Munich Security Conference

I see a number of Democrats with presidential aspirations attended the Munich Conference last weekend to showcase their foreign policy gravitas. AOC in particular proved that embarrassing the US abroad is a bipartisan project. Her response to the Taiwan question was worthy of Kamala Harris in its painful incoherence. If she was a Republican, you’d see it in a SNL sketch. But as a Democrat she had the NYT complaining it was “microscopically dissected”.

I was especially impressed with her emancipatory geography when she took Trump to task for reaching below the equator to snatch the Venezuelan dictator. And her usual vocal fry and quasi-Marxist rhetoric reminded me why she is my preference for the Democrats’ next candidate. The California and Michigan governors also showed up, but didn’t make nearly the same impression.

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Originally Posted by LDAHL

If she was a Republican, you’d see it in a SNL sketch. But as a Democrat she had the NYT complaining it was “microscopically dissected”.

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I understand she called the Times from Munich and asked them to do a sister a favor.

We have burned our military, intelligence, scientific, and economic relationships with our previous European allies. We are no longer an ally, or even a competitor, but likely an adversary.

They seem, wisely, to be moving away from our sphere as fast as they can manage.

Cui bono?

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Originally Posted by bae

We have burned our military, intelligence, scientific, and economic relationships with our previous European allies. We are no longer an ally, or even a competitor, but likely an adversary.

They seem, wisely, to be moving away from our sphere as fast as they can manage.

Cui bono?

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Thanks to republicans and trump!

There is little greater embarrassment on the international scene than J.D. Vance, unless it's the king himself. Even AOC cannot compete with offenses.

There may come a time when we need more international friends and they won't be there.

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Originally Posted by Rogar

There is little greater embarrassment on the international scene than J.D. Vance

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Remember when he was a much admired and critically acclaimed author, before anyone knew he was a Republican?

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Originally Posted by Alan

Remember when he was a much beloved and critically acclaimed author, before anyone knew he was a Republican?

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Remember when he said “I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy" on his Hillbilly Elegy tour?

Or when he deemed Trump an "idiot", said he was "reprehensible", "unfit for office", and compared him to Adolf Hitler? Etc.

All before he became anointed though.

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Originally Posted by Alan

Remember when he was a much admired and critically acclaimed author, before anyone knew he was a Republican?

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Yeah. You mean the book where he was humping a couch?

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Originally Posted by Alan

Remember when he was a much admired and critically acclaimed author, before anyone knew he was a Republican?

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He should have stuck with being an author, before he was tempted with power and a place on the throne. I also remember his lies about illegals eating their pets, although that now seems like ancient history..

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Originally Posted by Alan

Remember when he was a much admired and critically acclaimed author, before anyone knew he was a Republican?

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Yes, I really liked the book. But you can't judge the character of a book's author by the content of their book. I was disappointed in Vance as I learned more about him. His performance as a VP, regardless of his politics, has been sophomoric at best.

I think Rubio, again, regardless of his politics, gave a very skilled speech. I don't agree with everything he said, but he threaded the needle in a way that permitted our allies to "breathe a sigh of relief" as I read in one account. That's a win for any Republican in the Trump White House.

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Originally Posted by frugal-one

Yeah. You mean the book where he was humping a couch?

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Fell for that one, did you?

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Originally Posted by LDAHL

Fell for that one, did you?

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That was a dead giveaway - in Ohio they are generally known as "sofas" or "davenports", at least in his era.

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Originally Posted by frugal-one

Yeah. You mean the book where he was humping a couch?

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I wasn't familiar with that allegation so I had to look it up.

The rumors and memes about JD Vance and a couch originated from a
false claim posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in July 2024.

Here is a breakdown of the incident:

• The Origin: On July 15, 2024, the day Vance was announced as Donald Trump's running mate, an X user (later identified as @rickrudescalves) posted that Vance's 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, included a passage about having sex with an "inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions".
• The Truth: The claim is entirely fabricated. The supposed passage does not exist in the book, and the words "sofa" and "glove" do not appear in Hillbilly Elegy.
• The Spread: Despite being a complete fabrication, the joke went viral, spawning countless memes and becoming a staple of online mockery.
• The Retracted Fact-Check: The Associated Press (AP) published a fact-check article with the headline "No, JD Vance Did Not Have Sex With a Couch," but later deleted it, noting it had not gone through their standard editing process.
• Response: The author of the original post acknowledged it was a joke and later made their account private. The joke was later referenced by political figures, including Tim Walz during the 2024 campaign. https://www.simplelivingforum.net/im...AASUVORK5CYII=NPR +6

In summary, JD Vance did not write about or engage in the act described in the meme; it was a widely spread internet hoax. https://www.simplelivingforum.net/im...AAAElFTkSuQmCC

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Originally Posted by Alan

I wasn't familiar with that allegation so I had to look it up.

The rumors and memes about JD Vance and a couch originated from a
false claim posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in July 2024.

Here is a breakdown of the incident:

• The Origin: On July 15, 2024, the day Vance was announced as Donald Trump's running mate, an X user (later identified as @rickrudescalves) posted that Vance's 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, included a passage about having sex with an "inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions".
• The Truth: The claim is entirely fabricated. The supposed passage does not exist in the book, and the words "sofa" and "glove" do not appear in Hillbilly Elegy.
• The Spread: Despite being a complete fabrication, the joke went viral, spawning countless memes and becoming a staple of online mockery.
• The Retracted Fact-Check: The Associated Press (AP) published a fact-check article with the headline "No, JD Vance Did Not Have Sex With a Couch," but later deleted it, noting it had not gone through their standard editing process.
• Response: The author of the original post acknowledged it was a joke and later made their account private. The joke was later referenced by political figures, including Tim Walz during the 2024 campaign. https://www.simplelivingforum.net/im...AASUVORK5CYII=NPR +6

In summary, JD Vance did not write about or engage in the act described in the meme; it was a widely spread internet hoax. https://www.simplelivingforum.net/im...AAAElFTkSuQmCC

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This is why I subscribe to Snopes. I don't like JD Vance, but no one should be a victim of viral falsehoods. Unfortunately, that's the world we live in now. It's so maddening.

Also, the phrase "inside-out latex glove" is problematic:

- How could an observer know it was inside-out? The account seems unnecessarily specific.
- "Inside-out" is itself troublesome, for reasons that might be evident
- Latex? Nobody sane would use latex for such a practice, latex is well known to produce allergies. I fund out local reproductive health services to distribute non-latex condoms for this reason.

The account has all the hallmarks of "urban legend", before you even consult Snopes.