Patterico's Pontifications

10/25/2017

What Trump Says vs. What Trump Does

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:00 am



Donald J. Trump:

There is, of course, zero self-reflection there. Bob Corker’s slamming of Trump as ridiculously dishonest, whatever you think of Corker, is on the mark. He is, in fact, an utterly untruthful president. Jeff Flake’s criticism of Trump’s absurdly juvenile behavior, whatever you think of Flake, is absolutely correct. Trump is, in fact, “reckless, outrageous and undignified.” We have a jackass for a President. A nincompoop. A bonehead. An ignoramus.

Here’s the weird thing: as we sit here today, I still think he’s mostly doing OK.

I reach this conclusion by comparing what he has done, so far, to what he has said.

I had a bit of a revelation after I learned that Bill Browder’s visa waiver had been suspended, pursuant to a bogus Interpol notice by Putin. I wrote that I believed that it was likely a bureaucratic snafu, and I was right. But during the time while I was waiting to find out, I tried to visualize Trump coming out and actively supporting the decision, because of his love for Vladimir Putin. I tried to see, in my mind’s eye, Trump foisting the evil Putin-inspired fiction that Browder is a murderer upon the public, and proclaiming that maybe we needed to revisit the Magnitsky Act.

I found the prospect incredibly chilling. But I also found it very difficult to visualize. I started reviewing in my mind: what has this guy Trump actually done that makes me think he would do something that evil? Not what has he said, but what has he done, that has been that bad?

And my reaction was: eh, not much. In fact, a lot of it has been pretty good. I’ve covered some of that before: reversal of illegal and overstepping Obama-era executive orders; refusal to abide by international agreements that did not go through the treaty process; and regulation-slashing. And of course but muh Gorsuch, and an apparently rock-solid slate of judges in the lower courts.

Sure, he voices support for strongmen, but what policies have made those strongmen’s lives easier? I don’t see any. Sure, he seems to favor an authoritarian style of government, but what has he done to put that into practice? Not much that I can see.

I can already hear the Trumpers getting excited. He’s the best! He’s Reagan II! He’s a sooper-sekrit genius and you have simply misunderestimated him!!!!1!

Settle down, Sparky. Let’s not get carried away here. He hasn’t really accomplished all that much. Most of what he has gotten done can be undone by President Kamala Harris with the stroke of a pen. Entitlements, the debt, the deficit — all of this is untouched.

And then there are the words.

Here’s the thing, Trumpers. Words do matter. Our biggest danger is that Trump’s idiot mouth, rotten judgment, and chihuahua-ish attention span will get us into an avoidable war. You can tell me his foreign policy decisions are well-considered, but “Little Rocket Man” tweets do not reassure, and world leaders are just as easily able to read the diarrhea he squirts out on Twitter as his American base is.

The anti-anti-Trumpers love to ask: so, is Trump better than Hillary? As an anti-anti-anti-Trumper, my answer is: absolutely . . . so far. However, I can’t say that the country made the right choice until he’s out of office and we haven’t been nuked. Until then, the jury is out.

Moral leadership matters, too. The immoral example Trump has set for children, while nothing new in the Oval Office (hi, Richard Nixon! hi Bill Clinton!) is a negative. Few people on Earth repulse me as much as the cultists on Twitter who are so taken with Trump’s (inherited) wealth, his gold-digging wife (I’m being kind here), and other extraneous examples of “success” that they don’t care about the moral rot at the center of his soul.

Trump has also ripped the Republican party and the conservative movement in two — and although there are times when this seems like a good thing, it’s actually not. Every large party is a coalition of different interests. These factions always war with one another, but to the extent that the party stands for something that is a net good, keeping the coalition together is critical.

It’s common, and lazy, to assert that the GOP has never been good for anything. This assertion is made by the same people who compared the 2016 election to Flight 93: if we don’t elect Trump, but instead choose Clinton, our lives are basically over and the terrorists have won!!!1! The same people will tell you, in the next breath, that the GOP is basically the same as the Democrats and it doesn’t really much matter who is in office. Charles C.W. Cooke has ably rejected such silly arguments in the past, and I can’t top his efforts.

The state of the conservative movement somewhat resembles a civil war. People on one side applaud Steve Bannon saying that George W. Bush was the worst President ever — as if Barack Obama had never existed. They insult former friends, emulating their Dear Leader’s crude and hyperaggressive “Alpha Male” attitude. (The notion of the physically weak, yellow-bellied bone-spur draft-dodging wussy Donald Trump as “Alpha Male” has always confused me, but that’s another topic for another time.) They applaud when their idol gets himself into one stupid fight after another over the most trivial horse droppings.

And on the other side are the limited government conservatives, saying the same things we have always said, and being told that we have changed, man! We’ve changed!

So don’t get me wrong. I’m not minimizing the power of “just words” to set a rotten example and help rip the fabric of our society apart.

But this presidency could be a lot worse. If Donald Trump were half the actual fascist that the insane #Resist left makes him out to be, we’d be in an awful lot of trouble. But he’s not. I think he’s too intellectually lazy to be an actual effective fascist, even if that’s the way he leans.

And so, when I see the Flakes and Corkers going nuclear over Trump, part of me says: well, yeah. They’re absolutely right. And another part of me says: eh, what’s the big deal?

My own ambivalence no doubt reflects a national ambivalence about this man. This will hardly be the last word. It’s just what I am thinking today.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

189 Responses to “What Trump Says vs. What Trump Does”

  1. And sadly, this will be red meat for many of the The Usual Suspects. I think that several words/phrases in your comments should be penalized by enforced contributions to charity. You can come up with your own list, I’m sure.

    Even though the awful nastiness around the comments section is tough to take, Patterico’s point is great: the difference between what is said and what is done.

    Patterico has been clear about the difference in the past. But of course weirdos and partisans will twist, fold, spindle, and mutilate comments until they fit Teh Narrative.

    All this election cycle has taught me is that Team R is every bit as craven and hypocritical as Team D. All we can hope is that some good comes of it. Patterico’s post is actually a bit hopeful.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  2. And in other news, the sun rose in the east today…

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  3. I’m not getting it, w committed us to two major expeditionary fronts and then chose not to defend either, he threw scooter Libby to the wolves because comity. Corker deserves the william blount actually aaron burr treatment, flake is a lower order weasel, but not a figure to admire.

    narciso (d1f714)

  4. “We have a jackass for a President. A nincompoop. A bonehead. An ignoramus.”

    LOL. But I completely denounce and deplore these comments at the same time!

