Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
President Joe Biden on Wednesday called close US ally Japan “xenophobic” at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser, just weeks after lauding the US-Japan alliance at a state dinner.
The president made the remark at the off-camera event while arguing that Japan, along with India, Russia and China, would perform better economically if the countries embraced immigration more.
“You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to – the reason – look, think about it – why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants,” Biden said, according to an official White House transcript released Thursday.
The cleanup from press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre :
“He was saying that when it comes to who we are as a nation, we are a nation of immigrants, that is in our DNA,” she told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding later Biden was making a “broad comment” in his comments about Japan and India.
Japan’s response to Biden’s criticism:
“It is unfortunate that some of the comments were not based on an accurate understanding of Japan’s policies,” the embassy said in a statement to POLITICO. “We have raised this point to the U.S. government and explained Japan’s positions and policies once again.”
Second news item
Repeal and reasonableness in Arizona:
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday signed a repeal of the state’s near-total abortion ban that has been on the books since the Civil War, capping a political scramble sparked by a controversial state Supreme Court ruling last month.
. . .
When the repeal does finally go into full effect, the landscape on enforcement will still remain fluid.
A fully implemented repeal of the 1864 ban will result in state policy’s reverting immediately to 15-week ban on abortions passed in 2022 that makes exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.
Third news item
President Biden on college protests:
“Let me be clear … violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. It’s against the law when violence occurs, destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law,” Biden said.
“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation, none of this is a peaceful protest,” he said.
Fourth news item
Trump playbook for 2024, same as it ever was:
Poll after poll has found that a large proportion of the Republican electorate believes the only reasons Joe Biden is president are voter fraud and Democratic dirty tricks, buying into former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election.
Trump continues to stoke those fires on the campaign trail.
He frequently airs false claims about his 2020 election performance and has leaned into defending his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In an interview with Time this week, he said he would have trouble hiring anyone who believes Biden legitimately won in 2020: “I wouldn’t feel good about it.”
And on Wednesday, Trump said he may not accept the presidential election results this time, either.
“If everything’s honest, I’d gladly accept the results,” Trump told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country.”
We would never expect anything different from you, Donald!
Fifth news item
Why Republican women feel the need to be toughies, according to Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University:
“The reality is that women who run for high-level positions, particularly executive positions and the Senate, do still have to prove they are tough enough and strong enough to make the hard decisions,” she told me. “But there is a difference between being tough and being cruel.” In Noem’s case, she suggested, “This is clearly a line that has been crossed. And the fact that she is doubling down on it is a problem.”
Did Noem tell this story because she is trying to impress the former president as he chooses a running mate? If so, the cultural consensus is that she blew it.
“Given the various people he has to choose from who are willing to serve as his vice president, he doesn’t need to go to somebody who creates as much as chaos as he does,” said Walsh.
Voters don’t pick a president based on the running mate, she added. “But they do want to know that the person who would be a heartbeat away is somebody with good judgment. That Kristi Noem thought this was going to be an asset shows a lack of judgment.”
Sixth news item
France weighs in on number of Russian troops killed in battle:
France has estimated that 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne in an interview published on Friday.
In a conversation with the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe, Sejourne stated that Paris assessed the total Russian casualties, including the wounded, at 500,000 since the beginning of the war, now in its third year.
“Europe and its partners will remain united and determined, for as long as necessary. Russia’s military setback is already apparent. We estimate Russian military losses at 500,000, including 150,000 deaths,” he said.
“All of this for what?” he asked. “This can be summed up in two words: for nothing,” he added.
Russia has not disclosed information on its casualties.
Seventh news item
he European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling on EU member states and the international community not to recognize the results of Russian elections as legitimate, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko said on Telegram…
The resolution called for sanctions against those involved in conducting “elections” in occupied Ukrainian territories, and for EU countries to limit relations with the Russian government.
The joint motion for a resolution…said that the elections were held in illegally occupied territories of Ukraine were neither free nor fair and did not meet basic international electoral standards, and thus lacked democratic legitimacy.
Eighth news item
Hope Hicks on the witness stand in New York at Trump’s hush money trial:
Hicks resumed testifying after a lunch break, with a prosecutor focusing his questions on the Trump campaign’s response to a Wall Street Journal story published days before Election Day in 2016 that exposed the National Enquirer’s $150,000 catch-and-kill deal with McDougal.
Hicks testified that Trump requested that she convey to the Journal reporter who’d contacted her for comment that he denies McDougal’s claims of an affair and porn actor Daniels’ claims of a sexual encounter with him, which were also mentioned in the article.
“The denial was from Mr. Trump for both women,” Hicks testified.
As is standard practice, the Journal contacted Hicks prior to the publication of the article and included Hicks’ statement in the story.
She read a portion of her denial, as printed in the Journal, on the witness stand: “Hope Hicks, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, said of the agreement with Ms. McDougal: ‘We have no knowledge of any of this.’”
Ninth news item
Is a ceasefire really even possible? Why would Hamas ever be trusted to uphold a ceasefire?:
Israel and Hamas appear to be seriously negotiating an end to the war in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages. A leaked truce proposal hints at compromises by both sides after months of stalemated talks…
Israeli leaders are weighing whether to accept a deal that would delay or prevent their planned ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah — a scenario that falls short of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledges of “ total victory ” and the destruction of Hamas.
Hamas’ militant leaders must decide if giving up the hostages, the group’s biggest bargaining chip, is worth securing a long-term truce but not necessarily a permanent end to the war.
–Dana
Happy Friday!
Dana (8e902f) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:08 pmooooof…
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/2989911/trump-in-blowout-territory-leads-biden-by-10-12-points/
That’s a bit of over-sampling of surveyed Democrats.
I’m sure that lead will be wiped away once Trump is convicted in his current NY court case.
Here’s the poll:
whembly (86df54) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:19 pmhttps://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/election_2024_trump_now_10_over_biden
“It is unfortunate that some of the comments were not based on an accurate understanding of Japan’s policies,” the embassy said in a statement to POLITICO. “We have raised this point to the U.S. government and explained Japan’s positions and policies once again.”
“Just look at Japan’s efforts to import Chinese and Korean women during the Second World War!”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:29 pmA fully implemented repeal of the 1864 ban will result in state policy’s reverting immediately to 15-week ban on abortions passed in 2022 that makes exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.
To be fair, rape and incest are not emergent conditions.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:32 pmTrump playbook for 2024, same as it ever was
My only qualm here is that, given the existential arguments against Trump, it is not hard to conceive of a conspiracy to thwart his election. The best argument against that is that the system is too robust to permit it, but that’s not a great assurance.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:35 pmRasmussen’s national poll
Note that Rasmussen polling changed hands a while back and is no longer a GOP-leaner.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:39 pmMail-in voting, which was supposed to be a temporary Covid “get Trump” response, is a net plus for the Democrats and a net plus is all they need in swing states. Lawfare puts a bow on it. It doesn’t matter who the Republicans put forth.
lloyd (da7144) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:42 pmMail-in voting helped the Democrats in 2016 because Trump was a effing idiot and told his people not to use it. He gave Biden 30 days to get out the vote to his one. He deserved his loss for that bit of utter stupidity alone.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:47 pmNo excuse for Noem’s behavior with that dog, and for her bragging about it in her book.
I will only say however… Republican women *have* to be extremely tough, given how abusive Dems and the media (BIRM) are to them.
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:16 pmWhen are lefties perfectly okay with rape and death threats? When they’re against conservative women. It’s been seen again and again.
At some point, one does want to ask — why does this seem to happen to organizations affiliated with Trump:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-media-accountant-borgers-charged-with-massive-fraud-sec/:
This is actually kind of a big deal. The questions — is this a dodgy company dodgy companies seek out? Are their audits really cheap? Did they get targeted because of their association with Trump? (I know Trump folks will feel this way.) Or is it bad luck all arund?
Appalled (240833) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:23 pmAppalled:
Do I think Trump actually seeks to break the law? No. He’s not *that* dumb.
But… I do think he tells senior managers to do everything they can to maximize profits absolutely everywhere, and that he doesn’t want to know the icky details. Also, these managers’ salaries and bonuses depend on it.
So no wonder so many of his underlings turn out dirty. They make themselves that way, trying to please the boss.
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:26 pmSecond News Item:
It will be awhile before the repeal of the 1864 abortion law goes into effect:
In addition, the 2022 law banning abortions after 15 weeks is really no ban at all:
In 2021, 89% of abortions in Arizona were performed prior to 13 weeks.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:27 pmwhembly —
When there are actual election results this year — they don’t bear out the polls. For example, the primaries always have a 20% sample of the GOP folks voting for someone else. And ras has had a GOP tilt since forever.
I don’t know the answer to this. It worries me, though. If the polls are off but Trump loses — even decisively — he’ll be back out there with the rigged election garbage.
Appalled (240833) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:29 pmBecause the industry leading firms don’t want to deal with him. As far as accounting firms go, they saw what happened to Mazars, and don’t want to be dragged into Trump’s get rich quick schemes.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:31 pmThe national Rasmussen, Harris, and CNN polls have been outliers compared to other national surveys used in the RCP and 538, for example. So I don’t think it’s a big deal 186 days before the election.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:39 pmIn the case of China, it’s that immigrants don’t want China (even if China also doesn’t want non-Han Chinese) and people in China, want out. If anyone get any money there let’s say at least a third, make plans to get out in order to gain some want security or permanence and they are having fewer children
With regard to Japan, it’s a commonplace observation. And that goes with the observation that Japan has begun to accept some immigrants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Japan
Biden has a possible slogan or argument he won’t use: Immigration made America great in the first place.
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:40 pmThe problem here is that none of these protests are exercises in free speech. Not a one. They are attempts to FORCE change in policy – and not really of the colleges but U.S. foreign policy. Possibly to split the Democratic Party.
And they may indeed want to elect Trump, especially if they can get Tulsi Gabbard as his vice president, which I don’t think they will get.
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:46 pmWell, at least he said that.
That’s actually the right policy – challenge the results if and only if there is a problem.
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:49 pmSammy, Trump’s not going away no matter what.
He’s going to keep rousing his people, for good or ill, as long as he is able to keep speaking.
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:54 pmNews outside the bubble. Missouri pro-choice turns in nearly 400,000 signatures (172,000 needed) to put abortion protection on ballot. (DU) Crook henry cuellar for taking $600,000 in bribes from foreign countries. Unfortunetly Jessica Cisneros lost to this crook.
asset (89cef5) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:57 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 12:47 pm
You mean 2020. The last election was 2020 even though in the trial we are talking about the Election of 2016
He was laying the groundwork for challenging the results. Steve Bannon said it.(of course he was an idiot for doing that
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/07/leaked-audio-steve-bannon-trump-2020-election-declare-victory
Kevin M.
