Ben Sasse’s Commencement Speech to His Old High School
This is being panned online by sour Democrats. Well, to heck with them. It’s funny.
He could have stopped after the first China joke but otherwise I liked it.
I don’t like Ben Sasse anymore, for reasons we don’t need to get into right now, but this reminds me of a time when I did. When I read his books and enjoyed his commentary in the Senate.
By the way, someone I still do like — Justin Amash — has dropped out of the presidential race before he even got in. I would have liked to have voted for him but it may be a blessing in disguise for those who believe Donald Trump needs to go. (It’s unclear to me whether Amash is still running for Congress. I asked him on Twitter, but he did not respond. Who says donors get greater access?!?!)
And since this post is turning stream of consciousness … another reason Trump needs to go: this firing of the State Department IG. Who knows why? Because he was investigating Pompeo having staffers pick up his dry cleaning and walk his dog? (Walk your own dog, you bloviating hack.) Because he was inquiring into arms sales to Saudi Arabia? Nobody knows for sure. What we do know is that this President doesn’t like oversight. Because he is fundamentally corrupt and dishonest, and creates an atmosphere in which those who surround him tend to be the same — and people operating in that kind of atmosphere do not do tend to appreciate real oversight.
Which is why Ben Sasse …
OK I said I wasn’t going to get into it. Anyway, enjoy the speech.
Trump shouldn’t put up with Obama appointed IG’s trying to damage his administration. So if he’s getting fired, good for Trump!
rcocean (2e1c02) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:06 amLooks like Linick was one of the IGs who went to Adam Schiff last year in an attempt to help push the impeachment farce. And that Linick was fired for cause, as he was under investigation for mishandling classified information.
IOW, he was an Obama Appointee trying to hurt Trump, went after Pompeo for having staffer walk his walk his dog, and is now being fired – Good riddance.
rcocean (2e1c02) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:10 am“Went after” means he responded to a complaint by a State Department employee, as the law requires him to do.
So you’re fine with having taxpayers pay for walking Pompeo’s dog?
Dave (1bb933) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:19 amI’m Sad Amash dropped out. I was looking forward to voting for someone I wanted to be president.
Time123 (daab2f) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:22 am@3 RCOcean’s only guiding principle seems to be tribalism. Pointless to look for any greater goals or morality.
Time123 (daab2f) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:23 am“ another reason Trump needs to go: this firing of the State Department IG. Who knows why?”
_
harkin (8f4a6f) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:24 amyovanovich lied about her multiple contacts with burisma officials,
narciso (7404b5) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:34 amI would have voted for Amash just because he voted to impeach the mother-figure. Biden would have still carried Illinois without my vote. But I am glad, for his sake, that he decided the Pot and Pros Party was not for him, and I wish him bon chance in a future run.
nk (1d9030) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:39 amMy first reaction after the first five minutes of Sasse was, “OMG, another 45 minutes” and then I hit the pause button.
Paul Montagu (b3f51b) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:40 amHe made independent-sounding noises early in his career but then he fell in line like all the other Republican lemmings. His graduation speech to Fremont High only adds to my disappointment.
Taxpayers are paying for Trump’s whole kennel, which includes Pompeo, Mr. Dave.
nk (1d9030) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:41 amits mr president vladimirs kennel and mr president donald is his little b*tch
Dave (1bb933) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:43 amI was not terribly impressed with Sasse’s commencement speech. It’s too stream of consciousness and it sounds like they just chose anyone’s random dad to stand up and talk.
Nic (896fdf) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:49 amSorry rcocean:
Barr says he doesn’t envision investigations of Biden, Obama
Attorney General William Barr said Monday that he did not expect investigations into the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation to lead to criminal probes into either President Donald Trump’s Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, or former President Barack Obama.
Trump has stated without evidence that he believes Obama had committed unspecified crimes, and some of Trump’s supporters have encouraged criminal inquiries into Obama and Biden for what they say are unspecified abuses during the investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Ripmurdock (bbf61d) — 5/18/2020 @ 10:00 am……
I might just write in Amash regardless, unless or until a more promising conservative presents his or her self.