    😉

    Bored Lawyer (998177)

  5. So there was nothing to the
    grishenko matter, Lindsay lied
    about what was going in west Africa.
    Insurance premiers may be North of 100% on Arizona thanks to flake, corker provided a path to the bomb for the sepah

    narciso (d1f714)

  6. A meme I recently saw reads:

    “Twitter is Trump’s laser pointer.
    Democrats are all cats.”

    Karl Lembke (e37f42)

  7. To spell it out, corker actually gave wideband comfort to the enemy, flake has done the same in this hemisphere.

    narciso (d1f714)

  8. So anwr is being opened up, the first such time in 30 years, smooth talk has gotten us little in 25 years.

    narciso (d1f714)

  9. I would like to suggest that there is a benefit to International Leaders (most of them also egomaniacal idiots; it’s practically a job requirement) not being at all sure what Trump is doing. North Korea always being an exception (because even more nuts than the usual run), having International Opinion unsure that Trump WON’T (say) drop a nuke on Mecca the next time he’s vexed might well rebound to our benefit.

    In five decades of life I have seen a lot of International posturing that seemed to me to be based on a rock solid confidence that the United States would not ACTUALLY pull the trigger.

    I really do sometimes feel that our dropping a nuke on some third world pesthole and answering world outrage by saying “There’s more, you know.” would cut through an awful lot of posturing. Just once. Just enough to establish that Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren’t aberrations.

    C. S. P. Schofield (99bd37)

  10. Aide and comfort, the tongo tongo raid ambush resembles a similar one in 1985 in so salvador, which we discovered almost twenty years later, was due to dgi spy Belen minted in the dia.

    narciso (d1f714)

  11. Did fredericka Wilson’s it guy have anything to do with the leak of info, or is the hat gal all merely wet.

    narciso (d1f714)

  12. Montes, the postscript to that operation, was somewhat portrayed in high crimes, with Jim kaviezel and Ashley Judd

    narciso (d1f714)

  13. Sure, he voices support for strongmen, but what policies have made those strongmen’s lives easier? I don’t see any. Sure, he seems to favor an authoritarian style of government, but what has he done to put that into practice? Not much that I can see.

    case in point: His State Department has taken action against Turkey,

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/world/europe/us-turkey-visa-suspension.html?_r=0

    Turkish officials have concentrated on lifting the visa ban, suggesting that it would be resolved soon but offering no promises on the detainees.

    “We will cooperate if their demands meet the rules of our constitution,” Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said at a news briefing Wednesday. “But we will not succumb to impositions, and we will reject any conditions that we cannot meet.”

    A senior presidential adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, later said that the visa ban would be resolved soon, but that details discussed would have to be referred back to Washington first.

    By the fourth day of Mr. Cohen’s visit to Turkey, there was no announcement of an agreement.

    …and also is trying to think of something to do about Burma.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/world/asia/rohingya-bangladesh-myanmar.html

    The State Department said it has already cut off travel waivers allowing current and former senior military leaders into the country and was considering further actions to impose economic measures against those responsible for atrocities against Myanmar’s ethnic minority. The department said that all military units involved in operations against the Rohingya were ineligible for American aid.

    “The government of Burma, including its armed forces, must take immediate action to ensure peace and security; implement commitments to ensure humanitarian access to communities in desperate need; facilitate the safe and voluntary return of those who have fled or been displaced in Rakhine State; and address the root causes of systematic discrimination against the Rohingya,” the department said in a statement issued Monday night, using the former name for Myanmar.

    And I like it that they use the name Burma.

    Sammy Finkelman (20d02d)

  14. Maybe this is our path?

    http://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  15. I’m grateful for everything Trump has done that is conservative, e.g., the judges he has named acording to his advisers’ conservative recommendations. I know he doesn’t care about conservative values but I do. As for judging Trump by what he does and not what he says, no thanks. I will judge him on both.

    I still don’t trust Trump to do anything else he suggested, let alone promised, during the campaign or since his election, and I’m fearful of what he might do on foreign policy and as Commander-in-Chief. He is also a terrible role model for civil behavior in a nation that will fight when needed, but stands for the principles of decent respect for opinions, civility, and humility and other virtues.

    I expect an understanding of that from all Presidents, but especially a Republican President who followed Obama.

    DRJ (15874d)

  16. 10. narciso (d1f714) — 10/25/2017 @ 9:45 am

    the tongo tongo raid ambush resembles a similar one in 1985 in so salvador, which we discovered almost twenty years later, was due to dgi spy Belen minted in the dia.

    Culd be here too. There;s alot peculiar here. Their orders were changed at least two times.

    1) They were told to pursue a terrorist leader/commander – I think it was almost certainly disinformation that he was anywhere in Niger. This is what made it an overnight mission maybe.

    2) A unit they were supposed to link up with was never sent.

    3) When they left Tongo Tongo they used a different route than originally planned – and the Pentagon can’t say why.

    Where can I find out more about that 1985 ambush> And how many times has something like that been tried successfully?

    Sammy Finkelman (20d02d)

  17. “I reach this conclusion by comparing what he has done, so far, to what he has said.”

    And therein lies exceptional wisdom and a key to understanding the President.

    Please forward that sentiment to Billy “The Perpetual Smirk” Kristol and the strutting popinjay aka The Bow Tie.

    Bill Saracino (ad0096)

  18. So he’s a lying hypocrite, Bill?

    DRJ (15874d)

  19. What would Cornyn do?

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  20. I worked at a company years and years ago that had a bad reputation for infighting, turf-defending, back-stabbing, and general dysfunction among the employees. A new CEO came in and cleaned things up, and for a brief moment there was cooperation, shared goals, and teamwork. But after a few years, the new people that had come in started their own infighting, turf-defending, and back-stabbing. That’s kind of my fear with Trump. Yeah, he’s making an awful lot of Washington DC jackasses feel uncomfortable and (at long last) at risk of losing their influence, but I don’t want a world where the likes of Steve Bannon are calling the shots any more than I want a world where someone like John Podesta or Valerie Jarrett is calling the shots.

    JVW (dadb0c)

  21. I agree with about 98% of this post.

    I’m not in any way a “fan” of the way Trump conducts himself, and I wish he would show more self-control.

    But I also see a “strategy” behind what he does — I don’t think anyone would recommend his approach, but he’s his own strategist for the most part.

    He’s had a hostile press and establishment wing of the GOP going back to when he assumed the mantle of likely GOP nominee. By marching through a field of 17 GOP candidates, he pretty much wiped out the favored candidate of probably 90% of politically active republicans — including my guy, Ted Cruz.

    So after he captures the nomination, you can probably forgive him for not “rallying the party’s wagons” to his cause against the Dems — they weren’t then, and aren’t now dependable allies — mostly because he’s not in their view a dependable republican. They’re both correct.