Except in Florida. He said voting by mail was OK in Florida.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/politics/donald-trump-mail-in-voting-florida/index.html
And Trump carried Florida in 2020 by a wide margin.
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 1:59 pmhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/doj-expected-announce-indictment-texas-democratic-rep-henry-cuellar-so-rcna150567
So… is the DOJ saying it would be wrong if Ukraine and China entities (among others) paid a certain family millions for influence?
Or…nah?
whembly (86df54) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:04 pm@20
I would be surprised if Missouri voted for abortion protection.
whembly (86df54) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:05 pm@15
They’re national polls. They’re going to fluctuate.
The key is to pay attention to swing states polls. Those will determine who wins.
whembly (86df54) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:06 pmEighth News Item
From the AP link:
This could cause her Never Trump fanbase some consternation.
BuDuh (3ac755) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:11 pmYou can ask: Where’s the crime?
It seems like that under the prosecution’s understanding of the statute, the falsifying of the business records has to be for the purposes of fraud. This is to argue that the fraud was upon the voters.
It’s good that they’re going into the full picture.
The key point in Trump’s defense, is that records were (maybe*) falsified only in relation to the Stormy Daniels payout, and that Michael Cohen did that entirely on his own (The defense theory is that Michael Cohen was desperate not to lose the chance of getting a position in the Trump Administration – this doesn’t seem to me to be a good enough motive for Michael Cohen to lay out the money, although he in fact did. Michael Cohen did complain to Keith Davidson that an appointment didn’t seem to be forthcoming. Michael Cohen argues that he never -I would say formally – applied for a job in the Trump Administration)
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:12 pm——————–
* Only maybe falsified, because if Michael Cohen sent a bill for a retainer for legal services, then that’s what it was, even if unnecessary and he did nothing for it.
Deep State has always been committing EELCTION FRAUD.
They tell us that the election is by SECRET BALLOT. That is THE BIG LIE.
Deep State SEES all the ballots and COUNTS them. What’s so secret about that?
Then they declare whoever got the most votes the WINNER! SO UNFAIR!
nk (93be9d) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:13 pm@23 were you surprised at republican kansas, kentucky and ohio voting to protect abortion? many republican women voters are pro choice.
asset (89cef5) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:14 pmYou can say that almost beyond a reasonable doubt, and the prosecution has presented a lot of evidence that supports that.
What nobody understands is:
Why??
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:15 pm@28
No. I was not that surprised in those states.
Missouri is pro-life af, and are as animated (if not more so) to vote this year than even 2015.
whembly (86df54) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:18 pm@27 whoever gets most votes winner. Tell that to al gore and hillary clinton. Biden got 81,000,000 to trumps 74,000,000 ;but won presidency by 44,000 votes in az. 10,000 ga. 13,000 and wi 20,0000.
asset (89cef5) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:18 pm@31
“most votes” ignores the Electoral College, and for the rationale why we have such a system.
whembly (86df54) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:24 pm@30 polls show abortion protection would win in missouri as republican pro-choice women who don’t like biden can vote against him and still vote to protect abortion rights. Floriduh needs 60% which will be tougher but 6 week ban should might do it.
asset (89cef5) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:26 pmNo, a delay will not prevent total victory”
Israel will agree to delay it but not to prevent it. Netanyahu believes that the more he makes preparations, the more Hamas will agree to a truce.
Meanwhile the Council on Foreign Relations is calling for Israel to agree to a unilateral ceasefire.
That would not get any hostages out.
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:26 pmRe; Hamas and ceasefire:
“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
– Samuel Johnson to James Boswell.
(That was actually a lie. James Boswell was correct that Samuel Johnson had ghostwritten the condemned man’s words.)
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:27 pm@32 we have electoral collage because democrats wont do what is necessary to get rid of it like states voting for the popular vote winner.
asset (89cef5) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:29 pmDr. samuel johnsons better quote. When boswell asked him what he thought of the american revolutin going on at the time. “I observe those screaming the loudest about freedom and libert are the slave holding southerners!” True then, true now.
asset (89cef5) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:33 pmIsrael will agree to a truce that will last only as long as hostages are still being released. Hamas is asking for Israel to weaken its military position.
The real deal has to be made with Iran.
Sammy FInkelman (1d215a) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:33 pmI was responding to your post @#2, which was a national poll, and not of swing states, to which you said “oooof.”
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:42 pmWhat case law states that protesting peacefully against US foreign policy isn’t protected by First Amendment?
Who knew!
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:48 pmIf the object is to destroy Hamas, why would Netanyahu agree to a truce?
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:50 pmAny deal with Hamas will require Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian terrorists for each hostage to be freed (assuming any are still alive).
Just say No.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:54 pmYahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, along with thousands of Hamas fighters, was a beneficiary of a mass prisoner swap:
Was it worth it to release over a thousand terrorists for one soldier? Once Israel began exchanging terrorists for military and civilian prisoners (including those who died in captivity), it has never stopped. Reportedly, 7,000 prisoners from various Arabic countries as well as Palestinians have been released over the decades in exchange for 19 Israeli military personnel and civilians.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 3:36 pmwhembly and asset,
I’m sure nk knows the difference between the popular vote and the electoral college.
You’re missing the humor.
norcal (52c77c) — 5/3/2024 @ 3:59 pmRip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:54 pm
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 3:36 pm
You’re making sense, Rip. A country can’t give away the store because its enemy has some hostages.
norcal (52c77c) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:02 pmhttps://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/donald-trump-bowe-bergdahl-release-catastrophe-barack-obama-fox-107310
BuDuh (3ac755) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:10 pmBuDuh (3ac755) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:10 pm
Correct. Bergdahl was a jackass. Even after listening to the Serial podcast, which tried to paint him in a better light, I still think he was idiot.
norcal (52c77c) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:16 pmI also agree with Trump, norcal.
BuDuh (3ac755) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:21 pmPidyon shvuyim (Hebrew: פִּדְיוֹן שְׁבוּיִים, literally: Redemption of Captives) is a religious duty in Judaism to bring about the release of a fellow Jew captured by slave dealers or robbers, or imprisoned unjustly. The release of the captive is typically secured by reconciliation, ransom negotiations, or unrelenting pursuit. It is considered an important commandment in Jewish law.
nk (93be9d) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:25 pmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidyon_shvuyim
This is actually kind of a big deal. The questions — is this a dodgy company dodgy companies seek out?
Just that. This way, when the books are shown to be fraudulent, they can point to the auditors and how bad they were. It might not work, but it’s a layer of obfuscation to untangle and forensic accounting may hit a literal black hole that swallows all information.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:27 pmThe national Rasmussen, Harris, and CNN polls have been outliers compared to other national surveys
They are only outliers if they are wrong.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:28 pmMail-in voting helped the Democrats in 2016
Yes, of course I mean 2020.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:28 pm“most votes” ignores the Electoral College, and for the rationale why we have such a system.
asset thinks we have it to keep slavery.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:32 pmPidyon shvuyim
Is there any rule against negotiating a release then killing the mofos later?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:35 pmPidyon shvuyim shouldn’t be a suicide pact.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 4:59 pmSince polls over six months in advance of the election only describe the state of the race at the moment they are taken, it is fair to describe the Rasmussen/Harris/CNN polls as outliers when other national polls taken roughly the same time don’t show Trump leading by 10 points.
Most of the other national polls show either Trump or Biden leading by a 1-3 point margin or tied.
Since political campaigns are personality driven, when the Libertarians do nominate a candidate, they probably won’t show up in the polling anyway, since no one outside of their immediate family will know who they are.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 5:13 pmThe Israelis are sowing what they reaped.
Rip Murdock (0501da) — 5/3/2024 @ 5:15 pmMost of the other national polls show either Trump or Biden leading by a 1-3 point margin or tied.
Only one poll used in the RCP 5-way average shows Biden leading (by 2), 2 show them tied, and SIX show Trump leading by up to 6 points.
Rasmussen’s +12 poll is excluded from this, but you cannot exclude something from an average then say the average makes it an outlier. In science we call this “fraud.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 5:25 pmYou are, of course, right in that the election is being held in November (or October for some people) and this is only May. At this point in 2020, Biden lead by 5. At this point in 2016, Hillary led by 6.
But here’s the real crippler: The electoral College favors Red states at the moment, so if Trump is even in the popular vote he wins easily.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 5:29 pmOOOPs. RCP has the 5-way poll labeled “2-way” and vice versa.
In the actual 5-way poll average, there is one poll for Biden (3 weeks ago), three ties (one 4 weeks ago), and SIX for Trump, and three show sizable leads (+12, +9 and +7).
The average of the most recent 6 is Trump + 6.
Which are the outliers again?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/3/2024 @ 5:35 pmOf 10 polls released since April 4th (in the RCP average), only three (Rasmussen, Harris, & CNN) have results that show Trump at more than +4. The remaining polls have either Trump or Biden within 1-3 points or tied. Only one (Emerson) in that group has Trump at +4.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 6:22 pmOf course Trump would +6 since the most recent 6 polls include the Rasmussen (+12), Harris (+7) and CNN (+9) polls.
Cherry picker.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 6:26 pmNYPD cop open fire on protester held hamilton hall. No one was hit. Kent state II almost happens.
asset (3a3863) — 5/3/2024 @ 10:58 pm@12 they will help get abortion protection bill passed.
asset (3a3863) — 5/3/2024 @ 11:01 pmAppalled – I’m wondering if there might be people deliberately faking pills for the express purpose of manufacturing that outcome. Say I ter al polling shows trump down, but if they sell polls showing him up, then he can delegitimuze the election when real election results conflict with expectations set by fake polls.
Aphrael (a38f56) — 5/4/2024 @ 12:18 amIt is an Appalled twofer:
Appalled, shouldn’t they have said that she ordered a corrupt process? Or maybe they should have said that she corruptly ordered an unusual process??
As the article pointed out the poor prosecutors inadvertently did something that caused them to lie to the court. Maybe you can shove your “corrupt” there…
BuDuh (3ac755) — 5/4/2024 @ 6:32 amCannon, to me, walks a tightrope. Her decisions and approach delays everything, but avoid being so egregious that the prosecution cannot appeal things to the 11th circuit. These actions are not what the median similarity situated judge does. When she does things that are opposed to this variety of tightrope walking, I won’t use the word “corrupt”.
This stuff does not relate to any of that. Sorry. Prosecutors do err.
Appalled (f81e0f) — 5/4/2024 @ 7:29 amI would add “both left-wing rags“, but this is why it’s relevant to read stories from across the pond, for a little more perspective.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/4/2024 @ 7:31 amOf course Trump would +6 since the most recent 6 polls include the Rasmussen (+12), Harris (+7) and CNN (+9) polls.
Cherry picker.