Paul Montagu (b3f51b) — 5/18/2020 @ 10:32 amHillary Clinton had things simpler.
There was no Inspector General for the State Department during her entire four years in office. That’s the difference with a professional.
Sammy Finkelman (07f19d) — 5/18/2020 @ 10:34 am3. Dave (1bb933) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:19 am
If he paid the staffer to do it, that might be considered an ethics violation. But a staffer can volunteer.
Sammy Finkelman (07f19d) — 5/18/2020 @ 10:36 am@13: Proof that Barr is less tribal than his critics, who never met a bogus investigation they didn’t like — as long as it targets Trump or an associate.
beer ‘n pretzels (e7227f) — 5/18/2020 @ 10:44 amSomeone forgot to tell Sasse the primary was over and he won. But maybe even the Nebraska US Senate seats in play… he needed to suck up to the base.
At least it’s not as bad as Aaron Rodgers trying to cling to his perch in the face of young mulatto competition.
urbanleftbehind (d3eea2) — 5/18/2020 @ 10:56 amTaxpayers pay for Trump to sit on the sh*tter and tweet. So might as well pay for Pompeo’s valet services.
JRH (52aed3) — 5/18/2020 @ 10:57 amIt is sometimes fun and sometimes educational to check what rcocean is talking about in his posts.
In his #2, he claims Linick was mixed up in impeachment That is true, but not quite in the way you’d think:
https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-politics/democrats-puzzled-state-igs-urgent-meeting
Appalled (1a17de) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:02 amThe second source for rcocean appears to be Chuck Ross at the Daily Caller:
https://tennesseestar.com/2020/05/18/state-department-inspector-general-is-fired-was-investigated-for-mishandling-sensitive-information/
Accuracy is very questionable and not backed up elsewhere.
Appalled (1a17de) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:10 amso, no one in the Obama, or Clinton administration had some staffer walk their dog or get them a sandwich? How ridiculous. Look, this is just the same ol’ crap. With the D’s nobody cares about ethics, but when its a R President, then suddenly Everything is an ethics violation and the WaPo and NYT have 50 reporters investigating and “speaking truth to power”. LOL.
As for Sasse, he’s a fake. He tried to be anti-Trumper, then noticed he needs to get re-elected and there’s zero support for a R challenger to TRump. So, he’s been a good little boy. Look for him to go Maverick in 2021
rcocean (2e1c02) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:21 amBTw, in 2020, neither the NTY nor the AP nor the WaPo is a ‘credible source’ when it comes to TRump They’ve lied so often, that everything they say must be double checked.
rcocean (2e1c02) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:23 amI don’t care much for Sasse either. Once he showed promise, but then he sold out. A lot like Cruz, by the way.
I’m taking a less and less favorable view of the Republicans as a whole, in the Senate and the House. I won’t be voting for Cornyn. I did vote for Cruz, hoping he would stand on principle, but he apparently lost his spine. The congressional district I live in has never elected a Republican since it was created in 1913. In fact, in a quarter of the races over the last 107 years, the GOP didn’t even bother to field a candidate. So it really wouldn’t matter if I were inclined to vote Republican, which I am not. It’s the safest Democratic district in the country.
The only Republicans I’ll be voting for are at the state level. I like Gov. Abbott, and I think the legislature is doing a good job. But then we do things differently in Texas. We only oallow our legislature to convene for six months every odd-numbered year. So it will be interesting to see what they do next year after this election.
As for Amash, he left the Republican party and declared himself an Independent. He as a lot of support in his district, and he believed he could win reelection as an Independent. Then he declared himself a Libertarian, contemplating a presidential run. I would have donated to his campaign and voted for him had he won the nomination, however I think what happened is that the delegates told him that he wouldn’t get nationwide support from the party mebers in the general election. So he withdrew from consideration.
