I agree that policing words is a stupid endeavor.

Also, you are free to call Trump names such as stupid, liar, crooked, incompetent, unfit for office, ugly, fat, demented, insane, etc. At least until further notice. :)

FYI, I got another violation notice today regarding a January 2017 post that was already flagged and then cleared by them after an extended back and forth. I couldn’t find any way to point that out so I made further changes to it. It was a post about Sheriff David Clarke calling Marc Lamont Hill a “j***b**.” Any idiot can tell from the post and our site that we are not promoting racist speech but criticizing it. Sheesh.

When “political correctness” (PC) started up I was all for it, because the level of ugliness had become insupportable. Those were the years of the Civil Rights movement when we had to listen to Cr-words spewing out threats of death and annihilation against anybody who dared speak in favour of integration.

Nowadays, PC often seems to be silly, mostly because the care taken by the ethical has done nothing to stop those who seem to believe that vulgarity and mostly lame name-calling (alla Gutfield) gives them an aura of intelligence. Dare I say it? That was always the attitude of Cr-words towards anybody who was not lily white.

PC has done little to stop the bullies who insult others in the most vile manner and apparently with impunity. I shall change my mind when the likes of Google and Facebook take action to throw the likes of FoxNation and its denizens off their platform.

Ellen. Well, I’m glad it was resolved and will try to avoid even the mildest of name-calling. In future, any reference to the President and his followers will be made using “T-word”.

I’m told by American friends that the term “C-word” is already attached to a common MCP 4-letter vulgarity. That one shall therefore be the Cr-word, or – alternatively – “saltines” which I remember as a synonym for the Cr-word occasionally used in the late-’50s.

What’s next? Graham C******s? Safe C******s? Christmas C******s?

That word was the problem. I got a note from Google that the policy violation has been resolved.

Bemused, I think the meaning of your comment is still clear.

Ellen. The word was definitely offensive during the late ’50s, when it was used to refer to what people used to call “poor white trash”. Nowadays, my high school classmates use it with pride to refer to themselves. Like certain relatives of mine who carry the R-word with pride.

You guys have no idea how ridiculous G***gle gets. One example: I had several back and forths with them not long ago when, years after the fact, they decided that our blogroll listing of the African-American-run site “Field N***o” was a use of hate speech. I went back and forth with them but to no avail. So, alas, I can’t spell out the name of the site whose name is clearly ironic and that is antithetical to any kind of racism.

Bemused, Google didn’t say what the offense was but when I looked up the definition of that word, my Apple dictionary labeled it “US offensive.” So I guessed that that was the issue because I couldn’t find anything else. I submitted the page for re-review so I may find out.

Went back to that thread and saw that my message was the only one Ellen edited. Apparently for using what I shall heretofore call the C-word. A word that used to be a common term for rubes (rural folk) in Central Florida. Derogatory, yes, but the term has become a source of pride, just like the R-word.

So, now, we have to avoid not only the N-word, but also the C-word, and, I presume, the R-word. What’s next? the T-word? In a world where any RW, from Trump on down, can call anybody any name they want, even the most vile and threatening. I’m thinking of Fox Nation, here, but I’m told that there are far worse sites out there.

I lurk on many sites but comment only on NH. For the reasons mentioned by John McKee. NH is the most civil and substantive site I’ve ever consulted. The other sites provide nothing of interest beyond childish swearing and name-calling. Very T-wordian.

Message to Google: please do try to be more discerning. That would do a lot to improve your credibility.

Utterly ridiculous, Ellen. Yours is perhaps THE most civilised political site I have come across, in terms of both editorial content and the discussions that follow. Obviously, the same poisonous trolls that complain to Twitter at every opportunity are at work here.

Nevertheless, I for one will try to abstain from making comments I would not be happy to repeat in a courtroom or a cocktail party.

Note to Google: Get. A. Grip.

Oops, the violation is on the Day 2 thread. So never mind.

Hi, Guys,

Unfortunately, I got a policy violation notice from Google. But they don’t specify what the violation is. I can make some guesses, though, so I will be editing some of the comments, None of them violate our policy but this site cannot continue if Google suspends us which it will do if there are repeated violations.