Data dumper.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 7:32 amOf course Trump would +6 since the most recent 6 polls include the Rasmussen (+12), Harris (+7) and CNN (+9) polls.
Your argument is nonsense.
1. Recent polls all show that Biden is sinking.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 7:35 am2. Older polls show him doing better.
3. The newer polls must be wrong.
The RCP average has Trump up by 1.5 in a 5-way race, which is within the margin of error, but Biden is losing all seven battlegrounds. Biden has to be sh-tting in his paper underwear over this.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:07 amRegarding Putin’s War Against Ukraine, the little Russian autocrat is continuing to hollow his country’s demographics by sending military-age male meat waves to the Ukrainian front, losing 899 mobiks per day and which is expected to increase over the coming months, when the Ukrainian arsenal is replenished.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:12 amAll the more reason to force TikTok to divest from their ChiCom overlords or shut it down.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:15 amAs I’ve said (and others during the Republican primaries) polling six months in advance of the election is not necessarily predictive of the final results. With all polling it just shows the state of the race at that moment. It just so happened that the state of the Republican primary race never changed.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:31 amWe’ll see if future polls by other groups match the Rasmussen/Harris/CNN trend.
Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:34 amThe RCP average has Trump up by 1.5 in a 5-way race, which is within the margin of error, but Biden is losing all seven battlegrounds
Given the demographics and the Electoral College, Biden has to be ahead at least 1% in order to win, and 3% would be better.
Is this unfair? Perhaps, but it was intentional. The Electoral College was set up to disadvantage a candidate whose strength was focused in big cities and/or to give the advantage to a candidate whose support was spread out among more states.
This helped the enslavers, of course, but not enough, as it turned out. Now it just helps small states.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:11 amImmigration Crisis Ended As Frat Boys Deployed To Guard Southern Border.
lloyd (168272) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:13 amThis helped the enslavers, of course, but not enough, as it turned out. Now it just helps small states.
It also helped assuage the qualms that the original thirteen states might have in the future about letting the “imperial provinces” (territories) become states.
The Founders’ vision of America was not limited to a baker’s dozen mini Englands on the Atlantic coast, nor did their knowledge of history date back only to the Vietnam War.
They had Rome and a vision of an American empire “from sea to shining sea”.
nk (9bec30) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:56 amYeah, witness small-government constitutionalist and libertarian Jefferson buying “Louisiana” without asking Congress. It was too good an empire to pass up.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:03 amHere is a little something about which Conservative Californians can think: How to deal with one party rule if your city.
Forget acting on the state level if the numbers are against you.
felipe (176cc9) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:22 amOops! “In your city,” not “if your city.” stupid fingers!
felipe (176cc9) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:23 amRecommended: Franklin on Apple+
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:44 amWhat Peggy Noonan saw at Columbia.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:49 amICYMI, Donald Trump gave a major sit down interview with Time:
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:51 amThe protestors are not anti-war, they are anti-West. They are, in short, barbarians.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:59 amRip,
1. Great reminder of what an amazing writer Peggy Noonan is. Also, she had great insights into the awfulness and smallness of the protesters. I understand and can appreciate wanting to stand for the compassionate treatment of Palestinian children and civilians caught in the middle of hell. But an odious part of these protests is just a vile anti-state-of-Israel sense. Where they are causing a nuisance, trespassing, or vandalizing, arrest and prosecute them. Introduce then to consequences. Answer their claims with facts.
2. The Time story on Trump captures the terribleness that the Right cannot confront. It will likely be a very close election again. Trump will likely lose the popular vote again. Congress will be narrowly divided. If Trump tries only a third of the agenda described, it will rip the country apart. Even on immigration where there is majority who want a tougher stance, the specter of camps, military operations, and inhumanity will shock us. The politicization of the DoJ and federal employment more generally will be Trump’s foray into the Orbanization of our society. This will really test who we are. Any attempted “take over” will be resisted. We’re flirting with if not a hot civil war, a cold war with sporadic violence. Hyper-partisans will own it…
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:35 amTrump discusses abortion:
Two weeks after the Mar-a-Lago interview, TIME conducted a 20-minute phone interview with Trump on April 27.
Rip Murdock (38ec2e) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:37 amThanks for the complement, but Paul posted the Peggy Noonan piece.
Rip Murdock (38ec2e) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:39 amGeorge Will reminds us of one of the minor problems that have been crowded out by the Loser’s endless efforts to divide us, and to get attention.
I can understand why so many want not even to think about the problem of nuclear war, but we should, anyway.
Jim Miller (59993e) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:44 am2. The Time story on Trump captures the terribleness that the Right cannot confront. It will likely be a very close election again. Trump will likely lose the popular vote again. Congress will be narrowly divided. If Trump tries only a third of the agenda described, it will rip the country apart. Even on immigration where there is majority who want a tougher stance, the specter of camps, military operations, and inhumanity will shock us. The politicization of the DoJ and federal employment more generally will be Trump’s foray into the Orbanization of our society. This will really test who we are. Any attempted “take over” will be resisted. We’re flirting with if not a hot civil war, a cold war with sporadic violence. Hyper-partisans will own it…
Well, that’s one way to look at it, and it seems to be based on your assumption that it will be a close election.
It’s not shaping up that way. Consider a potential landslide victory given that Biden is unable to cope, and is doubling down on issues that he is very wrong on. It’s not all Ukraine and everywhere else, from EVs to energy to immigration to social issues to government spending he’s on the, um, wrong side of history.
I see Trump winning both the popular and electoral vote handily, with similar wins in Congress. Given that, addressing issues that have festered a long time, even if done dramatically, will be widely supported. At the very least threatening to deport 11 million will get the Democrats to the bargaining table in a way that they have avoided up to now. Deportation isn’t the only way to resolve this, but motivation is important, too.
The problem, of course, is Trump, his ignorance and his bloody-mindedness. It’s likely that his reforms will be heavy-handed and unworkable with all kinds of external effects. But some of them won’t be.
It’s not a bad idea to reform Civil Service, given that a LOT of political agitation and direction comes from within the supposedly non-partisan portion of government service. The government has grown immensely since Grover Cleveland set that system up and it’s not irresponsible to want effective political control of the Executive Branch, which doesn’t exist right now. Sure, directing prosecutions is a bit far down the food chain, but having AUSAs roundfiling general presidential priorities isn’t right either. If you think that Biden would have accepted an AUSA not filing J6 charges, you got another think coming.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 12:57 pmRIP legendary guitarist Duane Eddy (86):
Eddy also played on Peter Gunn theme.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 12:59 pmAll the more reason to force TikTok to divest from their ChiCom overlords or shut it down.
No.
That we don’t like the content on TikTok is not an adequate reason to shut it down, even if it is being sponsored by malevolent actors. The First Amendment still counts for something.
The reason to shut down TikTok is because we have already determined that China has lied to us about collecting and storing data on its users without seeking proper consent, and they have lied to us about the ownership structure and alleged autonomy of the company.
JVW (b02843) — 5/4/2024 @ 1:04 pmYou probably saw that the IVF came out very well.
And they did, but they neglected to point that out. It was all “Republicans want to ban IVF” when not only was that not what the state court ruled, but it was not what the state legislature wanted, and so the state legislature changed the law.
Similarly with the AZ court decision on the 1864 law. First it was “Oh, so terrible.” After repeal it’s “oh, it’s still terrible — women might have to go to CA, NM, NV or CO to get a (likely free) abortion. The humanity!”
The press does not want to leave this issue alone until there IS a national law that they like.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 1:07 pmEven Democrats are catching on.
‘Your Responses Here Are Unsatisfactory’: Mastermind Of Wuhan Lab Funding Takes Beating On Capitol Hill
A rough day for the smartest man in the room.
Daszak was behind The Lancet letter, which reads “we stand together to condemn conspiracy theories that COVID does not have a natural origin.”
lloyd (3beec7) — 5/4/2024 @ 1:12 pmI can understand why so many want not even to think about the problem of nuclear war, but we should, anyway.
Many of us have thought a great deal about it, concluding that the only way to win is not to play. What else is there to know? Mutual assured destruction means what it says. DO NOT GO THERE.
What I *am* worried about is nuanced thinking about nuclear war.
——
I’d like to see a movie about nuclear war that ends in a black screen while the players are discussing their next escalation.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 1:12 pmThe repeal of Arizona’s abortion law was unnecessary, as was the overriding of the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision. Both were done under political pressure from the left. Women in Arizona and Alabama still had the option of traveling to other states.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 2:27 pmThere are many, many potential disasters which might result from a second Trump Administration (admittedly, there are also a whole slew of disasters that would come from a second Biden term too), but over at The Spectator, Grace Curley assures us that a clampdown on freedom of the press won’t be one of them, no matter what the NYT or The Atlantic or CNN or Slate might desperately want us to believe:
JVW (b02843) — 5/4/2024 @ 2:32 pmI understand what you write, but in some ways, DJT acts like Sheldon Cooper in the silly television show, “Big Bang Theory”: he can do good work, but simply cannot control his personal life.
My position is that DJT’s personal life is intertwined with his governing. I can understand people who do not agree. And I think we can all agree that DJT has terrible impulse control and does not listen to moderating influences. Which is different from JRB’s complete lack of engagement.
Hopefully, some debates between the two will help.
As far as the press statements, my late brother often reminded me of something Harry Truman said during a campaign.
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-chicago-stadium
It’s very interesting to read that speech, by the way.
In my dream of dreams, both DJT and JRB would drop out. And if they don’t, let’s see some genuine debates. Right now, the media are trying to line up factions.
Ugh.
Simon Jester (b05b84) — 5/4/2024 @ 3:01 pmP.S. Look at how the NYT described Truman’s speech. Dewey was a lot of things, but none of the things described.
https://www.nytimes.com/1948/10/26/archives/president-likens-dewey-to-hitler-as-fascists-tool-says-when-bigots.html
Some things do not change, sadly.
Simon Jester (b05b84) — 5/4/2024 @ 3:09 pm……………
What emerged in two interviews with Trump, and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisers and confidants, were the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world. To carry out a deportation operation designed to remove more than 11 million people from the country, Trump told me, he would be willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland. He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans. He would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress, according to top advisers. He would be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesn’t carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding. He is weighing pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury. He might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense. He would gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.
…………… Trump would enter a second term backed by a slew of policy shops staffed by loyalists who have drawn up detailed plans in service of his agenda, which would concentrate the powers of the state in the hands of a man whose appetite for power appears all but insatiable. “I don’t think it’s a big mystery what his agenda would be,” says his close adviser Kellyanne Conway. “But I think people will be surprised at the alacrity with which he will take action.”
…………..