    So he followed a game plan of going over the top of the party and the top of the media via social media, and as someone else said in another thread, he uses Twitter as a “laser pointer.”

    He’s got terrible instincts at the micro level with regard to the what’s happening immediately around him, but pretty solid instincts on the more macro level in terms of what red meat appeals to his followers.

    His followers are about 80% the disaffected from both parties — and people who have had no consistent political affiliation through the years. Their’s no real coherence to anything that Trump is trying to accomplish politically, because so much of his agenda is simply smashing into the shibboleths of the GOP and Dems.

    He has split the GOP — but he did so mainly by exposing a large group of GOP politicians as poseurs on many issues that they falsely claimed were important to them, but actually important to the Trump base.

    The GOP Senators who failed to vote to repeal Obamacare are acting in their own political self-interest. They fear a voter backlash in their home states as a result of the fact that their states too the Obamacare option of dramatically increasing Medicaid enrollment, and all those newly covered persons in their home states would have lost that enrollment if Obamacare had been repealed. The Senators saw all those people unenrolled as potential votes for their opponent in their next race for re-election. So they chose their political interests over what the had professed in the past to be the best policy judgment.

    Trump exposed their political calculations for what they were.

    So, in a way, you could say that the GOP split itself because it failed to carry forward with the promises it had made to GOP voters for years. They just never imagined they would actually have to follow through on a policy. Then they were embarrassed when Trump made their betrayals a subject of Twitter.

    I could go on and on. Trump is not Presidential. He’s not really a Republican. He’s certainly not a conservative — but he never claimed to be one.

    He brought an new dimension to the normal binary political equation, and when he’s done, both the GOP and Dem Party are going to look different than they did before he was elected.

    But they’ll both be a more true reflection of the politicians that control them than they have been at any time since Reagan beat Mondale.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  22. It’s just what I am thinking today.

    Which aside from the details of recent events isn’t much different from the myopic well worn path to nowhere you’ve been doggedly marching down for the last year.

    Please, take another look around, it’s a new day, wake up and smell the coffee, Donald Trump is President, like it or not, he’s captian of the ship of state, and he’s well on his way to making America a much better place, with lower taxes, less federal regulatory interference in our lives, more individual opportunity, better healthcare, and more rational foreign trade policies.

    (As for your concern over the little fat pipsqueek NORK dictator, isn’t it better to deal with him now once and for all, than pussyfoot around till he’s actually built a full arsenal of nuclear weapons which he fully intends to use against us?)

    As for Corker and Flake, both are sour grapes blowhards, if either one was motivated by principle they would feel obligated to stay on and fight for those imaginary principles on the campaign trail where their voices would be heard and have the greatest impact – if the voters agreed, it just might get them reelected.

    But, no, they cut and run, making a big show of calling Trump names and blaming him for bad manners and a lack of dignified comportment – while failing to mention it was Trump who first found the crybullies wanting and declined to endorse them for reelection.

    So, do I expect you to change your mind? No I don’t, you’re a smart guy and you’re capable of continuing to rationalize your opposition to Trump, but you really ought to take another look.

    ropelight (bbe920)

  23. I think giving Trump the benefit of the doubt is a practice somewhat on the order of raising weasels in your chicken coop.

    But I always welcome different opinions, as insanely Panglossian as they might be.

    nk (dbc370)

  24. In general I think our Federal government suffers most from two things: incumbency, and an unaccountable administrative state.

    Trump’s election pulled a lot of hogs’ snouts out of the trough–not all of them, not near enough of them. There are lifelong hangers-on of the Clintons and Bushes, and more recent hangers-on of Obama, that now don’t have government jobs. Again, not enough, but better than nothing.

    The best thing that Obama did was beat Hillary Clinton in 2008. I think if she ever won, we’d see something like PRI in Mexico, 70 years of one-party cronyism. We’ve had a 12 year stay on that. Keep throwing out incumbents and we can get a more accountable government; after a few the rest will get the message.

    Frederick (53c627)

  25. So don’t get me wrong. I’m not minimizing the power of “just words” to set a rotten example and help rip the fabric of our society apart.

    But this presidency could be a lot worse. If Donald Trump were half the actual fascist that the insane #Resist left makes him out to be, we’d be in an awful lot of trouble. But he’s not. I think he’s too intellectually lazy to be an actual effective fascist, even if that’s the way he leans.

    What a low bar to set for the President of the United States. It could be a lot worse… While I agree he’s intellectually lazy to be an actual effective fascist, or anything other than a blowhard with a shtick that millions have bought into, it’s not in a vacuum that the left have made him out to be an outrageous fascist – Trump himself has said things that reveal an authoritarian tendency and urge to use the heavy hand of government to change things to his liking. However, I believe that there should be little daylight between what we say and how we act, in the same way who one is in private should line up pretty much with who one is in public. With Trump, thus far, what comes out of his mouth (or Twitter feed) doesn’t match up with what he’s done, and while that is certainly to our benefit (thus far), that doesn’t mean that it’s a healthy way to govern, or an effective way either.

    Dana (023079)

  26. DRJ at 15 — I understand your point about him being a role model.

    But, you have the benefit IMO of living in one of the most civil states in the Country. It would be great if people raised in other parts of the country could spend a year in Texas understanding the way people should treat each other.

    But there are vast swaths of this country where the examples of Texas in this regard would be as foreign as a little green man from Mars who landed in a downtown park.

    The NYC of Donald Trump’s upbringing is one such place.

    So to expect Texas-style civility and decorum from a brash huckster/salesman/showman born and raised in New York City is like asking a cow to not crap on the floor in your kitchen while sitting at the dinner table.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  27. He brought an new dimension to the normal binary political equation, and when he’s done, both the GOP and Dem Party are going to look different than they did before he was elected.

    And yet I am reminded how the Trump voters insisted, insisted with vigor, that this election was a binary one, and if you were a patriotic American, you either voted for Trump to keep out Hillary, or you voted for Hillary to keep out Trump. Principles and integrity be damned.

    Dana (023079)

  28. That’s how salesmen make their living, Dana. Reduce everything to a simple choice and make the customer believe it’s his choice.

    nk (dbc370)

  29. However, I can’t say that the country made the right choice until he’s out of office and we haven’t been nuked. Until then, the jury is out.

    I don’t disagree.

    However, in that case you have to factor in the probability that we would have been nuked under Hillary as well!

    Anyway, I do think the average is better but the standard deviation of all possible Trump presidencies is higher.

