Biden already has a rather hawkish cabinet in mind.