Oh, now Alan ‘Epstein Sex Tourist’ Dershowitz is claiming the fake news media is mischaracterizing his legal Trump sycophancy. He didn’t say Trump could do “anything”. Just that anything corrupt Trump has done to date isn’t impeachable because Der Furor sincerely believes his actions to get reelected are in the “public interest”. See the difference? 🤮

I’ve become so disillusioned in what this country has become, and is becoming. Seriously considering relocating. Chump has succeeding in destroying America, and we are now a banana republic, where laws mean nothing, and rich white are never guilty, only dirty brown and black people are criminals.

According to Alan Dershowitz, if Biden gets the Democratic nomination then Trump shoots him dead in the Oval Office it’s not an impeachable offense. His legal logic being nothing is a crime if Trump’s (or any president’s) action is based on them thinking they’re the best person for the job. Sheesh!

I’ve written a letter to Harvard inviting them to fire Dershowtyz forthwith. The man’s a joke.

Dershowitz really shamed himself by presenting rank self-interest as a justification for cheating by a leader. That’s about as unAmerican as it gets.

Extrapolating, I may decide that taking another person’s property is a good thing for the collective body since that would reduce wealth inequality and hence strengthen stability.

Somehow I don’t think that reasoning would work in a courtroom. The GOP are really and truly shameless if they buy into that idea.

@kevinkoster. I think your prediction will unfortunately turn out correct. The so-called GOP moderates (Romney, Collins, Murkowski and Alexander) will express “deep concern” over Mango Mussolini’s blatant corruption in office. Nonetheless, they will tow the line set by Turtleman Mitch. No witnesses. Acquittal.
The spineless GOP-controlled Senate has surrendered Congress’s constitutional right of oversight. This nation is headed down a very dangerous path. If Mango Mussolini is somehow re-elected, we won’t recognize our country in four more years. A dictator President, a House of Lords impotent Congress, and am ultra-conservative Judiciary that defers to Presidential whims.

My instincts say that all 53 of the GOP Senators will stay whipped in line on Friday. The “moderates” will ask questions through tomorrow to play themselves as more skeptical of the Pence White House, but in the end, they’ll follow their normal pattern. We should keep in mind that even if they had allowed witnesses, the GOP would NEVER vote to convict Pence’s childish spokesman. And they never would have allowed Bolton to testify on national television – that’s too much of a crapshoot and they know it.

There’s also the likelihood now that Bolton’s book will be held back til after the election – apparently as punishment for his temerity in leaking that Pence’s guys have been going through it since December.

My hope for the year continues to be that people will pay attention and show up to vote in November. It’s the only way we can get Pence and his minions out of there and start to clean this mess up.

Hear, hear, Ellen. At one stage the (very good) team on MSNBC suggested a huge bunch of flowers should be sent into the chamber for Dershowitz – presumably as a funeral wreath.

Snake Dershowitz just suggested some Democrats should vote to acquit for the sake of unity. That might be slightly less laughable if Dershowitz weren’t a toady for the most divisive man in America. and constantly appear on the network whose business model is divisiveness in service to the most divisive man in America.

Trump’s counsel just said it’s OK to get “information” from a foreign country that helps in an election.

Rep. Garcia is calling that a red herring, that the House has the sole power to conduct impeachment and sole discretion as to how to do so. “The House is constitutionally entitled to information from the executive branch” as to president’s misconduct.

Garcia also says that Trump is trying to corrupt the process by claiming he can decide which subpoenas to respect and which not.

Murkowski has a question now. For the House managers, in early October Cipillone sent a letter saying House subpoenas were invalid. The House could have addressed the insufficiency or reissued the subpoenas. Please explain why neither of those actions took place.

Trump lawyer gives a bunch of dates from the record that “reflect the president’s concern” but can’t say a specific date.

Counsel says he doesn’t think there’s a specific date in the record.

Good question from Romney to counsel for Trump: On what specific date did Trump withhold aid to Ukraine and did he explain the reason at that time?

Today’s posts disappeared inexplicably for a while but they’re back.

I had tried to post that Fox cut away to air The Five which started off by touting Trump’s USMCA signing.

John McKee, I missed that ridiculous answer from Dershowitz.