    Sammy Finkelman (20d02d)

  30. #28, Like optimism vs pessimism.

    ropelight (bbe920)

  31. R.I.P. Fats Domino.

    ‘Ain’t that a shame…’

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  32. Fats finally found his thrill.

    ropelight (bbe920)

  33. “A meme I recently saw reads:

    “Twitter is Trump’s laser pointer.
    Democrats are all cats.””

    I want the t-shirt!

    harkin (cf32fb)

  34. There is an interview out there of Dana Carvey at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/dana-carvey-worries-about-trump-fatigue-on-snl

    Carvey does a lot of Trump jokes in his stand up and claims Trump is a great comedy writer (if an inadvertent one).
    Carvey singles out “little Rocket Man” and the way when Trump arrives at a podium, he turns his back on the audience and seal claps to whoever is seated behind him as comedy gold. Some of his jokes are just Trumps own sentences, or the way Trump interrupts himself.

    The article is worth a read just for Carvey’s take on Trumps very eccentric and unique style of communication

    steveg (e8c34d)

  35. Are we comparing/contrasting the more reliable scumbags flaking off?

    http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13089764/republicans-consumer-protection-banks/

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  36. “What a low bar to set for the President of the United States“

    Truly.

    And how even more remarkable is it that it’s way above the Limbo stick set by Obama or the missed-it-by-that-much admin of Corruption Von Pantsuit?

    harkin (cf32fb)

  37. President Trump is our president

    happyfeet (f90d25)

  38. And on the heels of Equifax no less..

    Yes, that’s Mike Pence “proud” that he cast a vote to lock ordinary people out of the courtroom and force them into arbitration with big banks, a move that neither protects consumers nor community banks.

    It does, however, help out the Wells Fargos of the world, right alongside the Equifax shareholders while screwing all of those people who voted for Donald Trump, as Stephanie Ruhle explains.

    “Let’s say you’ve got an issue with a big company. Legal action is your main way to fight back against these big companies. But these clauses force you into private arbitration preventing people from pooling their resources into class action lawsuits.”

    The CFPB studied this phenomenon and opened the door via regulation for consumers to go ahead and file class action lawsuits against banks and other financial institutions which cause consumers to lose money or opportunities or take their homes from them with phony paperwork or drag their feet on mortgage refinancing until interest rates rise. All the things the Bank of Americas and Wells Fargo Banks do routinely, not to mention the investment bankers who caused the Great Recession and should have been sued out of existence if they couldn’t be put in jail.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  39. My take is similar on Trump. People get so caught up in the emotional side of what he says, that they don’t really process what he actually does (or doesn’t do). You have to look at the whole package. Sure the tweets and statements are often ridiculous and untruthful. He’s a bully. You just want to look him in the face and yell STOP!! But coupled with what he has done, which most people don’t know or see cuz they are either blinded by the MSM or their own emotion about it, I’m OK with it. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad as they say.

    eddieb (91ebc2)

  40. But coupled with what he has done, which most people don’t know or see cuz they are either blinded by the MSM or their own emotion about it, I’m OK with it.

    I don’t believe that relieving the single person responsible for giving the MSM so much to work with or purposely/ignorantly provoking people, should be relieved of being responsible for his own choices to say what he says, in whatever form that takes. After all, Trump *chooses* to say these outrageous things, whether during pressers or speeches when he goes off the cuff, or on Twitter. It is the president himself that is putting all this noise out there. I think the very last person we should be relieving from responsibility for his words and deeds is the President of the United States.

    Dana (023079)

  41. The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
    ___________

    He is, in fact, an utterly untruthful president.

    By George, maybe, or maybe not– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn_PSJsl0LQ

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  42. This clip of Trump is interesting, in light of our conversation in this post.

    Dana (023079)

  43. “The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.“

    The Democrats never appear to be able to move past the first two stages… which is a source of much amusement.

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  44. 40… every organ grinder has got to have a monkey… or in Trump’s case, a million monkeys.

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  45. Bob Corker’s an anti-semite what couldn’t get elected dogcatcher in Berlin

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  46. Captain, sir! A dispatch from Appomattox: what civil war?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. we should have a dance off and President Trump is fonzie!

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  48. What the Constitution says and what colleges do:

    “In November 2016, Shaw attempted to distribute Spanish-language copies of the U.S. Constitution and recruit new members for his student group, Young Americans for Liberty, along a main public walkway through campus. As he prepared, he was approached by an administrator who told him that he could not distribute literature outside the campus free speech zone, a tiny area on campus measuring approximately 616 square feet and comprising about .003 percent of the total area of Pierce College’s 426-acre campus.

    Shaw was also told he must fill out a permit application to use the free speech zone. He was informed that he would be asked to leave campus if he refused to comply.”

    https://www.thefire.org/department-of-justice-files-statement-of-interest-in-fire-lawsuit/

    harkin (cf32fb)

  49. Victor Davis Hansen dove into this question yesterday arguing that “the president’s fiercest critics still do not grasp that Trump is a symptom, not the cause of the GOP’s internal strife.” The irony is Trump’s probably the last guy in America that should be president but maybe the only one who could stop the progressive takeover in its tracks and break apart the business as usual bipartisan favor factory that profits no matter who’s in charge. I agree Trump could do a lot of things differently than he has but it’s hard to talk an old dog out of a lifetime of bad behaviors that made him who he is.

    crazy (d99a88)

  50. Keep patting Trump on the back, Trumpers!
    “Democrats can hardly contain their glee at the disarray in Republican ranks.” ~ The Hill

    Tillman (a95660)

  51. Dems aren’t faring much better Tillman.

    Like Republicans, they need a reset and reboot.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  52. Congressman Joe Wilson broke protocol by yelling “you lie” at Obama’s SOTU so Katy bar the door when the other Rrp Wilson shows up this January.

    Pinandpuller (df791a)

  53. Can’t deny that Ben, but at least Democrats aren’t being forced into choosing between a Faustian deal with Captain Chaos or chance loosing their seat. It’s certainly nothing to brag about.

    Tillman (a95660)

  54. Greetings:

    My father used to say, “It’s when the pie comes to the table that the knives come out.”

    Flaked off, Corker popped.

    11B40 (6abb5c)

  55. *losing their seat.

    Tillman (a95660)

  56. As for judging Trump by what he does and not what he says, no thanks. I will judge him on both.

    As will I, DRJ — and I think I make a pretty good case for that in the post.

    If there is any slight shift in my thinking, it is in realizing that, as upset I often get (and will continue to get) at his irresponsible words, his deeds have so far not reflected the worst of those words.

    Which does not make the words unimportant. It just puts them in perspective.

