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RedState’s Water Cooler – December 17, 2018 – Open Thread

Rep. Jackie Speier’s Take On Why Congressional Slush Fund Payments Differ From Trump’s Hush Payments

Much debate – and vitriol – has followed the SDNY sentencing memo filed last week in the Michael Cohen case. Democrats are trying to make the case that Trump has committed a felony.

The Daily Caller asked Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) what she saw as the difference between the administrator of a Congressional slush fund making payments to settle sexual harassment lawsuits against lawmakers and Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, making arrangements to pay hush money to women who claim they’ve had affairs with Trump.

Speier answered:

They’re totally unrelated. One was to impact an election and the other was bad behavior within Congress…[Trump] actually was paying off women not because he sexually harassed them but because he had affairs with them and didn’t want the public to know about it.

No, they’re not unrelated.

Both Trump and the members of Congress on whose behalf payments were made, were trying to accomplish the same goal. Both Trump and the lawmakers wanted to prevent  their conduct from becoming public for the same reasons. None of them wanted to embarrass themselves or their families. And just as Trump wanted to keep his affairs from twelve years ago off the front pages ahead of an election, members of Congress wanted to prevent accusations of sexual harassment out of the press ahead of their reelection efforts. What politician wouldn’t consider that?

Furthermore, I would argue that it is better to have had a sexual affair than to have sexually harassed someone. In one case, two adults are engaged in a consensual relationship and in the other, one individual is making unwanted, unreciprocated sexual advances to another. And, because a member of Congress is the most powerful person in their office, the employee may feel that their job will be threatened should they speak out.

What do you all think?

A Modern World Problem: Wife Tells Husband She Would Like To Use A Sperm Donor So That Her Children Will Be Better Looking and Smarter

A British woman feels that her husband isn’t “attractive enough” and she believes her children will have a much easier time in life if they are attractive and really smart. Okay.

The husband told The Mirror, “She’s not wrong in that more attractive people live life easy, but it’s just so hurtful to think that your wife doesn’t think you’re good enough to have children with.” Understandably.

He goes on to claim that the real reason his wife wants to use a sperm donor is because of “her own insecurity” and then proceeds to say some not very complimentary things about her.

“If I’m being objective, my wife is incredibly smart but not jaw-dropping beautiful and though she has a healthy fit body, her face is not perfect,” he said. “She is imperfectly perfect to me but she’s only a solid 6/7.”

Update:  This man found out his wife has already found a sperm donor who is extremely attractive and highly intelligent. In fact, they won’t even have to pay the high costs of in vitro. She is having an affair with him.

Survey Asks 4,000 American and British Nationals What Santa Claus Should Look Like In Modern Times

You may be surprised to hear how many believe Santa should be “portrayed as gender-neutral.” We wouldn’t want to reinforce a “binary conception of gender!”

As for his actual looks, 73% would keep him as he is now. 18% (among those who’d change him) think Santa could use a new hairstyle, 21% believe he should go on a diet, and 20% would like him to sport tattoos!

When asked about gender, 72% of people like him as a man. But it’s significant that over 10% would rather rebrand him as female, and a whooping 17% actually want him to be portrayed as gender-neutral. That’s a significant percentage, and it’s not surprising. With the recent social revolution, more and more people seek fair representation—or, at least, non-alienation—in major cultural figures, whose image could go a long way in their constant struggle for recognition. It’s easy to understand why, at the very minimum, they’d want these characters to avoid reinforcing a binary conception of gender.

Quote of the Day:

“Obama handed Trump a basketful of hand grenades with the pins pulled.”

Former Assistant Director of the FBI James Kallstrom, (Clinton Administration)

This quote comes from a RedState reader’s comment. What a great quote!

As Always, This Is An Open Thread…