Octopus Overlords

Maybe this timeline is getting slightly better:

The Associated Press removed its fact-check debunking the claim that former President Donald Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance (R-OH) once had sex with a couch just 24-hours after it was published after the article “didn’t go through” the outlet’s “standard editing process.”

...

In an article titled “No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch”, the Associated Press addressed the bizarre rumor that in Vance’s 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, he mentioned having sex with “an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions.” The debunk article was first published on Wednesday as the claim was spreading widely online.

The fact check revealed that a PDF search of the book contained 10 references to “couch” or “couches,” but none implied any sexual activity with the furniture. Furthermore, the AP confirmed that the words “sofa” and “glove” do not appear anywhere in the book.

...

The Associated Press fact-check, however, was the subject of much amusement online – considered by some a little lowbrow for the international newswire.

Others argued that the story couldn’t be fact-checked, suggesting just because the admission wasn’t in the book doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The replies in that article are priceless

Vance robbed it of its ability to be a chaste lounge.

“I did not have sexual relations with that futon”.

Yeah well. You should have seen how that couch was upholstered.

The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'

Man, if someone is going to start a rumor like that, couldn't they be a little more, ya know, salacious? Couch sex seems something like a high percentage of teen boys might have done at one point.

Hell, even if he did it as a grown man, I still don't care. Now if you tell me he fucked an unwilling goat, then shot it in the face right after because he was so ashamed, we can talk.

High percentage??

Couch sex comes right from Big Mouth. And JD Vance IS Jay Blazarian.

Sofa King Vance

gbasden wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2024 3:03 am Early Presidents were saddled with their defeated rival as their Vice-President. It would have been really interesting in a horrific way to have Trump as Biden's VP.

Like he'd show up for the job.

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2024 5:53 pm Man, if someone is going to start a rumor like that, couldn't they be a little more, ya know, salacious? Couch sex seems something like a high percentage of teen boys might have done at one point.

Hell, even if he did it as a grown man, I still don't care. Now if you tell me he fucked an unwilling goat, then shot it in the face right after because he was so ashamed, we can talk.

I'd go with an unwilling chicken which he then killed. . . And ate...

Wait until you hear about his one nightstand.

Oh, I like.

This whole Vance/couch thing will NEVER get old for me.

Alefroth wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 2:42 am Wait until you hear about his one nightstand.

Alefroth wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 2:42 am Wait until you hear about his one nightstand.

Yeah, that was good.

Zarathud wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2024 6:50 pm Couch sex comes right from Big Mouth. And JD Vance IS Jay Blazarian.

I had completely forgotten that subplot. Hah.

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 7:29 am Oh, I like.

This whole Vance/couch thing will NEVER get old for me.

Because it's so crazy and depraved (/s), or because it was debunked?

Because it’s funny.

Zarathud wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2024 6:50 pm Couch sex comes right from Big Mouth. And JD Vance IS Jay Blazarian.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought this.

I know there is a big difference between "talking smack about assassinations" and teasing someone about fucking sofas. (So I don't need to hear that point made.)

But personally, I don't think it helps "our side" to make a huge story/ big joke about a lie like this.

That being said, we are a close group and I wouldn't chastise anyone really for doing either in the context of our forum, but in the outside world - I think promoting this is a bad chess move.

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 10:06 am I know there is a big difference between "talking smack about assassinations" and teasing someone about fucking sofas. (So I don't need to hear that point made.)

But personally, I don't think it helps "our side" to make a huge story/ big joke about a lie like this.

That being said, we are a close group and I wouldn't chastise anyone really for doing either in the context of our forum, but in the outside world - I think promoting this is a bad chess move.

Agree 100%

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 9:29 am

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 7:29 am Oh, I like.

This whole Vance/couch thing will NEVER get old for me.

Because it's so crazy and depraved (/s), or because it was debunked?

Actually, even reading you say "debunked" made me snicker a little.

Soon, the idea that he sleeps with corduroy pillows will be making headlines.

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 12:03 pm Soon, the idea that he sleeps with corduroy pillows will be making headlines.

Hah!

Freyland wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:37 am

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 9:29 am

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 7:29 am Oh, I like.

This whole Vance/couch thing will NEVER get old for me.

Because it's so crazy and depraved (/s), or because it was debunked?