In a second term, Trump’s influence on American democracy would extend far beyond pardoning powers. Allies are laying the groundwork to restructure the presidency in line with a doctrine called the unitary executive theory, which holds that many of the constraints imposed on the White House by legislators and the courts should be swept away in favor of a more powerful Commander in Chief.
…………..
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:51 am
(bolded parts mine)
I’m anti-Trump and pro-choice, but I’ll still call out errors when I see them. Letting states handle abortion law is just the opposite of an imperial Presidency.
norcal (13be0f) — 5/4/2024 @ 3:57 pmnorcal, to me the big questions with Trump are:
(1) what is he willing to be decent about, versus what he wants to do as a dictator — and let’s be honest, we’d all like to be a dictator about at least a few issues
(2) how long he will get to actually serve as POTUS. My hunch is that neither he or Biden will survive another four years. In which case, his VP pick is of paramount importance. (Not so with Dems as we already know that Kamala is utterly unqualified to be president and there could very well be an actual war in the DNC over whether she would even be allowed the promotion.)
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 4:17 pmSimon Jester, IMHO Truman was a good person and an almost-great president. He really was NOT a crook, as evidenced by his modest lifestyle post-WH.
Unfortunately he and LBJ also set the template for today’s horrific DNC campaigns, i.e. nothing is off limits except for violence (which today’s Dems now also embrace).
IMHO Harry gets a lot of pardons from me, mostly because he did so much to help rehabilitate Herbert Hoover’s public image as president. FDR always painted him as a richie-rich stooge, but Truman gave him opportunities to show what a compassionate person Hoover really was.
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 4:21 pmThe repeal of Arizona’s abortion law was unnecessary, as was the overriding of the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision. Both were done under political pressure from the left.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 2:27 pm
There are plenty on the right, including me, who are against abortion bans.
Women in Arizona and Alabama still had the option of traveling to other states.
Does that mean you will support continued abortion access in those other states? If not, your statement is rather disingenuous.
norcal (13be0f) — 5/4/2024 @ 4:24 pmnorcal, to me the big questions with Trump are:
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 4:17 pm
I don’t know the answers to your two questions, but I do know one thing: Trump is still lying about the 2020 election.
I can’t vote for somebody who does that. It’s a cancer in the Republic, and it supersedes policy.
norcal (13be0f) — 5/4/2024 @ 4:35 pmIt’s not about the content, it’s about an adversarial foreign power having access to personal data of millions of Americans. That said, the current could very well get struck down.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/4/2024 @ 4:40 pmnorcal: I’d bet money that if Trump is the clear winner this fall, he’ll suddenly “take back” everything he said about 2020. 😉
(If you’re gonna dream, dream BIG, right?)
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 4:58 pmBen Sasse shows how real collegiate leadership is done.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/4/2024 @ 5:01 pmFor the time being, “state’s rights” is the controlling constitutional structure regarding abortion, so my statement is not disingenuous, just a reflection of reality. But that doesn’t mean citizens shouldn’t work to protect life in all states. As it has been obvious from previous discussions, I favor a national policy, because no state should be allowed policies that fail to do that.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 5:33 pmRIP minimalist painter and sculptor Frank Stella (87).
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 7:04 pmThese anti-Israel campus protesters ring true.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/4/2024 @ 7:39 pmPro-Israel counter-demonstrators attack peaceful gaza ceasefire protesters at u. of mississippi. (DU) pro-Israel thuggery attacking peaceful protesters.
asset (213137) — 5/4/2024 @ 7:48 pmRecommended: Franklin on Apple+
On one of the podcasts (maybe Ricochet), one of the hosts said that he liked it but thought that Michael Douglas wasn’t very effective because when you see him on screen you get caught up in the idea that he’s Michael Douglas, not Ben Franklin. Did you experience this at all?
JVW (b02843) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:05 pmWhat happens if joe biden loses? Any of you thought about that? It is unlikely corporate establishment democrats will keep control of the party over angry democrats even with heavy handed hardball tactics. Trump is self destructive as are trumpsters leaving 2028 open for the democrat left.
asset (213137) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:07 pmPro-Israel counter-demonstrators attack peaceful gaza ceasefire protesters at u. of mississippi. (DU) pro-Israel thuggery attacking peaceful protesters.
A load of garbage, as usual from this commenter, yet this is apparently the new talking point being sent out by the leftist media. I note that the usual suspects such as MSNBC, the Guardian, The Young Turks, and some ABC station 600 miles away in the failed city of Chicago are trying to cast the counter-protesters in a negative light. Their latest trick is to advance a claim that counter-protestors made racist gestures towards a black woman, who based upon her business attire and the fact that she was standing in the area between the pro-Hamas protesters and the counter-protesters leads me to believe that she was some sort of Ole Miss administrator. No doubt a useless DEI administrator, as her actions on the video suggested that she was sympathetic to the budding young terrorists rather than some sort of neutral observer. In any case, all of the members of the pro-Hamas press team take a very brief snippet of a young guy making hooting sounds to the administrator and then extrapolate it into him imitating a gorilla. Even the lazy and worthless stenographers at AP try to push this narrative, though I am pleased to report that the comments on their video overwhelmingly take them to task for their journalistic malfeasance.
Far better to watch the report on a local news channel, in this case FOX13 in Memphis. Their coverage indicates that both sides began throwing items at one another, and after issuing a couple of warnings the police decided to break up both demonstrations. Nowhere is there any report of counter-demonstrators attacking allegedly peaceful demonstrators, no matter what kind of usual nonsense asset wants to spew here.
JVW (b02843) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:25 pmTruman was a good person and an almost-great president.
The Marshall Plan, NATO and Soviet containment, and the willingness to go to war for Korea were foreign policy triumphs of the first magnitude. One of the reasons we did not have WW III in Europe was due to actions by his team.
However, his domestic policies sucked.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:38 pmI can’t vote for somebody who does that. It’s a cancer in the Republic, and it supersedes policy.
Biden lies about a lot, too. Including how much he was helped by changes in balloting during COVID. I find Trump’s behavior asinine, but there is NO CHANCE that even a President can run a truly rigged election or get enough people to believe his lies to matter (other than by voting in 2024).
Biden has an agenda, too, and I find it at least as troubling as Trump’s. Wealth taxes. 70% marginal tax rates. Expanding entitlements. Open borders. Central planning entire sectors of the economy. If enacted, these things will not be repealed easily and some of them are irreversible. Sure, maybe the Senate will stop him but the moment they have a majority in both houses the filibuster will be gone.
This election sucks. I cannot ignore policy and I cannot ignore the two cretins running and their utter lack of character. The only reason that Biden did not complain about the election is because he won and did not have to. Wait until he loses and see what they do when it comes time to count [those unconscionable undemocratic] electoral votes.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:49 pmIncluding Executive Order 9981?
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:52 pmyou get caught up in the idea that he’s Michael Douglas, not Ben Franklin. Did you experience this at all?
Not really.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:52 pmIncluding Executive Order 9981
Well, that was a military order, so not strictly domestic. The heavy lifting was left to Johnson.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:54 pmForgot to include a link to Executive Order 9981.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:55 pmA companion EO, 9980, desegregated the federal workforce, did that also suck?
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 8:58 pmSkipping over Eisenhower and Kennedy?
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:09 pmKennedy didn’t do much, but he might have. Ike tried to get an anti-lynching bill but Democrats (including JFK) sent it to committee. Nothing was really done until 1964.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:25 pmA companion EO, 9980, desegregated the federal workforce, did that also suck?
I guess you liked him seizing the steel mills, too, or passing endless union legislation, or keeping the top tax rate at 90%.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:26 pmA companion EO, 9980, desegregated the federal workforce, did that also suck?
How did that work out in Mississippi?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:27 pmI’ve said nothing on those topics, so don’t put words in my mouth. In the case of Truman and labor unions, the relationship was at best frosty:
The only major labor-management legislation that passed (over Truman’s veto) was the Taft-Hartley Act, a decidedly anti-union measure.
The first 90% tax rate was imposed in 1950 to finance the Korean War.
I have absolutely no idea.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 9:51 pmAs it has been obvious from previous discussions, I favor a national policy, because no state should be allowed policies that fail to do that.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 5:33 pm
The whole idea of federalism is that the central government should only do what the states are incapable of doing themselves. The states are capable of crafting abortion laws.
norcal (8135fa) — 5/4/2024 @ 10:50 pmStory going around that Kristi Noem *now* claims in her book, she once met with Kim Jong Un.
What will be the next wild claim from her book?:
– She can hear colors
– Says she invented both Coke and Pepsi
– Was on original Family Feud, and claims she not only kissed but made sweet love with Richard Dawson
😛
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:11 pmThe role of government should be to protect life, not destroy it (unless as a judicial punishment).
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:33 pmThe role of government should be to protect life, not destroy it (unless as a judicial punishment).
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:33 pm
And a state government is perfectly capable of that.
One of my gripes about the left is that it is always looking to federalize everything. It would be sad if the right joined them.
norcal (8135fa) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:51 pmOn the contrary, Truman’s seizure of the steel mills was a gross abuse of presidential power, for which he was rightfully slapped down by the Supreme Court.
As far as “passing endless union legislation,” Truman faced a coalition of anti-New Deal Southern Democrats and conservative Republicans in Congress which resulted in very little of his “Fair Deal” legislation being passed. As I noted above, Truman’s veto of the Taft-Hartley Act was overridden by a Democrat majority Congress.
Please share any examples of the “endless union legislation” enacted during the Truman administration.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:51 pmStory going around that Kristi Noem *now* claims in her book, she once met with Kim Jong Un.
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:11 pm
Hmm. Koreans eat dogs. Coincidence? Do we know what happened to Kristi’s dog after she shot it?
norcal (8135fa) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:54 pmApparently all state governments aren’t capable of doing that. I doubt the Founders would condone the failure of the governmental system they created to protect the unborn. Federalism is being used as an excuse to do nothing. As Trump has shown in his statements quoted above, he is using the state’s rights argument to avoid dealing with any of the issues created by the Dobbs decision.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:01 amI think the reference to an “imperial presidency” included just about everything else in that paragraph except your highlight; however, despite his denials, I would expect Trump to sign a national abortion ban if one managed to pass Congress.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:07 am@114 throwing things is not attacking? Fox is pro-netanyahu as is murdoch who should be sent packing when the left takes over the democrat party especially in ny. So now I am supposed to call the counter-protesters who started throwing things first budding terrorists?
asset (213137) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:40 am@124 this was better as now rich fascist have more money to spend doing their evilness. Are you happy Soros has more money to spend? We need 90% again!
asset (213137) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:44 amI would expect Trump to sign a national abortion ban if one managed to pass Congress.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:07 am
If Trump reversed course (not unheard of) before the election, and promised to sign a national abortion ban, would you vote for him?
norcal (8135fa) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:47 am@129 glad that you are for more welfare and healthcare spending to protect life.
asset (213137) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:48 amqdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:11 pm
Actually, I can hear the color blue. Every time my Ophthalmologist test me for Glaucoma by flashing a blue light into an eye, my cochlea responds with a low tone, a “G.”
felipe (176cc9) — 5/5/2024 @ 5:24 amKevin: “Wealth taxes. 70% marginal tax rates. Expanding entitlements. Open borders. Central planning entire sectors of the economy. If enacted, these things will not be repealed easily and some of them are irreversible. Sure, maybe the Senate will stop him but the moment they have a majority in both houses the filibuster will be gone.”