    I described this on Twitter as my bid to make the entire Internet hate me. There is something here for everyone to hate!

    Patterico (61ec6b)

  57. Our biggest danger is that Trump’s idiot mouth, rotten judgment, and chihuahua-ish attention span will get us into an avoidable war.

    Sen. John McCain said Friday that Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election amounted to an “act of war.”

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  58. “Democrats can hardly contain their glee at the disarray in Republican ranks.” ~ The Hill

    As teh Dems protect their flanks from the longknives in their ranks…

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  59. 53… the Dems have been losing their seats, state houses, just about everything and everywhere for several years now

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  60. Hmm. How could cyberwar not be WAR

    The reasoning from the Right doesn’t separate fake WMDs from genuine, for strategic advantage.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  61. “I described this on Twitter as my bid to make the entire Internet hate me. There is something here for everyone to hate.”

    So there IS a method to the madness.

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  62. steveg

    Dana Carvey lives in Marin County. He said people used to tell him how much they were looking foreword to W leaving office. He would reply,” What makes you think he’s leaving?”

    Pinandpuller (df791a)

  63. @38 Ben Burn

    And more importantly it’s taking food off lawyers tables.

    No offense.

    Pinandpuller (df791a)

  64. Ben Burn

    What do you think of Obama sitting in a room with bankers until they took the stimulus money? I know it’s like sitting at Tony Montana’s desk with Charlie Sheen and Stephen King but still.

    Pinandpuller (df791a)

  65. @60 Ben Burn

    You seem to be holding your cybermilitia drills on Mr Patterico’s paradeground.

    Pinandpuller (df791a)

  66. So what hasn’t trump accomplished in his executive capAcity.

    narciso (ba3fdd)

  67. And the cyber war claim comes from Perkins and Coies other client remember Elias tie to Soros and crimethink suppression.

    narciso (ba3fdd)

  68. It was weird seeing W and Obama at the hurricane relief. The last time they were together Obama got a check for $750 billion.

    Pinandpuller (df791a)

  69. with interest it was well over a trillion

    bushfilth gone be filthy

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  70. Captain, sir! A dispatch from Appomattox: what civil war?

    I missed that precious gem. You can’t ever hope to top it, or…?

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  71. you can top it with cheese blend and some slicered up fresh jalapenos

    maybe some diced onions

    it’s like the taco salad in trump tower! (ethnic diversity)

    muy sabroso!

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  72. 64 Pin

    The same thing I think of any dog returning to his Goldbrick Sacks vomitus.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  73. speaking of Goldbrick Sacks vomitus looks like execrably low-class sacky thug Gary Cohn’s finally realized his vomitus sacky charms only go so far anymore

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  74. either that or he has a Weinstein problem

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  75. @15. I’m grateful for everything Trump has done that is conservative…

    I’m grateful for everything Trump, period.

    Whadda show.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  76. “….but at least Democrats aren’t being forced into choosing between a Faustian deal with Captain Chaos or losing their seat”

    Don’t tell that to those holding state and federal Democratic posts, including congressional and state legislative seats and governorships who lost their seats during Chairman Zero’s admin.

    The grand total: a net loss of 1,042 seats….and oh yeah the SS Hillary hit that iceberg too.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/12/27/democrats-lost-over-1000-seats-under-obama.html

    Capt. Chaos has his work cut for him to approach that.

    harkin (70fe68)

  77. That reminds me John Taylor is the lead candidate to replace yelled, any questions.

    narciso (ba3fdd)

  78. *love* Duran Duran

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  79. harkin, if Trump picks up seats while simultaneously causing a civil war within his own party, that would be one fancy hat trick. Usually, of course, that’s not a good sign.

    Tillman (a95660)

  80. I reach this conclusion by comparing what he has done, so far, to what he has said.

    a good illustration of this is how the only president doing any perverted grabbing is sleazy pappy bush

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  81. re. Faustian deal

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/nyregion/kim-guadagno-new-jersey-immigration.html

    Kim Guadagno seems to be trying to make a Faustian bargain to become Governor, but the devil won’t do the deal anyway.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  82. Off topic, but big:

    “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’ll be able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,”

    Trump Data Guru: I Tried to Team Up With Julian Assange
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-data-guru-i-tried-to-team-up-with-julian-assange

    Tillman (a95660)

  83. Tillman @ 84

    The Mercers are tightly wound into this…gird Thy loins

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  84. Patterico 56 and shipwreckedcrew,

    You are both right that Trump’s actions have been better than his words, and so far he is better than his words might make us fear.

    Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. Apparently it’s a selling point to Trump.

    Thank you, shipwreckedcrew, for gently suggesting that it’s a New York thing to live down to the lowest form of civility and not a Texas thing. I don’t agree. I think most Americans care about being nice, but Texas flattery is always welcome.

    DRJ (15874d)

  85. I just wish everyone, including Trump, would do their jobs and quit acting like going to DC is like going to the prom.

    DRJ (15874d)

  86. if it’s not fun why even bother

    and so far it’s been a blast

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  87. his gold-digging wife (I’m being kind here)

    behind every playa is a true playette

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  88. DRJ — I fear from my own experiences that your expectations of your fellow Americans outside the State of Texas are overly optimistic. I’ve spent a lot of time over 50+ years in a lot of different regions of the country, and there are a lot of places that just aren’t very friendly.

    There is no magic “American” potion that can be given to cure the dytopian mindset that large segments of the US live within.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  89. Taylor is a very poor fit for President MAGA/Stimulus. His ‘Taylor Rule’ works when Congress is exhibiting at least modest spending control. It hasn’t worked at all during the Congressional drunken sailor spree of the past ten years and the mismatch of monetary and fiscal policies is not amenable to the application of more Goldilock’s formulas suited to particular forms of hindcasting rather than forecasting.

    I’m not at all sure President Trump comprehends the type of mismatch Taylor’s selection will bring about.

    Rick Ballard (6a5693)

  90. Speaking of when smooth talk fails

    http://babalublog.com/2017/10/25/207681

    narciso (d1f714)

  91. Sure, he seems to favor an authoritarian style of government, but what has he done to put that into practice? Not much that I can see.

    Other than his belief that there should be better options to seek redress when a media outlet publishes lies about a public figure, what are these policies Trump favors that indicate a preference for an authoritarian style of government?

    Though I don’t agree with his views on libel law, his desire that it’s protections be strengthened for public figures hardly makes him an authoritarian. While I can understand his desire to be treated with simple fairness by the media outlets, my view is the solution would be worse. Of course, as one who is not a public figure, I don’t have to worry about the media libeling me, even if they cared in the slightest about who I am.