Actually, even reading you say "debunked" made me snicker a little.

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 12:03 pm Soon, the idea that he sleeps with corduroy pillows will be making headlines.

Or tiny ear pillows?

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 1:11 pm

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 12:03 pm Soon, the idea that he sleeps with corduroy pillows will be making headlines.

Or tiny ear pillows?

Hey! That's trademarked, dammit!

This one goes out to Tim Scott:

I highly doubt that but I don't doubt it's in the single digits.

Now do Arab Americans.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p ... 235069397/

Trump: You have to get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four years, it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore.. In four years, you won’t have to vote again.

Even if you take it in the context of him asking Christians to make the extra effort this one time and he’ll turn things into a paradise… that’s not exactly understood and it’s not great language.

Four years, it will be fixed

**Wink wink nudge nudge** The most clever and subtle statement in history. No one has ever been more clever and subtle. In fact, the extreme socialist left are trying to fraudulently tell you I don't have all of the black vote in Michigan. Look at what they did to Detroit ballots in 2020. No one has ever cheated more, ever. It's like how spiders don't really kill their food when they poison it. Have you noticed that about spiders? I was talking to a bug scientist and he was 'you're right. Spiders don't kill their prey when they poison them.' No one ever thought of that.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 1:11 pm

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 12:03 pm Soon, the idea that he sleeps with corduroy pillows will be making headlines.

Or tiny ear pillows?

Okay, but for the headlines, we will need them to be tiny corduroy pillows.

I just filled in my Republican primary ballot. It wasn't hard to do; the Mass. R Party can't field candidates for any of the downballot races, so I only had to research three contenders each for Senate (running against Elizabeth Warren) and House (against Stephen Lynch, a long-time incumbent conservative Dem).

The leading Senate candidate is a right-wing nutjob whose main focus is "end the culture war," by which he means prosecute and win the culture war. His policy positions are just MAGA crap. Bzzt!

The second guy is a tech bro who's pushing his "GetShitDone" agenda. That's kind of cute and he's not obviously crazy. Mostly focuses on protecting crypto from regulation.

The third guy is another tech bro whose focus is crypto. His origin story involves growing up in poverty in Detroit and overcoming adversity. I liked his blue-collar history and policy focus. He comes across as a conservative Dem so he got my vote.


The leading House candidate is a law-n-order trumper. The most salient fact is that he ran against Lynch in '22 and lost by a margin of 70/30. Since he's a proven loser, he got my vote.

The second guy is endorsed by trump. Bzzt!

The third guy has no campaign website or Facebook page, and his personal FB page barely mentions politics beyond some photos of trump yard signs. Bzzt!

Looking at the neck and neck polling Im seeing I just dont understand it at all. The orange turd should have at MOST 2 votes and those would be from a couple who had a car wreck earlier in the day and have head injuries and are confused.

Harris now leads in the national polls (barely) but trails in the Electoral College:

https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris- ... ls-1933718

winning the wrong race.

The electoral college is such a curse on our democracy. Feels like we've been relatively lucky to not have significant popular vote / electoral college gaps, but also seems like it's becoming more of a problem in the 21st century.

There's no sign that Harris' momentum has stalled; she still has the potential VP pick bounce and the DNC, and she's been increasing steadily even before those things have occurred. So I'm not overly concerned about a snapshot.

Yeah, I'd imagine the popular vote was never going to be the problem. Instead it's always been making sure that whatever is happening on a county and local level is chipping away at the gerrymandering that was designed to deliver GOP electoral votes.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2024 12:46 pm There's no sign that Harris' momentum has stalled; she still has the potential VP pick bounce and the DNC, and she's been increasing steadily even before those things have occurred. So I'm not overly concerned about a snapshot.

Yeah, but we don't yet know where the Harris equilibrium will be. As of now the situation is greatly improved, but she's probably still a slight electoral college underdog. Maybe she'll continue to shoot up in the short term, but she's presumably going to stall out eventually.

I don't put much stock in Newsweek or Nate Silver's poll analysis.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2024 12:46 pm There's no sign that Harris' momentum has stalled; she still has the potential VP pick bounce and the DNC, and she's been increasing steadily even before those things have occurred. So I'm not overly concerned about a snapshot.

I did not mean this as a sign of concern, merely an update.