NJRob must have hacked Kevin’s account. Maybe whembly jumped in there too. Shame on you guys trying to make Kevin look like an unhinged Chicken Little. I especially like the last part where you guys throw in the nuclear option to show how evil the Democrats will be to shamelessly pass the most leftist agenda ever.
It’s fine to say that 2024 might be the worst choice ever. Biden’s decline can’t be hidden and his record is spotty at best. But to invent policy Armageddon to try somehow to equalize matters with Trump is just lazy writing. I likely won’t vote for Biden because my state won’t be close and I don’t think he’s a strong enough President in uncertain international times. But Trump does pose a greater threat. He simply is unable to tell the truth and his delusions generally are far more sinister than any of Biden’s fabulist inventions.
Trump is looking to make us Hungary and rig our politics. He likely will not succeed but his team is ready to give it the old college try. This has no equivalent on the Biden side…despite NJRob’s and whembly’s best efforts….
AJ_Liberty (9157e3) — 5/5/2024 @ 6:14 amAJ,
you.dont dispute a single thing Kevin said. Instead you just name call and dismiss the left and Biden’s actions and impulses.
They you try and wash away your support for those policies by claiming your vote won’t count so you won’t vote for him.
Par for the course.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/5/2024 @ 6:24 amasset must’ve hijacked AJ’s account.
lloyd (a4cdc1) — 5/5/2024 @ 6:54 amUC Berkeley Opens Civil Rights Investigation Into Confrontation Between Professor And Pro-Palestinian Student
lloyd (5852e0) — 5/5/2024 @ 7:05 amRip: “Apparently all state governments aren’t capable of doing that. I doubt the Founders would condone the failure of the governmental system they created to protect the unborn. Federalism is being used as an excuse to do nothing.”
Proving pregnancy in the 18th century required evidence of “quickening,” or movement of the child in the womb. I suspect that the Founders were at best ambivalent about chemically-induced abortions in what would be the first trimester. Would they continue to be if they could be spirited forward to modernity and learned of fetal development? Well, that conjuring is not exactly what originalism is all about and what their better-informed moral sentiments would be is only a guess. At best abortion was a state issue in the founding era and that generation would be aghast at a move to nationalize it with an illegitimate appeal to the Interstate Commerce Clause. Madison would just shake his head.
Polls show that few people want an absolute ban of abortion. More support some sort of threshold around 15 to 20 weeks…but it remains controversial. It will certainly fragment the country as California and Massachusetts have far different views than Alabama and Utah. Is the constitution really designed to bully states into conformity on culture issues? The 10th amendment anyone?
It’s not really the conservative position. Most conservatives objected to gay marriage on the grounds that it was not a federal matter to decide. The Court disagreed. On policy they were likely correct. From a constitutional perspective it’s a bit more unclear, though siding with individual liberty has persuasive value.
But Rip will argue that the question of abortion transcends everything. It’s life or death. That’s fair except that a woman’s autonomy is also involved. And Rip has no way to remove the risks and costs that he wants to impose. I’m not sure how many unwanted pregnancies Rip is willing to adopt or subsidize….he hasn’t said.
Is it fair to draw a national line? Well, there’s a difference between fair and smart. I see no harm in letting federalism play out. If Rip is uncomfortable with California abortion policy, he could always relocate to Montgomery, Alabama where people are more in tune with his values. I imagine he’ll rationalize staying put.
Personally I like and trust federalism, especially for such divisive cultural issues. It forces people to accept different views and attitudes. We have to live in our own skins and it’s hard to govern ourselves if we can’t accept pluralism. When we value the unborn remains a contentious issue, especially since only the pregnant woman bears the risks and costs.
There are no shortcuts. You must persuade voters. National bills tend to not do this….
AJ_Liberty (9157e3) — 5/5/2024 @ 7:13 amI’ve said nothing on those topics, so don’t put words in my mouth
And I said nothing about military integration, but it did not stop you.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:06 amIt’s fine to say that 2024 might be the worst choice ever. Biden’s decline can’t be hidden and his record is spotty at best. But to invent policy Armageddon to try somehow to equalize matters with Trump is just lazy writing.
All of these things are either in policy proposals or his current budget (e.g. the wealth tax). Biden goes on about how the rich don’t pay more than 8% of their “income” but he includes unrealized gains as income. To get at this “income” you have to tax wealth, and he has proposed such.
I don’t see any argument that Biden isn’t trying to command the energy and transportation economies from DC. He intends to jack up taxes on the working and lower middle class by letting Trump’s cuts expire.
In the past he has advocated returning to the pre-Reagan 70% tax rate. He’s not talking about that now, but I see no reason to think he’s forgotten it. He still wants to raise the death tax to 61%.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:24 amIt’s interesting that Biden’s “billionaire tax” would kick in at wealth of $100 million. This demonstrates the level of honest Joe Biden employs.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:25 amTrump is looking to make us Hungary and rig our politics. He likely will not succeed but his team is ready to give it the old college try. This has no equivalent on the Biden side
Gerrymanders and state-assisted ballot harvesting might be nothing on Orban, but they aren’t nothing either. And you ignore Biden’s recent attempt to take over state elections with federal rules beneficial to his constituency. You may say it’s not the same thing, but “little baby steps.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:29 amKevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:29 am
And knocking third parties off the ballot or preventing them from getting on, as well as campaigning against them with an idea of attacking them in ways that will cause left leaning voters to spurn them. (like RFK Jr. once called Palestinians in Gaza pampered)
But all this is considered legitimate. Nit so some of what Trump did, especially after the voting,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:36 amNo, because he is correct that in short term an abortion ban is unlikely to reach his desk. The only way that could happen is if the new Republican Senate voted to suspend the filibuster rules in order to pass such a ban. But if that did happen, I suspect Trump would reverse course.
Most of MAGA’s grassroots supporters favor such a ban; Trump took his current position to avoid discussing abortion, not some principled federalism stance. If that were true he would take the same position on a variety of other issues like marriage (now federally defined) or drug enforcement.
I don’t vote for candidates based on campaign promises, as they are highly unlikely they will be kept.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:50 amI considered both Truman’s EOs on integration to be important domestic policies, as they were a nascent beginning to the Civil Rights movement.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/5/2024 @ 8:54 amAs I’ve pointed out before, limiting abortions to after 15 weeks or whatever is no restriction at all, since somewhere around 90% occur before that limit. No matter what the 18th century definition of pregnancy was, a governmental system cannot remain in stasis while society develops new ways of ending life. Society as a whole bears “the risks and costs” of terminating a pregnancy, not just the woman. Every lost life is the loss of a productive adult.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:13 am“Voting with your feet” by moving to Alabama (for example) will do nothing to change the anti-life policies of states that have made abortion a central pillar.
Obviously I care more than just what is happening in California or other pro-abortion states. The whole point of my argument is that preserving life is a national issue, and there shouldn’t be refuges that have made it a policy not to do so.
Rip Murdock (c7888c) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:22 amNo current poll suggests that the Democrats will win 60 seats in the Senate….which means wealth taxes, marginal tax rates, and corporate tax rates are likely not going anywhere. If concerned, then that’s more a rallying call to vote for your Republican Senator…not to elect someone who wants to take us out of NATO.
Something will eventually have to be done on taxes, but it must be part of a comprehensive plan that includes spending cuts, benefit freezes, and a general shrinking of the federal workforce. But we are not in serious-land at the moment, so both sides are just playing politics. Democrats will attack the super-rich and Republicans will echo Trump and say entitlements are off the table. Both are avoiding grown-up decisions.
Kevin’s article also describes that wealth taxes come with big negatives. First, pushing the super-rich offshore. Second, figuring out how to evaluate wealth — a problem that is evident in Trump’s NYC case. Third, who should exactly do the evaluating. I would further argue that as the top-rate reduction proved out, do we really want the super-rich spending their time trying to fight confiscation, or do we want them buying things and investing their money in the economy?
I support none of Biden’s domestic agenda, though drill-baby-drill is not very forward looking…and does ignore that we do need to plan a rational energy policy. I think there is a federal role, especially with strengthening the grid by incorporating HVDC connections between the interconnects…and creating a path for energy storage to become more affordable as it did with PV and wind. Strengthening the grid just makes sense from a national security perspective as well.
For me, this is an election about America’s role in the world and protecting our institutions from a wrecking ball. Most domestic questions will see a push in our system. Biden’s EO’s were problematic but at least they were tied to a pandemic (still wrong headed). Trump’s EO’s may really strain who we are as he mobilizes the military to start rounding up people without their papers. I don’t like or trust Trump’s brain trust and have no confidence that there will be any moderating forces during a lame duck term. Trusting in that uncertainty is not conservative. Biden is not conservative either, but I think it’s easier to weather Biden/Harris than it is to avoid a major Trump misstep….
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:41 amBiden’s EOs have permitted an ongoing invasion ans certainly allowed terrorists to invade every portion of our country. He has told schools that men are now women and destroyed women’s places. He has turned Americans at each other’s throats in the quest for power and totalitarian socialism.
Your desire to minimize the harm of leftist policies on America is noted.
NJRob (6783dd) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:50 amhttps://www.axios.com/2024/05/05/israel-us-ammunition-shipment-hold
Trump delays funding to Ukraine in a time of peace and it’s an impeachable offense.
Biden does to Israel in a time of war and … crickets.
NJRob (6783dd) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:06 am“As I’ve pointed out before, limiting abortions to after 15 weeks or whatever is no restriction at all, since somewhere around 90% occur before that limit. No matter what the 18th century definition of pregnancy was, a governmental system cannot remain in stasis while society develops new ways of ending life.”
But you don’t have the votes for a 6-week (or less) ban. Most people disagree with you…and I’m not sure whether pushing federal legislation that has no chance helps get you to a majority.
I can appreciate the lost-resource argument, but the actual benefit to each individual of society is frankly unknowable….but the cost of lost agency, medical risk, and financial and societal strain on the woman is more tangible. If society is truly losing benefits, then it should be willing to do far more than it currently seems willing to support the pregnant woman, facilitate adoption, and to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
But a lot of this is at root religious or moral. Many pro-choicers don’t recognize the moral significance of a life that is still wholly reliant on another human’s life support system…and still faces some risk of natural miscarriage to boot. Contrast that with how society views murder — near unanimous opposition with degrees outlined in the law. Abortion does not have that moral super-majority.