    Anon Y. Mous (19e1f2)

  92. absolutely . . . so far.

    And by what other measure can you judge anyway? No one can honestly judge anyone based on an unknown future.

    dlm (a4eb00)

  93. This is why I’ve never been too bothered by Trump, though I do wish someone would take away his phone. I judge by what gets done, not what gets said. If nothing else, Trump and Republicans prevent the excesses of Democrats. Sure, they have their own problems, but I’ve noticed that anything Republicans do can be reversed more easily than the programs instituted by Democrats. I’ve always preferred to keep options open and, if possible, go the route it was easiest to backtrack from if things weren’t working out.

    dlm (a4eb00)

  94. that this election was a binary one, and if you were a patriotic American, you either voted for Trump to keep out Hillary, or you voted for Hillary to keep out Trump.

    But it was binary. Either Trump or Clinton was going to win. There were no other reasonable possibilities. You may have preferred neither, but it’s silly to pretend anyone else had even a remote chance of winning.

    dlm (a4eb00)

  95. That last was about the sham disarmament that president Santos has been a party to:

    narciso (d1f714)

  96. ” if Trump picks up seats while simultaneously causing a civil war within his own party, that would be one fancy hat trick. Usually, of course, that’s not a good sign.“

    Hat tricks around here usually come in threes.

    harkin (cf32fb)

  97. 84 “Off topic, but big:“

    Think it will be bigger than Obama, Hillary and the big secret Russian uranium deal? CNN spent 4 minutes on that last week.

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2017/10/cnn-devotes-less-than-five-minutes-to-hillary-uranium-scandal-in-a-week/

    harkin (cf32fb)

  98. 83, I actually thought she was there already, in that she enthusiastically applied for and accepted 287(g) funds when she was a county sheriff. In that photo, she looks like Brewer if fed on pasta rather than rattlesnake.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  99. Lol, harkin! They have to pretend it never happened because of what it says about the lot of them. My wife made it a point to watch all the network newscasts last night, no mention except for one and the reporter ended it with “and Hillary Clinton called it baloney”.

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  100. So far as actual action taken, I agree with you, Pat. However, there is profound damage being done by his failure to follow through on his core promises, excepting the judiciary.

    One of my favorite moments in a Catholic Mass is the Act of Contrition. Part of it reads,”I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do.” (emphasis mine) So very often, not to decide is to decide.

    What is the biggest sin in today’s media? The suppression/censorship of stories (what they fail to do).

    We are absolutely far better off with DJT than we would have been with HRC. If nothing else, RINO quislings are being exposed left and right at an unprecedented rate. DJT has helped prep the battlefield for this phenomenon.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  101. No that is a deliberate act, what they chose and what they ignore in coverage. But still you go to war with office holder you have, nit the one you wish to have.

    narciso (d1f714)

  102. The national anthem at the World Serieswas terrific. A flag that filled the outfield, jets flying over, a country star providing the music and vocals, and the players removed their hats and stood with their hats/hands over their hearts. The NFL and NBA players could learn something from MLB players.

    DRJ (15874d)

  103. I’m for the Astros but the Dodgers are making the pregame activities fun. Steve Yeager, Fernando Valenzuela and Vin Scully are Dodger baseball tonight.

    DRJ (15874d)

  104. @Anon Y. Mouse: Of course, as one who is not a public figure, I don’t have to worry about the media libeling me, even if they cared in the slightest about who I am.

    As soon as you become a public figure, even through no doing or desire of your own, you will be unable to do anything about the media libeling you.

    Frederick (53c627)

  105. Yes it was, drj and you can ask George Zimmerman about that. Or that dentist. In minnesota

    narciso (d1f714)

  106. @ DRJ (#105): Once again, you were thinking what I was thinking about exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. And I don’t begrudge the Dodgers their very sweet and sentimental first pitch — their venue, their privilege to celebrate. Play ball!

    As for Trump:

    It’s all about focal plane and where you crank the microscope. If you are focusing on what he’s saying, how crudely he says it, how offensive he is, how inarticulate he is, you’ll never be short of new material for renewed outrage. Dana, I watched that short clip you linked, and all I could think was, “Trump transferred into an Ivy League undergraduate business program, and before that you got sent to military reform school, so this is just more lies and misrepresentations from this deluded, self-absorbed fabulist.” Contra crazy in #49 above, who wrote that Trump might be the only person who can “break apart the business as usual bipartisan favor factory that profits no matter who’s in charge,” I see nothing creative in his destruction. I just see destruction; Flake’s indictment was correct in every particular.

    Crank the knob on the microscope back, though, and sure enough: He’s not Hillary. If your only goal is to have a POTUS who’s not Hillary, then yeah, he’s that. He’s not a leader, and he’s utterly wasting the rare opportunity created by this rare period of same-party control of the WH and both chambers of Congress. We don’t actually have a functioning POTUS, we have a Dramatist-in-Chief, a Narcissist-in-Chief, a whiny, petty, inarticulate Con-Man-in-Chief.

    Nevertheless, merely as a matter of mental and emotional self-preservation — to prevent unhealthy and unproductive obsessing — it’s important to be able to crank back that microscope knob from time to time. It’s even important to be able to walk away from the microscope altogether from time to time.

    Me, I’m going to watch a baseball game and pretend that Dwight Eisenhower is the POTUS for a couple of hours.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  107. @105. Who knows- you may have paid for it if an existing contract signed a while back was still in place:

    Pentagon Paid Sports Teams Millions For ‘Paid Patriotism’ Events 11/5/15

    That’s according to a joint oversight report released by Arizona Republican Sens. John Flake [<- surprise!] and John McCain on Wednesday.

    In the past few years, the Pentagon spent $6.8 million to pay for patriotic displays during the games of professional sports teams.

    The senators found that since 2012, the Pentagon has signed 72 contracts with teams in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer that amounted to “paid patriotism.”

    http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/05/454834662/pentagon-paid-sports-teams-millions-for-paid-patriotism-events

    “”Americans across the country should be deeply disappointed that many of the ceremonies honoring troops at professional sporting events are not actually being conducted out of a sense of patriotism, but for profit in the form of millions in taxpayer dollars going from the Department of Defense to wealthy pro sports franchises,” said Senator John McCain, one of the co-authors of the report.”

    McCain and his co-report author Senator Jeff Flake said as a result of their study the Pentagon has been barred from spending taxpayer money on these events and sports teams have been asked to donate the money given to them for “paid patriotism” to organizations supporting veterans and their families.

    https://sports.yahoo.com/news/us-senators-slam-pentagon-paid-patriotism-sports-events-025905475–nfl.html

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  108. Me, I’m going to watch a baseball game and pretend that Dwight Eisenhower is the POTUS for a couple of hours.

