In what universe can a porn actress be described as "classy"? Or "dignified," for that matter?

On the subject of alternate universes, in classic DARVO fashion, Pamela Ramsey Taylor insists that a "hate crime" has been committed against her.

The official claimed she had been referring to "my personal opinion of the attractiveness (of Mrs Obama) not the colour of the skin”.

(By the way, someone should advise Nick Allen that edits within quotes go in square brackets, not parentheses.)

She also claimed the backlash had become a "hate crime against me" and that she and her children had received death threats.

Pamela Ramsey Taylor, director of the Clay County Development Corp, which provides services to elderly and low-income residents, made the remark on Facebook.

Taylor wrote: "It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I'm tired of seeing a Ape in heels."

Beverly Whaling, the mayor of Clay, responded on Facebook by saying: "Just made my day Pam."

Pam replied, "Why thank you, Beverly. By the way, let me ask you: do think a pink hood looks OK with my white robe, or should I stick with the matching white hood?"

And here's the reigning Miss America, by the way, who made that "a Ape [sic] in heels" comment.

Patrick, in the UK, the use of brackets and ellipses are different, as is their reversed use of double quote marks and single quote marks to indicate quotations and nested quotations.

Since Nick Allen is writing for The Telegraph, he was probably following British English rules and not American ones, even though he was reporting from Washington, DC.

"The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language." ~ attributed to George Bernard Shaw

"We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language." ~ Oscar Wilde

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The town of Clay has a population of 491, none of whom are black, according to latest US Census figures.

One wonders about the 121,000 signatures on a petition calling for the resignation of a mayor of a town with 491 residents. Most of the signatories won't be voting for or against her.

The point is moot. The mayor resigned. And your link, Conan, does not support your claim.

Using criticism of someone's looks as a way to undermine their political or intellectual credibility (assuming that they aren't intentionally dressing to be provocative) is a cheap rhetorical trick that plays into a part of the human monkey-brain that instinctively distrusts all who look different. It encourages people to associate unattractiveness with low intelligence.

Having said that, we see a lot of people who try to insulate themselves from criticism by portraying all negative statements about them as being personal attacks. Michelle Obama herself has as much as stated that all criticism of her policies is rooted in racism, and that no person of intelligence can possibly disagree with her on any issue.

Michelle Obama herself has as much as stated that all criticism of her policies is rooted in racism, and that no person of intelligence can possibly disagree with her on any issue.

May I ask for receipts on that one?

Kevin, here's an example that explicitly states that all criticism of her school-lunch shenanigans is due to race hatred. And this is from a sympathetic Web site, so it's not a right winger putting words in her mouth:

http://atlantablackstar.com/2016/11/14/michelle-obama-ready-to-leave-the-white-house-as-conservatives-are-forced-to-reconcile-hateful-criticism/

Thanks, Dave, but I don't see where that equals Michelle Obama saying all criticism of her politics is rooted in racism.

Here is the sum total of her quotes from the article:

“Everything we do is by choice,” she told Van Meter, who wrote about her for Vogue. “I could have spent eight years doing anything, and at some level, it would have been fine. I could have focused on flowers. I could have focused on decor. I could have focused on entertainment. Because any First Lady, rightfully, gets to define her role. There’s no legislative authority; you’re not elected. And that’s a wonderful gift of freedom.” Though her tenure as First Lady has been successful, she is ready for it to be done: “It’s time. I think our democracy has it exactly right: two terms, eight years. It’s enough. Because it’s important to have one foot in reality when you have access to this kind of power,” she told Meter.

Speaking of shoes, I'm trying to use the word "twatwaffle" in a sentence.

So far all I've got is Huma, Hillary, and a hot session involving the patterned sole of a hiking boot.

Any help?

Gog. The gymnast left a sweaty twatwaffle mark on the mat during her routine.

Frankly, she has a point. Even on this blog there were outraged complaints that the office of the First Lady was an unnecessary expense during these hard times.

Although no one could tell me exactly how much the office of the First Lady actually cost. Or even make a reasonable guess. Nor how much we were save if Michelle Obama simply decided to do whatever struck her fancy; anywhere she decided to go would have her Secret Service detachment in tow.

Moreover, the office of the First Lady has existed since Benjamin Harrison, which means it survived two world wars and the great depression. We've seen economic hard times in our lifetimes. Yet, no one complained about this unspecified financial hardship that the office of the First Lady placed on us. That is, until this First Lady. Gee, wonder why.

(And Radwaste the Ridiculous will come along and insist that I'm committing the fallacy of appeal to tradition, and like always, he doesn't understand the fallacy he quotes. If I had said that we should have the office of the First Lady because it's always been that way, that would be an appeal to tradition.

No, I'm simply asking why is the office of the First Lady so financially unbearable for us now, when it's endured two world wars, the Great Depression and the recession. What changed to make this office financially unworkable?)

Thanks Canvasback!

What I don't understand is, if Whaling had the gall to talk like that in the first place, why would she resign as mayor? It's not as though she's giving up some leader position in middle school.

And, was Taylor also asked to resign? If not, why?

"And Radwaste the Ridiculous will come along and insist that I'm committing the fallacy of appeal to tradition, and like always, he doesn't understand the fallacy he quotes."