No word yet on whether he intends to run again for his congressional seat. He has said that he will remain in the Libertarian party. That might be a mistake, because he would have had a better chance at reelection as an Independent in his district, not so much as a Liberatarian. But he can’t risk switching parties again, for fear of appearing to be a vacillator.
He might become the first Libertarian elected to Congress. If so, it would strengthen his staning in the party. If not, what’s the plan? Maybe he’s thinking of working the party circuit, talking to delegates, making media appearances, trying to drum up support. Or perhaps he’ll gecome a guest commentator on a network or cable show, as a critic. Amash’s main complaint in Cowngress was theat the system for passing legislation and adding amendments to bills has broken down. Party leaders have imposed a top-down approach, which stifles legislation and impedes passage. He favors a bottom-up approach in which members of Congress represent their districts and states, and not their respective parties. That won’t fly with Democrats and Republicans, but it might with Independents and Libertarians.
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:25 amThe Man was prescient… https://youtu.be/R1yUMjjvfQo
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:28 am7… yes, she did, narciso.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:30 amTrump, in response to ‘60 Minutes’ interview, claims whistleblowers like Rick Bright are ‘causing great injustice and harm’
…….
In an interview with “60 Minutes,” [Rick] Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, criticized the government for failing to have a clear plan in place to address the totality of the American outbreak. He reiterated claims that he was reassigned to a less respected role within the Department of Health and Human Services last month after raising concerns regarding the drug hydroxychloroquine, pushed by Trump as a possible cure for the novel coronavirus, and trying to “prioritize science and safety over political expediency.”
…..
Shortly after the program aired, Trump took to Twitter to again describe the concerns of Bright, who led BARDA for four years, as complaints from a “disgruntled employee,” and he reiterated his long-standing call to undo protections for whistleblowers.
“This whole Whistleblower racket needs to be looked at very closely, it is causing great injustice & harm,” the president tweeted. Trump, who has long disdained whistleblowers and has sought to intimidate them, then tagged Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has co-authored whistleblower legislation. “I hope you are listening,” Trump tweeted to Collins.
Ripmurdock (bbf61d) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:42 am……
There’s now growing evidence suggesting that hydroxychloroquine is more deadly than helpful in treating covid-19. As The Washington Post reported on Friday, a series of clinical trials, academic research and scientific analysis on hydroxychloroquine indicate a significantly increased risk of death for certain patients. In fact, evidence supporting the drug’s effectiveness in treating the virus has been minimal. The developments caused the Food and Drug Administration last month to warn against using hydroxychloroquine outside a hospital setting, a warning that came weeks after the drug was approved for an emergency use authorization.
…..
Talking Can Generate Coronavirus Droplets That Linger Up to 14 Minutes
Coughs or sneezes may not be the only way people transmit infectious pathogens like the novel coronavirus to one another. Talking can also launch thousands of droplets so small they can remain suspended in the air for eight to 14 minutes, according to a new study.
The research, published Wednesday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help explain how people with mild or no symptoms may infect others in close quarters such as offices, nursing homes, cruise ships and other confined spaces. The study’s experimental conditions will need to be replicated in more real-world circumstances, and researchers still don’t know how much virus has to be transmitted from one person to another to cause infection. But its findings strengthen the case for wearing masks and taking other precautions in such environments to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Ripmurdock (bbf61d) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:44 am…..
R.I.P. Ken Osmond, actor (and later a policeman) best known as Eddie Haskell on Leave It To Beaver
Icy (6abb50) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:53 amOh, the whole thing is like six minutes and I even cut it for you so the video automagically starts and stops with his speech only.
Patterico (115b1f) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:41 pmSmall mercies, Patterico.
Paul Montagu (b3f51b) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:05 pmI’m confident I would’ve liked the final minute as well as the first five. It wasn’t funny or insightful, and it’s fairly pathetic when dad-aged men try to sound hip and edgy to kids half their age, and I suspect the kids see through that as well.
We’re parents. We’re supposed to be dorky and out of touch and an embarrassment everywhere we go.
nk (1d9030) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:30 pm