    Pretzels, church key, beer cans and a set with rabbit ears no doubt– how black and white of you.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  109. President Trump’s both a spectacular and a wholly terrific.

    He’s exposed the scurrilous Republicans as the dishonest cowardly filthy war hero trash they are – they have no principles or convictions!

    He’s exposed the media – dirty fake news propaganda sluts with third-stage syphilis.

    He’s exposed the dirty grubby corrupt FBI.

    He’s exposed Rod Rosenstein, harvardtrash worm extraordinaire.

    And throughout it all he’s accomplished so much.

    And soon soon trash like pervy Jeff Flake and jew-hating Bob Corker and coward-ass slicky-slurp John McCain will be gone. Impotent and forgotten.

    I love it.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  110. No jeb would have been trying to implement the tpp and move full speed ahead on amnesty, kasich would probably be pushing amnesty. Christie who knows exactly, now Carson might have followed some of the same priorities,

    narciso (d1f714)

  111. ugh Mr. DCSCA the sleazy US military’s corrupt and out of control.

    They fritter away money then they whine like trannies about how all these tatters keep dying cause we don’t have enough money to properly equip them and train them and not ram them into cargo boats.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  112. Dwight Eisenhower sang “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” at his inauguration.

    Donald J. Trump @TheRealnk (dbc370)

  113. Scott Walker may have acquitted himself well Mr. narciso.

    But he couldn’t scale.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  114. Ot, where in the world is Jesus campos?

    narciso (d1f714)

  115. Who would’ve guessed that nearly everybody but Trump colluded with teh Russians!?!?

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  116. me

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  117. @114. Seven more years, Mr. Feet! Remember, for Game 2: ‘swing for the fences!’

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssYJuKQenHU

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  118. “If you have an open federal law enforcement investigation, how do 9 cabinet-level secretaries sign off on the Uranium 1 deal?” — Devin Nunes (R-CA)

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  119. Harkin@100
    Although I didn’t watch either at length, Morning Joe and CNN’s morning show were both discussing uranium, the Steele dossier, and Clinton connection thereto. And it should not surprise that Scarborough was talking about it, since he spent half the summer explaining how Clinton had committed felonies with her handling of the emails.

    kishnevi (0dce2b)

  120. lol i bet half those clicks are mine by now!

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  121. They ought to call it metrosexual journal:
    http://.mensjournal.com/adventure/articles/the-senates-sly-plan-to-begin-drilling-in-arctic-refuge-w510202

    This in pat is why ateyer is on the war path.

    narciso (d1f714)

  122. The Constitution is a powerful thing. Checks and balances. That’s probably what has hemmed Trump in more than anything. That and he gets a sense of accomplishment from whatever he has mastered on the Twitter. Some people think he should quit Twitter–I dunno…

    Algonquin (b6e65b)

  123. DCSCA,

    What is your idea of a well-functioning federal government — what 4-5 main issues matter most, and what would be the best position on those issues — and who would you choose as the leaders of that government?

    DRJ (15874d)

  124. I can already hear the Trumpers getting excited. He’s the best! He’s Reagan II! He’s a sooper-sekrit genius and you have simply misunderestimated him!!!!1!

    This is the scariest thing about Trump. That–and how grown men who were more sane when they were Romney supporters and emulated his class now do cheap imitations of Trump.

    Who knows maybe it’s the reverse and Bannon and Trump saw how effective trolls were on the internet and imitated that.

    I felt that this was the “Troll Election” were the extreme Left and Right decided to troll each other by picking the archetype that the other side could absolutely not tolerate.

    Algonquin (b6e65b)

  125. What was the Lesson of the last election, anyone anyone, well it was that every statement deemed to be a dealbreaker want every contrived ‘truth to power’ exercise, effendi khan, alicia machado was just that.

    narciso (d1f714)

  126. When 2 totalitarian and failed socialist regimes provide a godly chunk of your players, not only do you get stkooanding at full attention, but you also get: http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2017/08/16/248818476/elias-diaz-and-orlando-arcia-had-a-standoff-after-the-national-anthem you also even get standing contests

    urbanleftbehind (b843ef)

  127. Bannon focuses on some major issues, like the trade imbalance the threat of radical Islam, the incursion of secularism in our society, too many of trumps subcabinet appointees seem less concerned withal.

    narciso (d1f714)

  128. narciso,

    Why do you expect Csbinet members to adopt Bannon’s issues when even Trump won’t commit? Hasn’t Trump shown what happens to people like Sessions and Tillerson when they deviate from Trump’s daily change in message?

    DRJ (15874d)

  129. Let alone sub-Cabinet personnel.

    DRJ (15874d)

  130. Yes but they are to varying degres, off his agenda, kredo has made it quite clear where the discrepancies are, one gets silly encomiums like that from Paul pillar, who has a track record of unremitting error.

    narciso (d1f714)

  131. So consider the top strategist at foggy bottom, he is a fmr maverick staffer, Brian hook with some of the other like minded fellows personnel is policy.

    narciso (d1f714)

  132. a godly chunk of your players,
    If that was a typo, a “felix culpa”. If intended, a well done choice of words.

    kishnevi (0dce2b)

  133. No I meant it, though it’s probably really lower than a godly chunk.

    urbanleftbehind (b843ef)

  134. Suh-weet! ‘Stros take Game 2 by 7-6 in eleven innings with a World Series record for combined home-runs. This was the first World Series win in the Astros franchise history, and to win it against such a superb and very classy Dodgers team in LA makes it all the more meaningful to Astros fans. The back-and-forth in this game was absolutely thrilling!

    This season, and especially this post-season, has rekindled a dormant love for baseball in a great many Americans, I think. It certainly has for me. Also, I like Ike.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  135. Trump voters want certain things from him, two many other figs don’t care

    http://.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-has-won-the-civil-war-where-it-counts-with-voters/article/2638654

    narciso (d1f714)

  136. What an incredible game.

    DRJ (15874d)

  137. Over four hours of play in last nights game. Yikes.

    felipe (b5e0f4)

  138. But game 1 was sub 3 hours b/c Kershaw; the average length of games 1 and 2 is still way shorter than a typical Yankees or Pink Hat Sox game.

    urbanleftbehind (b843ef)

  139. The Astros used up five pitchers and the Dodgers nine and, still, thirteen runs were scored. A decent lineup will wear out the best bullpen.