Bible Christians were not told to use the law to compel pagans to recognize and share their beliefs. The principle was that Christians should hold other Christians to account. Pagans should be persuaded through love…and not by the hammer of the law. We all have to live together…and just as I don’t want to be legally obligated to speak in woke…I’m sure others want the freedom to wrestle with complex matters according to their own conscience.
It’s hard work to change hearts and minds. There’s no legislative short cuts.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:11 amJust when you thought the election could not get any worse:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has a Plan to Make Joe Biden Drop Out
Trump vs RFKJr! A choice, not an echo! (Echoes are coherent)
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:12 amBut you don’t have the votes for a 6-week (or less) ban.
Those 6-week rules are worse than you think. Florida’s law is an effective ban. Before having an abortion, a woman needs to arrange to have 2 sonograms and 2 or 3 doctor’s appointments to determine gestational age. That’s tough for nearly anyone. A woman on Medicaid? HAH!
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:15 amBut all this is considered legitimate.
Gerrymanders have never been considered “legitimate.” They were seen as crooked (literally) at the time of the Founding.
Legal, perhaps, although not in all states any more.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:19 amNo current poll suggests that the Democrats will win 60 seats in the Senate
Don’t need 60 seats the moment the filibuster is nuked. And the moment a party gets the WH and a bare majority in Congress, it’s nuked. Came close in 2018.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:21 amBut we are not in serious-land at the moment, so both sides are just playing politics. Democrats will attack the super-rich and Republicans will echo Trump and say entitlements are off the table. Both are avoiding grown-up decisions.
No argument. The problem is that temporizing at this point in time is fatal. Time’s up. Which of these two candidates might stumble into the right direction? I see “Definitely Not” vs “Probably Not.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:25 amOne, false, Ukraine has been at war against Putin since 2014. They weren’t “in a time of peace” when Trump withheld military aid.
Two, a president has a window of time, like 45 days, to disburse funding or aid approved by Congress. Biden is still within that window, and Trump broke the window, going well past the deadline.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/5/2024 @ 10:51 amHi Paul
I still don’t get why Biden didn’t use the Lend Lease that was passed with overwhelming bi partisan support. particularly because:
“Another reason for keeping Lend-Lease in the back pocket could be because there’s currently bipartisan support for sending weapons to Ukraine. Should Republican resistance grow, or popular sentiment turn against the war, then it’d make sense to use Lend-Lease to work around legislative efforts to block future weapons deliveries, said a Democratic congressional aide who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the party’s thinking.”
Why then didn’t Biden use either the $3B in funds he still had in hand or use lend lease during the Republican House issues.
steveg (f3d5ff) — 5/5/2024 @ 11:40 amElection year politics?
41. Rip Murdock (1803bc) — 5/3/2024 @ 2:50 pm
1. Destroying Hamas is not the only objective.
2. Getting hostages out is more urgent, while destroying Hamas is more important. Israel can maximize the chances of accomplishing both, or of getting as many hostages out as possible, by agreeing to a temporary truce that will remain in effect for so long as Hamas is releasing hostages.
3. Redeeming captives is an important Jewish principle, dating from the Middle Ages and before, that has been accepted by the consensus in Israel. Maybe at too high a price in the past.
Although there are some people demonstrating for Israel to accept any deal (as if any deal for the release of ALL the hostages and the recovery of dead bodies is on the table even in exchange for a complete withdrawal from Gaza and the release of high ranking Hamas prisoners who have killed Israelis in acts of terrorism) Israel will not agree to a deal that forecloses options for what to do after Hamas has released as many hostages as it is going to release.
Just to make that clear Netanyahu stresses that an operation in Rafah is coming, deal or no deal (but can be postponed by Hamas releasing hostages.
4. There is an outside chance that, after having negotiated a pause, Hamas will agree to surrender power.
Perhaps only after it starts again
if and when Sinwar is killed, rather than see Israel resume full scale operations.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:05 pmnorcal (8135fa) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:54 pm
Possibly eaten by wild animals or birds? And the goat, too, which she decided to finish off at the same time.
Incidentally, she lied in her book about having encountered Kim Jong Un which somehow she did not catch despite recording an audio version of her book, until it was brought to her attention,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:18 pmTruman’s speech October 25, 1948:
Nonsense, but in any case, inflation suddenly came to an end right before the election. Dewey never knew what him.
What had happened was that the supply curve overtook the demand curve,”Which would have happened in 2021-2 had the Federal Reserve Board simply just had more patience,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:29 pmFair points both, steveg. Even if Biden went with lend-lease, the “lend” part was cancelable.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:37 pmOff-topic:
These new automobile features have issues. Particularly adaptive cruise control (ACC), which doesn’t detect suddenly-appearing stationary objects. On the highway this is not a major problem, as randomly stopped vehicles in a highway lane are infrequent. If you’ve been following a vehicle and it comes to a stop, that’s different — the sensor is already tracking it.
But consider: You are driving down a major urban street, with a speed limit of 40 and you have your ACC set for 45. Normally the system come up to the car in front of you and follow at a reasonable distance. But, now and then, that car will change lanes. Particularly of interest is when it changes lanes into a left-turn pocket and the cars in front of it are already stopped at a red light.
You might expect the ACC system to bring you to a halt, as it would if a car you were following came to a stop. Sorry. Won’t happen. The ACC system is really really bad at detecting stationary objects because it is programmed to ignore most of them (trees, signs, the road, etc).
They don’t tell you this, of course, but it’s a rude shock when you see it happening. And some will rely on the automatic braking while they eat their hamburger and not catch it in time. People have died.
The solution is to integrate cameras into these LIDAR systems. Cadillac is apparently doing this now, but technology that doesn’t quite work is a problem.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:39 pmPeggy Noonan:
The organizers don’t want anyone to speak who will not repeat the party line. Their arguments could be destroyed, or they could be shown to be confused
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:39 pmCame close in 2018.Came close in 2020.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:41 pmPaul,
your excuse making for Biden is noted.
NJRob (6783dd) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:42 pmSo, I started watching “The 3 Body Problem.” Not sure yet if I’ll like it, but the first 5 minutes reminded me a lot of today’s woke student activists and the irrationality of their positions.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:44 pmThe solution is to pay attention when driving and not depend on the car to drive for you.
NJRob (6783dd) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:45 pmqdpsteve again (711764) — 5/4/2024 @ 11:11 pm
No it’s been removed from the final printing of the book, which will be out Tuesday.
On Face the Nation she gave a lot of double talk, and then tried saying words to the effect of: Whadabout Joe Biden? He’s made up stories about himself 150 times. Why didn’t you challenge him on that, The interviewer said she would if she got a chance,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 12:48 pmThe solution is to pay attention when driving and not depend on the car to drive for you.
You think? But people do use these things in heavy traffic, and are told they work.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 1:18 pmI’ve had it in my cars since 2016 and I use it on freeways, but not in active traffic. That’s just asking for an accident. The auto-breaking hates oncoming traffic around curves.
NJRob (6783dd) — 5/5/2024 @ 1:27 pmWhat’s noted, Rob, is that you were completely wrong on the facts. Trump over truth, it appears.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/5/2024 @ 1:32 pm“Don’t need 60 seats the moment the filibuster is nuked.”
The moment the filibuster gets nuked is the moment that our democracy starts to spiral. The politicization of judges was a bad turn. I won’t say that was a good reason to adjust the filibuster, but it at least allows us to continue administering our justice system by confirming judges. Nuking the filibuster because you want to radically modify the tax system and only have a thin majority ends all requirement to compromise….and we will just ping-pong back and forth between the bases trying to own the other side. It will likely make the law unpredictable, especially the business end, which will reduce the attractiveness of investing in the U.S. We know what that means. I suspect adults in the Senate will not allow this to happen. Most know that they can get swept out if they over-reach or the tide turns. Like cockroaches, they do want to survive.
“So, I started watching “The 3 Body Problem.” Not sure yet if I’ll like it”
There’s some plot problems that emerge from changes that the producers made from the books. Some are ok if you know what’s in the books (I didn’t but have seen learned). Other people don’t like watching flawed smart people and think all smart people must be older than 50, bespectacled, fat, and otherwise well adjusted. I’m ok with the neuroses, though I would like to see it seem a little less like Friends meets up with Big Bang Theory. In my book, it’s entertainment that doesn’t need to be overthought too much. I think they’ve muddled what exactly the TriSolarans are capable of and what they can’t do. I’m confused about Wallfacers but guess that they will require suspended animation for the concept to make sense.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 5/5/2024 @ 1:36 pmI was correct on the facts.
There were zero incursions under Trump.
You proclaiming war doesn’t make it so. But you’re all in on Biden as you are all in on all leftists. So carry on carrying water.
NJRob (6783dd) — 5/5/2024 @ 2:50 pmNo, you weren’t, Rob. You were lying.
Russia has been at war in eastern Ukraine since 2014, so it wasn’t “in a time of peace” as you falsely claimed, and now you’re trying to move the goalposts by saying “there were zero incursions under Trump”, which is also false. It was during Trump’s single term that Russia illegally seized Ukrainian naval vessels in Kerch Strait and held a couple dozen Ukrainian sailors hostage for months. Trump’s reaction to this event was crickets.
These are basic easily provable facts, Rob, and you got them all wrong.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/5/2024 @ 3:06 pmOh, and this has nothing to do about Biden, Rob, it’s about you and your “content”, that if you’re going to make sh-t up, don’t be surprised when you get called on it.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/5/2024 @ 3:13 pmNo they haven’t as they didn’t do a single thing during Trump’s presidency. But I appreciate you trying to use leftist sources for support.
I’d expect nothing less.
NJRob (6783dd) — 5/5/2024 @ 3:38 pmI’ve had it in my cars since 2016 and I use it on freeways, but not in active traffic. That’s just asking for an accident. The auto-breaking hates oncoming traffic around curves.
I think they’ve fixed that.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 3:45 pmThe moment the filibuster gets nuked is the moment that our democracy starts to spiral.
I hate to tell you this….
Other people don’t like watching flawed smart people and think all smart people must be older than 50, bespectacled, fat, and otherwise well adjusted.
In my experience, many people with high IQs have IRL problems. Some evidence of that here.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 3:52 pmWe REALLY have to get Paul and NJRob a room at the Motel 6. 😛
qdpsteve again (2d5acc) — 5/5/2024 @ 4:10 pmThe talks broke off or never got off the ground. Hamas showed up in Cairo; Israel didn’t, presumably to indicate how unrealistic were Hamsas’s terms
CIA Director William J. Burns rushed to Qatar and will fly to Israel.
