I don’t understand how anyone here thinks their Congress rep is going to answer its own phone.
Cite?
Really? You think your elected representative is going to pick up the phone in his/her office and say Hi to you? Are you a millionaire or something, because then that might work.
No, I’d like a cite that any of us claimed that we expect to talk to our representative/senator directly when we call.
Whose day do you think you’re interrupting again?
Here it is in ONE word, then.
Spouse.
The keen-eyed observer will note that it’s the same word that we use for someone who marries for true love, or for lust, or for dynastic consolidation, or for convenience.
The small-minded dogmatic scold, however, will probably have to have it pointed out.
Hence, this helpful aside.
The staff’s. Did I say otherwise? Or did you read something into what I said?
I literally posted a script which assumes one is talking to a staff member and not the Rep/Senator themselves. Did you not read it? Let me quote the first two sentences:
“Hello! I would like to leave a message to the Senator/Congressman…”
You obviously know shit about what it’s like to be in an abusive relationship. Not saying that Melania is in one, but that is complete and utter bullshit.
Blazing Saddles - Harumph! Harumph! Harumph! 
It is a word that can mean in a general sense that you sell yourself for money. It’s not sexist, there are male whores too. So let’s drop this “distractionary” semantics crap and get back to bizniz.
Besides, why should anyone care about a bunch that fling slurs and false accusations and lies anyway?
We should stop sniping at each other. There is a serious problem in the White House. Trump is a criminal. He could not care less about the problems his supporters have as long as they continue to cheer him. He certainly doesn’t give one dam about the USA. Provided he can continue to make money from his position.
Full Stop. That’s all he is. He’s as shallow and transparent as a puddle in Arizona.
Can anyone link to modelling/advertising work that Melania did? Because discussions of this on Twitter has a few industry insiders say it was “open knowledge” that both Paoli Zampoli and the Trump Model agency were little more than escort services.
One challenged me to “…look for any high-profile work she did in the 1990s besides those experimental lesbian nudes and besides her own test shots”.
So, I ask the sleuths of the SDMB to help me because I can’t find any. Thanks!
Melania appears in a Neiman Marcus ad here. Melania Trump poses naked for Max magazine | Daily Mail Online
Melania sued the Daily Mail for printing allegations that she worked as an escort. They settled in 2017 with an apology from the Daily Mail, as well as damages and legal costs paid: Melania Trump accepts Daily Mail damages and apology in libel case | Melania Trump | The Guardian
From the claim:
[INDENT]“The economic damage to the plaintiff’s brand, and licensing, marketing and endorsement opportunities caused by the publication of Mail Online’s defamatory article, is multiple millions of dollars.
“[The] plaintiff had the unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model, brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multimillion-dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world.” [/INDENT]
I looked for Melania Knauss, and this came up (the name on the side is her current one but the entry itself uses her Germanized maiden name).
The Trump Model link is… interesting. I will let others draw their own conclusions.
That doesn’t include her soft core porn stuff, which I won’t subject myself to.
For the same reason that it would bug me if someone called Jeffry Dahmer a faggot. It’s a word used to justify violence against innocent people. Using it, even against the scum of the earth, perpetuate the idea that some humans aren’t really people and it’s okay to assault and rape them.
Do you? I do and while I sure as hell allowed a great deal of harm to come to myself, I’m sure I would never be able to live with myself if I were used as the pretty front for a fascist.
Look, fervour is an idiot and somewhat manic, but there is a good pitting in here if you ignore him. The first lady of the United States wore a jacket on her way to some concentration camps for kiddos proclaiming she has zero fucks to give. Sure sure, she took it off before she got there, but come on! Whether it was about them, her husband, the media, or whatever goddamn excuse will be used for her behavior, it is deplorable. How can you argue against how vile this is?
This is who we are now as a country and it’s a wonder we all aren’t going a little mad.
Quickly checking out Fervour’s posting history it seems that he stayed awake more than two solid days, so no wonder he was incoherent. And now nothing for twenty or so hours. Hope he’s still alive… Kids, don’t do drugs 
This seems as good a place to post this as anywhere.
Periodically (pun intended) I receive in the mail copies of magazines I didn’t order. (No, they’re not misdelivered – they’re addressed to me.) I think some algorithm identifies me as someone who might actually want to subscribe. Two years ago, I received a few copies of DuJour Magazine.
In looking for it online, I saw that they position themselves as being for the 1%, which means that in my case their algorithm really screwed the pooch. In looking at the periodical, I thinks that’s just their schtick – they’re marketing those who want to be the 1% – but again in my case they screwed the pooch.
The point is though that in May 2016 their cover story was about Melania Trump.
I found the article, as you might expect, to be somewhat fawning. The part I remembered was this:
Personally, I find that whole “men will be men” bit to be very insulting to men. Do those of you who are men find it so?
At any rate, the article is worth a read. I think it fleshes her out a bit. IMO it doesn’t make her less reprehensible, but YMMV.
More eye-rolly than insulting, in the same way that I respond to people angry at all white people. It sucks that her experience with men is so negative, and that she’s drawn shitty conclusions from it, but it doesn’t really affect me enough for me to feel insulted. The shit that’s led her to that conclusion is way more important than the conclusion itself.