    “The besta defense is a gooda offense.” — Vito Cool Lips Chericola, Chicago’s Mafia boss (fictional)

    nk (dbc370)

  140. Seriously. I doubt we can do anything about the rabbit ball now, but I’d raise the strike zone to the top of the shoulders (let them crouch all they want) and raise the mound to at least back to sixteen inches.

    Not that it will happen. The owners have determined that the fans like high scores and balls out of the park.

    nk (dbc370)

  141. You understand that’s what lowering the mound did, right? All of a sudden batters could shrink the strike zone by up to six inches by crouching and still have the same height relative to the old mound.

    nk (dbc370)

  142. Democrats seem to be waking up to the real political party civil war:

    “As a centrist Democrat, I’m scared to see my party pulled into positions that are both bad politics and dubious policy. And I’m disappointed that few of our party’s moderates are willing to resist the freight train coming at us from the left.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/opinion/medicare-for-all-democrats.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion

    harkin (10a18c)

  143. That’s the Tea Party pendulum, Harkin.

    Swinging Left..

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  144. @153 makes as much sense as this:

    https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/791263939015376902/photo/1

    Rev.HoagieÂŽ (6bbda7)

  145. Not familiar with Hegel eh hoagie?

    You should read Marx’s interpretation of the Pendulum. It probably fits your wishful nature, or weren’t you a teabagger?

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  146. The Astros bullpen coach had the fence jumper in a headlock. The Astros really do like Ric Flair.

    DRJ (15874d)

  147. Michels iron rule of oligarchy is really at work here,

    narciso (d1f714)

  148. Michels s/be Mercer

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  149. Yes it only appears they had more of a clue forty years ago:

    https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/oct/20/angleton-monster-plot/

    narciso (d1f714)

  150. Marx was just keying off a greater fool

    http://afreeleftblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-flat-headed-insipid-nauseating.html?m=1

    Hegel didn’t believe in inalienable rights

    narciso (d1f714)

  151. Comrade Ben!, I’m shocked! I’ve read everything Marx wrote that is available in English. You should have figured that. What makes you think I have a “wishful nature”? BTW, calling me slang homosexual names is beneath you, Ben!. Being Kommissar of Internet Propaganda you should engage more subtle ways to denigrate us free-marketers without the use of LGBTQVF4T$BFTX insults. It degrades the Proud Leftist Queers to associate them with me.

    Rev.HoagieÂŽ (6bbda7)

  152. Anarchist running pup, forgets the first rule of anarchists they get crushed like bambi vs godzilla.

    narciso (d1f714)

  153. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-data-guru-i-tried-to-team-up-with-julian-assange

    Hey Hoagie. This ain’t Marx, but it’s gettin there.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  154. And of course you can miss comment 163 along with comment 14.
    Sammy Finkelman (20d02d) — 10/24/2017 @ 12:28 pm

    How much s*** am I supposed to be apologizing for?

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  155. Oh, sorry. Wrong thread. Now I get to apologize for that.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  156. I have to admit Ben!, #165 is confusing to me as well as seeming like a bunch of silly. Perhaps it’s too deep for my shallow (non Hegelian) mind.

    Rev.HoagieÂŽ (6bbda7)

  157. Take a knee, Steve57. It works for the NFL. They can disrespect our entire country and history but if Trump makes an awkward statement he’s a racist and white supremacist.

    Rev.HoagieÂŽ (6bbda7)

  158. What thread should I be apologizing on. I don’t mean to make light of anything. I too you wrong, Pat.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  159. Hoagie: It’s a lack of curiosity that plagues you. You come alive when Hillary is the subject.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  160. And now, Cambridge Analytica — the data firm paid for by far right wing oligarch Bob Mercer that played a big role in getting Trump elected — is involved in it.

    https://www.emptywheel.net/2017/10/25/camdbridge-analytica-and-the-hillary-emails/

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  161. Right up until the one guy I knew who tried to kill himself thought he had problems that just couldn’t be fixed. The second he jumped he knew he was wrong.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  162. The DA story and Julian Assange broke yesterday AFTER the DNC and Clinton campaign were outed as having funded the dossier.

    CNN ran with the story last night as its lead.

    Too bad for them that 1) DA wasn’t working for the Trump campaign, even though the Mercers pushed through Bannon for the campaign to contract with DA, and 2) Assange turned them down.

    Other than that…. its a bombshell. LOL

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  163. Book of Of Proverbs. A wise person learns other people’s from other’s experience. A normal person learns from one own’s experience. A fool learns from no one’s experience.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  164. heh… see beenburned flail
    he flails and he flails and then
    he flails and he fails

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  165. It’s “beenburned flails Thursday”!

    I didn’t get a heads-up!

    Colonel Haiku (d14968)

  166. Roast squirrel tastes gamey

    narciso (d1f714)

  167. the smartest thing some people have going for them is stupidity

    mg (31009b)

  168. Squirrel tastes pretty good.

    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/112958/belgian-squirrel/

    “A person who simply cannot stand wild game will learn to like it after a taste of this unusual dish. And no, it doesn’t have to be a squirrel from Belgium, it will just taste like one!”

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  169. the smartest thing some people have going for them is stupidity

    mg (31009b) — 10/26/2017 @ 9:26 am

    I have two hard hats just in case I forget the other one.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  170. Probably but I was referring to misdirections

    narciso (d1f714)

  171. It was ok and it was accurate. One grey, one yellow. I can’t believe myself.

    This morning I think God is telling me to get a new cell phone. It was android s-III. This is how lousy I am. The charging port doesn’t work. So I have to take the battery out to charge it.

    I’ve been tearing up the house for four hours. And now I have the battery and charger and no phone.

    How stupid is that?

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  172. It will probably show up in three years.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  173. I have the battery and charger.

    No phone.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  174. I have an S-III Mini which was my go-to from Dec. 2013 to Jan. 2016 which got me through 3 LG 4 lockups in calendar 2016 and 2017, never again with those Chinesers. That S-III Mini thing still woiks, probably even when inevitably crush my new Galaxy J7.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  175. 184. Steve57 (0b1dac) — 10/26/2017 @ 9:50 am

    And now I have the battery and charger and no phone.

    How stupid is that?

    The question is, who is stupid – you or the people who designed the phone(s)

    I once bought something for an old man – something you could attach to a phone so you could find it. But it was too impractical..

    You can’t lose landlines.

    Sammy Finkelman (20d02d)

  176. 175 – “Other than that…. its a bombshell. LOL”

    Was at CNN site just a while ago, it’s their lead story.

    No mention of the Obama-Clinton Uranium ‘R’ Us store or the Hillary campaign-DNC Russian dossier months of lies regarding funding – Clinton News Network indeed.

    harkin (10a18c)


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