Meanswhile Israel kicked Qatar run AL Jazeera out of the country. (or just stopped them from operating) May be a sign attack is imminent, Except they promised to give people in Rafah two weeks to evacuate I think. Maybe a special operation is in store first to attempt to kill Sinwar, and get new Hamas leadership. (As probably recommended by the USA)
Hamas is obviously drawing hopew=e from all the protests in the United States.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 4:11 pmWikipedia is “leftist sources”? Thanks again for confirming your intellectual dishonesty, Rob. Good grief.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/5/2024 @ 4:16 pmPR campaign about starvation in Gaza was heating up, as more food became available.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/04/world/middleeast/cindy-mccain-gaza-famine.html
Now skip down to near the end of the article:
This evidently presented a problem to Hamas:
So:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hamas-attacks-israel-gaza-border-crossing-cease-fire-talks-continue/ The attack on Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded several others, three of whom were critically wounded, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday. The attack prompted officials to close the terminal, disrupting critical shipments of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The IDF had “anticipated” the attack, pre-positioned “protective elements” and sirens were triggered, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said. Israel’s military will conduct an internal investigation into how and why the casualties occurred despite these measures,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/5/2024 @ 4:26 pmSurprising!
Pro-Palestinian protesters are backed by a surprising source: Biden’s biggest donors
lloyd (f6ef6a) — 5/5/2024 @ 6:19 pm@157 pagans should be converted with love. Really? ever here of Torquemada? Burning pagans and heretics at the stake. The crusades. Madalyn murry o’hare? The 30 years war?
asset (0f1fbb) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:08 pm@179 how is the filibuster democratic? It was instituted by slave holder and then segregationists as was the electoral college. In floriduh 60% is needed to pass abortion right protection. Corporate establishment democrats are put in power by the rich donor class so nothing changes.
asset (0f1fbb) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:19 pmNaacp demands racist counter protesters at U. of Mississippi be expelled or black athletes boycott the school.
asset (0f1fbb) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:23 pmNew email scam: “We can help you get forgiveness of your student loans under Biden’s new program. Just give us your SSN and account numbers ans we’ll do the rest.”
Gotta love it.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:28 pmR.I.P. Bernard Hill, actor, Titanic captain and Theoden, King of Rohan.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/5/2024 @ 9:42 pm@194 most of these scammers our not in this country. The ones who are can be caught like the ones on home title theft. The law is hamstrung as capitalist banks make money so they don’t have to launder so much money. Also the big crooks pay off the politicians to prevent new laws against them. The government (when not being paid off) could shut a country’s internet down to stop it and other sanctions applied. The other countries say the scammers are poor and have no other way to make money.
asset (0f1fbb) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:33 amPaul, are you being deliberately obtuse? They are profoundly biased on anything remotely political or what they deem controversial.
But you know that and pretend otherwise.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:47 amOf course bias liberalism is the future conservatism is the past. In 1776 the conservatives (loyalists) were supporting king george III and conservatives supported slavery and they considered lincoln a radical!
asset (0f1fbb) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:30 am“pagans should be converted with love. Really? ever here of Torquemada? Burning pagans and heretics at the stake. The crusades. Madalyn murry o’hare? The 30 years war?”
None of which is New Testament Christianity. Jesus never advocated violence…the opposite actually.
“how is the filibuster democratic?”
It cools passions and compels compromise. It provides the minority with leverage to slow a runaway majority. It’s a check on democracy and a good one. We are still all in this together. Hyperpartisanship has us pretend that one side is evil and the other by definition noble. When I say nuking the filibuster is a threat to our democracy, I mean our Constitutional structure which includes its checks and balances.
Right now a substantial number of Republicans don’t just believe the finality of 2020 but are promising more chaos if they don’t get their way in 2024. We need our institutional checks.
AJ_Liberty (53aa78) — 5/6/2024 @ 5:33 am@163
One: It wasn’t a full-fledge war like it was when Russia invaded during Biden’s adminstration.
Technically, the “war” started during the Obama/Biden administration with “little green men” overtaking Crimea:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26532154
Two: Irrelevant. Because when Trump withheld it, the outcry wasn’t really over “the window” allowed. It was really because it was deemed purely political due to Trump wanting Ukraine to investigate his likely political opponent.
With Biden withholding the package to Israel you there’s simply no justification other than for Biden’s political chances in the fall.
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 6:51 amHi Paul,
I thnk whembly wins point two. See the Articles of Impeachment, which does not refer to the 45 day window.
https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres755/BILLS-116hres755enr.pdf
Appalled (c701f2) — 5/6/2024 @ 7:01 amWhen Trump declares that Putin left Ukraine alone during his term in office, he is not telling the truth:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerch_Strait_incident#:~:text=The%20Kerch%20Strait%20incident%20was,Sea%20of%20Azov%20through%20the
However, it could be argued Putin backed off after the US responded to the aggression.
Appalled (c701f2) — 5/6/2024 @ 7:47 amOn Wikipedia: I use it almost every day, just as I use Google every day. Neither are “leftist” organizations; both have problems with bias.
For the most part Wikipedia is fine on scientific subjects, as long as they aren’t hot political issues.
On political issues, they often have the same kind of bias that you find in so much of our “mainstream” media. It isn’t that the facts they report are wrong, but that they select facts which support leftist views. Last I looked, for example, the article on PEPFAR — 25 million lives saved, so far — was brief, and had not been updated in some time. I haven’t checked, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that their article on George Floyd — one life lost — is longer and more recently updated than the article on PEPFAR.
It’s my impression that, just as our media has drifted to the left on political subjects in recent years, so has Wikipedia, but I haven’t seen or looked for any studies on the subject.
With all their faults, are both Google and Wikipedia better than, for example, Tucker Carlson? Absolutely.
Jim Miller (fda39b) — 5/6/2024 @ 8:46 amNo, but you’re being a lying right-wing hack, choosing to double down instead of accept easily provable historical facts. The Wiki entry for Putin’s War Against Ukraine includes 671 links. The war against Ukraine really started in 2014 and never stopped. I blogged about it, multiple times, in the spring of 2014, with multiple follow-ups afterward. The traditionally conservative Dispatch said this about Ukraine, ten months before Putin’s 2022 full-scale invasion.
You can infer that the violation of a 2020 ceasefire (which was one of 29 failed ceasefires) means that Putin has been at war against Ukraine since 2014, and which has to include your boy Trump’s single term.
The Lawfare link was co-written by Jack Goldsmith, who was GW Bush’s Assistant AG and is senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Some “leftist source”, right?
Trump’s withholding the military aid was a serious issue because Ukraine was literally at war against Russia, with Russia controlling parts of eastern Ukraine. It’s also why Obama’s withholding military aid in 2015-2016 (despite Congress approving) was also a serious issue.
Paul Montagu (895dc0) — 5/6/2024 @ 8:59 amHere’s another link on the kerch strait incident — https://www.iiss.org/en/publications/strategic-comments/2018/the-kerch-strait-incident/ — which was written in 2018.
aphrael (99fd6b) — 5/6/2024 @ 9:51 amWikipedia is “leftist sources”?
Wikipedia is a hodge-podge. Each page is controlled by editors, and some of them are quite biased. On some things (e.g. math or physics) it’s damn good. On things that attract fanboys, it’s terrible.
On politics, it trends Left, only because more people with the time to become “editors” tend to be on the Left. So, you will get some right-side politicians page with a large and often ill-supported “controversy” section but a similar politician on the left will have little to none with any attempt to introduce such killed by the editor for “lack of supporting information” (all of which they will discount).
Many pages are controlled by editors that favor the subject and decline edits that do not. Politicians attempt to assign staff to edit their page; sometimes this works, sometimes not. Both left and right do this, as do PR folks outside of politics.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 10:35 amJust when I thought I’d be voting LP again, this happens:
https://lnc2024.com/president-donald-trump-at-the-libertarian-national-convention/
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 10:51 amBreaking:
https://www.newser.com/story/349972/hamas-we-will-accept-ceasefire-deal.html
Not Hamas in Gaza, but Hamas in Doha (the capital of Qatar.)
They were probably read the riot act (so to speak) and told they’d be expelled from Qatar if they didn’t agree. Told by the CIA Director, William J. Burns, and the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (who was probably told that threatened himself with the enmity of the United States if he didn’t co-operate.
Ismail Haniyeh actually lives in Turkey and has a Turkish passport but others operate in Doha. They were probably threatened with expulsion from Qatar.
Of course, the Hamas leadership in Doha has claimed to be unable to control or even be in contact with, the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Who’s probably really taking orders from Iran.
Th deal is probably the 2 1/2 stage one with the temporary month or so ceasefire in exchange for the release of 33 hostages whom Hamas admits holding and the second stage lasting another 30 or so days when they can negotiate the release of more and possibly an end to the war.Israel has not quite accepted that
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 11:27 amI’m not aware of any Articles of Impeachment from Nixon to Trump 2.0 that spells out specific violations of the US Code. Usually, they’re more general, like abuse of power, obstruction, etc.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 11:35 amwhembly, it’s still a war against a sovereign nation, and it’s been kinetic every year.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 11:40 amI’m loathe to do hypotheticals, but here’s one. If the US invaded British Columbia ten years ago and occupied the province ever since, and if our forces were regularly met with combat and artillery by the Canadian military, how is it not a decade-long war? BC is Canada, and it was invaded and taken by a foreign power. Another question: Why does Putin get a pass? Why does he get special treatment for his invasions?
Haven’t seen a lot of either (from either side) for a long while.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 11:45 amIsrael says there’s no deal. On to Rafah.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 11:52 amSimon Jester @98:
The television show “Young Sheldon” is much better.
They’ve got a problem. They have to kill off his father, because he’s supposed to die while Sheldon is still 14. This is the final season.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:07 pm@210
I didn’t say otherwise. O.o
I’m not giving Putin a pass… and neither NJRob either.
What you keep missing, hopefully not purposefully, is that Biden’s hold on armament to Israel is very obviously political in nature due to domestic politics…. rather for any stategic imports.
Under the exact same situation that Trump was impeached for during the 1st impeachment, when he threatened to withold additional aid to coerce Ukraine to investigate the Bidens… which was pilloried by his opponents that he’s only doing so because Joe Biden is likely going to be his political opponent.
How about making the case or not, that Joe Biden is committing the same some of impeachment worthy act of withholding aid for Israel, as Trump was impeached over that Ukraine call.
Frankly, IMO, the only reason he’s withholding aid is because of the political realities that the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic party may refrain from supporting Joe Biden this November.
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:07 pmFrom the link:
Well, there certainly is no deal, yet, and we still don’t know if Hamas in Gaza will honor anything
The clock is ticking.
As for the little difference between this and what Israel agreed to in April may not be very little at all.