I see Patrick is confused again. I suppose I shall have to go back and see if he recognized that saying the same thing using different words doesn't make a fallacy go away.

Now, for instance, the attempt at minimization here is called "Poisoning The Well", by calling out what an opponent might offer by way of argument and arguing against that.

Here's why it IS "Poisoning The Well": 1) it is offered prior to my advancing the point; 2) you have failed to understand the subject, in that only arguments to continue something without citing the ROI represent the fallacy, "Appeal to Prior Practice". I'm not going to do that, and have not done so in the past.

That you would not quite get this is understandable, given this sentence:
"What changed to make this office financially unworkable?"
The budget allocated to it. Wasn't that easy?

You show any consideration for the benefits/costs of FLOTUS in order to argue to continue, that's NOT fallacious.

Can you name another FLOTUS who insisted on traveling seperately to vacation with POTUS? Apparently she brings large numbers of people with her. Which are the staffers dedicated to her service?
Can you name any prior FLOTUS who incurred comparable expenses - and then, in either case, are they justified? Objectively, for the services done for the public? If so, excellent! You will have made a compelling case for paying someone to live in the White House and do other unspecified things. That's how you would support Michelle Obama, if that is your wish.

Hey, you called me. I'm here any time you'd like to know where you've made errors like this.

Y'all look up the Nizkor Project fallacy page or something. You're acting like the definitions change with opinion, and they don't, nor do they change 'cuz of me. I'm tired of this.

Democrats complained when Nancy Reagan bought expensive china for the WH. Was that racism too?

I'm fine with calling for this to stop but it is hardly atypical to say such things about a political opponent these days. I remember all the garbage people spewed at Sarah Palin, and still do. Ann Coulter isn't even an elected official. Look up her roast for people engaging in pointless ugly vulgarity. And no, that isn't a typical example of a roast.

On a personal note I don't find Michelle attractive. But to be quite frank, she is 52. First ladies don't tend to be 20 year olds. I can't think of any first lady I would have called hot. It is just the nature of the beast.

What Ben said - stopping the ugly should be stopped from both sides.

The trash that was thrown at Republican women, and their children, was just plain nasty.

While you, Amy, didn't do anything like that there are plenty on the left who did. Just wait to see what they will do with Trump's family. I'd be willing to bet that that 11-year old son of his will be mocked on Saturday Night Live and other "comedy" shows.

And, they think it somehow or other makes them sophisticated.

But, don't dare say anything like that about them or their favored groups.

A good example (albeit, anecdotal) is the artist's statue of a naked Trump. Everyone had a good laugh at that while taking selfies with it, laughing at it, etc. But, the minute an artist did the same thing with Hillary the outrage began "How dare they!" One woman was so offended by it that she started to destroy it with her bare hands.

If they cannot take it they need to stop dishing it out.

Radwaste: Can you name another FLOTUS who insisted on traveling seperately to vacation with POTUS?

I could not name one in a house.
I could not name one with a mouse.
I could not name one here or there.
I could not name one anywhere.
I could not name one near or far.
I could not name one, Rad-U-R..

"Democrats complained when Nancy Reagan bought expensive china for the WH. Was that racism too?"

Absolutely, because china is Chinese, and um .. uh .. eh, I got nothin'. Sorry.

Michelle Obama has been a very expensive FLOTUS. All First Ladies cost us money while returning very little quantifiable benefit. However, calling her an "ape" is unjustified.

As is the Facebook meme going around that shows her sitting with Melania Trump and captioned "Wow, a degree from Harvard and Princeton in one room, and Michelle Obama has them both!" - implying Melania is stupid.

While she might not be an intellectual, Mrs. Trump speaks 5 languages and English is not her most fluent language. I've noticed that the tendency on the part of some to dismiss as unintelligent people whose lack of fluency in English leaves them scrambling for the words with which to express themselves or using simple words instead of complex ones.

Conan: "Mrs. Trump speaks 5 languages and English is not her most fluent language."

Yea, isn't it funny how the so-called bigot who they claim is against immigration is going to bring the first non-American born US First Lady whose first language isn't English into the White House.

I guess "diversity" matters only when it is the right (or should that read "left"?) kind of diversity.

Here's a short, un-verified list of who works for FLOTUS:
$192,200 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
$160,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Director of Policy And Projects)
$133,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (White House Social Secretary)
$122,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Director of Communications)

$120,000 - Winter, Melissa (Deputy Chief Of Staff)

$110,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff)

$104,000 - Lilyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary)

$95,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance)
$90,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Project)
$ 85,000 - Burnough, Erinn (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
$84,000 - Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
$82,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator)
$80,000 - Fitz, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director)
$77,500 - Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide)
$72,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary)
$70,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling)
$65,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence)

$63,000 - Tubman, Samantha A. (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
$60,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff)
$56,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
$55,000 - Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
$55,000 - Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence)

Gee. Some people need a posse. I've worked for admirals with fewer sideboys. "Director of Policy and Projects"? Really? What are those? What authority do they cite?
If true, that's $2,075,200 in annual salary. I dunno how many work for people other than Ms. Obama as well. I seem to recall seeing that the WH staff is on the order of 1500 people nowadays; when FDR was directing WW2, there were just 51.

Getting your money's worth?