By the way, the other day, Hamas was demanding not only that the ceasefire would be permanent (until broken by Hamas, anyway) but that the United States guarantee that Israel would keep it.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:19 pmLOL!
BuDuh (baab1b) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:20 pmwhembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:07 pm
No he didn’t/ Trump didn’t threaten to withhold aid, he just did, and he did it in secret, and he didn’t tell Ukraine he was doing it, although Ukraine knew, but it didn’t know why, and he didn’t tell anyone in the U.S. government why, and Ukraine it was afraid to raise the issue, probably because they were afraid they would have been accused by Trump of spying.
Trump did have a few requests of the Ukrainian government, and finding out if what Giuliani had told him about Biden firing a prosecutor to stop an investigation was only one of them and not the most important. Most important was firing a few people he believed to be corrupt enemies of Trump who had supposedly tried to prevent him from being elected in 2016. Trump didn’t know, because he was not in regular contact with Giuliani, that Zelensky had already agreed with Giuliani not to hire them.
Ambassador to the EU Gordon SOndland came up with the idea of tying he resumption of aid to an announcement of an investigation and he did it on his own without consulting Trump and when it was put to Trump he denied any interest on that. He said Zelensky should do it anyway.
Putin had poisoned Trump’s mind
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:34 pmhttps://larrysanger.org/2020/05/wikipedia-is-badly-biased/
NJRob (8e15e7) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:44 pmI already. Biden has a 45-day window, per the Impoundment Control Act. Trump well blew past it.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:45 pm@210 “Why does Putin get a pass? Why does he get special treatment for his invasions?”
This isn’t about giving Putin a pass. It’s about straining to give Biden a pass.
But, I welcome Paul’s loose definition of invasion. So, when do we declare war on Mexico?
lloyd (afcbbc) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:46 pm@217
He did withhold one aid and threatened additional aid on the call.
But, just like Paul, you’re missing the point.
Trump withheld aid for, allegedly, for domestic political purposes. That lead to the 1st impeachment.
Biden is witholding this Israeli aid, seemingly for domestic political as well…
So, when are all the of the folks who agreed with Trump being impeached going to agitate that Biden is also guilty (allegedly) of using his office for political re-election purposes???
Shall I hold my breath or nah?
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:47 pm@219
So… to be clear.
If Biden blows past that 45-day window… he should be impeached? ala, Trump??
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 12:49 pmTrump was impeached for worse than that, the quid pro quo, but if that’s how Speaker Johnson wants to go, then by all means.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:00 pmThat’s not me with the “loose definition”, that’s Rob.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:01 pmRNC spokeswoman hired for her, uh, wits.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:01 pmI guess if all you look at are the tits….
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:15 pmwhembly —
You know Biden held Isreali arms because of domestic political aims, how? I think you are making an assumption. In any event, a politician who acts because a lot of people are demanding it is well, acting like this is a Democracy
Trump, on the other hand, demanded dirt on Biden and held onto Ukraine aid to force the dirt out of Ukraine. And, being Trump, he loudly admitted it.
There is a difference, right?
Appalled (c701f2) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:19 pmI don’t think there is anything in the ICA that pertains to restricting specific weapon transfers. And if it did apply, it would be an unconstitutional interference in the President’s foreign policy and commander in chief domains.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:36 pmAbsolutely disgusting. You two are your own Access Hollywood tape..
From WIKIPEDIA:
But please, go on about Trump not being allowed on your moral high-road.
BuDuh (baab1b) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:37 pmIf the War in Donbas Wikipedia entry is biased, then it should be easy to make that case. I doubt we will see that.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:47 pmI’m not arguing the point, but for the most part there has so little publicity about that most people have no idea Biden did so.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:58 pmAppalled (c701f2) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:19 pm
Trump did not demand </B dirt on Biden. He asked Zelensky (somewhat incoherently) if what he had heard about Biden firing a prosecutor was true. The transcript does not quite capture every word but what Trump evidently said was that he had heard a recording of Biden claiming that. (only the recording, in which Biden lied claimed he had caused the firing of a bad prosecutor, not one in which he was protecting anyone. Biden was claiming he had had authority that flabbergasted people. There were two versions he told of the story)
Not quite, although a possible motive may have been to see if Ukraine would investigate without being asked!
Later, in September, after the “hold” was admitted to Ukraine, Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland tried to trade an announcement of an investigation – of Burisma – in exchange for the aid – and this was about to happen when Adam Schiff caused the revelation of the entire matter and Trump lifted the hold.
Trump was interested in whether or not the story was true, because it would have been of no use to him if the story was false. (and if true there would be more than a personal political interest in determining that/)
Is it real to suppose that anyone thought that a Ukrainian announcement of anything would be considered incontrovertible by anyone?
Too many people are acting as if anything that Trump does has to make sense and that he has a firm grasp on reality.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:01 pmAppalled (c701f2) — 5/6/2024 @ 1:19 pm
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-president-zelensky-ukraine-bilateral-meeting-new-york-ny
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:14 pm@227
Please don’t play dumb here. It’s not a good look.
I know this, just as you would, that Biden and Democrats has a “problem”… and it’s the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic party.
Is there a difference?
Trump wasn’t the ONLY person asking about Biden’s activities over Ukraine… why couldn’t Trump’s Ukraine actions simply “a politician who acts because a lot of people are demanding it is well, acting like this is a Democracy”???
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:14 pmAnother minor problem that we are paying little attention to, largely because of the Loser’s successful efforts to keep so much of the attention on him:
Still another “opportunity cost”.
We could, in principle put off the deadline by having more babies, but governments all over the world are finding that hard to do.
We can, as we have been doing, put off the deadline by allowing more young workers into the country. But some here, for good reasons and bad, would object to continuing to do that.
(George W. Bush proposed a fix after his win in 2004. The ideas in it struck me as interesting, but I don’t recall seeing a full analysis of it, though I assume there were some.)
Jim Miller (99a2be) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:22 pmWhat diid Trump see on tape?
It as to be this:
https://www.cfr.org/event/foreign-affairs-issue-launch-former-vice-president-joe-biden
By the way, George P. Kent, now ambassador to Estonia, testified hat Biden made a total of 6 trips to Kiev. HE broke protocol to tell the truth about that little bit
This story about the cancelled press conference, s, I think, another one of Joe Biden’s tall tales, and Biden has kept Gorge Kent, who knows the full truth about the firing of that prosecutor, employed by the U.S> government in order to keep him silent.
Trump was fed a spin on this by Giuliani who undoubtedly got it from Putin’s agents. Giuliani, at least, thought that Biden didn’t say that he fired the prosecutor to stop an investigation but that he kept his true motive hidden from his audience. Trump bought into the spin that Trump said he fired the prosecutor to stop an investigation.
If anything could cause Biden to drop out of the race, it’s headlines about this.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:26 pmwhembly —
Isreal is preparng an offensive on Gaza that will get a lot of people killed, and they will be doing that with our weapons. You think Biden might not have a somewhat dovish opinion on that? (See, Afghanistan) Or that he might be persuaded withput much work by his left flank? That’s a reason to vote against him — not a reason to get into high dudgeon over politics. And i will stick to my comment — if a leader makes a course change because his voters are objecting — this is what is supposed to happen in a Democracy. Politics, as properly practiced, is a dance between principle and enlightened self-interest.
Trump’s action, on the other hand, doesn’t have a thing to do with principle. He wanted some dirt on Biden. He wanted it so bad that even after he was impeached, he got the House GOP to perue the same stale old charges years later. (And the only folks willing to give him the information turn out to be Russian agents).
Appalled (c701f2) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:35 pmBiden’s story cannot be fitted into the timeline.
And here is the beta version of Biden’s tall tale:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160829092807/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/joe-biden-interview/497633
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:35 pmwhembley, surely you see the difference between the following two things:
1) Donald Trump holds up Ukraine aid because a substantial percentage of the country/republicans/his advisors thinks it’s a good idea.
This is completely fine.
2) Donald Trump holds up Ukraine aid because he wants to coerce them into investigating (or announcing that they are investigating) his political rival.
This is not fine.
Flip it.
1) Joe Biden puts pressure on Israel because it is a popular opinion amongst many people in America/Democrats/constituents
That’s fine (although it’s fine not to like the policy).
2) Joe Biden puts pressure on Israel because behind the scenes he’s asking Bibi to publicly slam Trump as a shitty President first, and then will pour US dollars into Isreal.
This would be terrible.
The line is not “does it have political consequences?”
Nate (f52876) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:38 pmWhich is why I used the link, AJ. It’s well-sourced, and if there’s pro-Russian or pro-Ukraine bias, it’s not all that apparent.
Also, what is left-wing bias when it comes to Putin’s War Against Ukraine? Because if it’s left-wing like The Nation or John Mearsheimer or Grayzone or Glenn Greenwald, then it would be decidedly pro-Russian, and the Wiki entry isn’t like that.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:40 pmAlso, it’s funny that there’s right-wing bias that’s just as pro-Russian, such as Tucker Carlson or Marge Taylor or JD Vance.
In today’s issue of the Wall Street Journal:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-worst-mistake-of-the-gaza-war-901efb25
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:42 pmNow Biden thinks he an force a truce. And hopes it will become permanent.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:43 pmBiden thinks this is all short term.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:44 pmPulitzer Prizes: 2024 Winners List
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:49 pm@237
Trump was…”a leader make[ing] a course change because his voters are objecting — this is what is supposed to happen in a Democracy.”
Many people on the right were objecting to the obvious corruption the Bidens were engaging in Ukraine.
See, here’s my problem with your positions – you are willing to bend over backwards to give the Bidens as much benefit of doubt as possible. But, none was offer to Trump when he was POTUS.
So, please don’t pull wool over my eyes by claiming you’re simply calling “balls and strikes” here…
Pepper Ridge Farms remembers…that halting arms shipments to an ally there were approved by Congress in order to realize a personal political benefit was to:
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:50 pm— i.e., gain an election advantage
–was an impeachable offense.
Nobody wanted to let Hamas escape into Egypt. Not Biden, Not Netanyahu and particularly not the Egyptians. All want Hamas dead, but Egypt also did not want to be the ones killing them. So, they closed the borders.
Hard luck for regular Gazans, especially when Hamas sees it in their interest that many Gazans starve or die.
My solution: When this is all over, shoot all adult men who look well fed. But that would be wrong.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:53 pmFTR, I disagreed with military aid to Israel, because Ukraine has more use for it, and Israel is already a strong military power that can beat down Hamas with resources it has, IMO. Maybe if there’s a real emergency like Iran launching a nuke or full-scale attack, then American aid would be useful and helpful.
But now that the aid is approved, Israel should get it forthwith, and I don’t agree with Biden withholding it, but doing so doesn’t sound impeachable to me (if it’s to leverage a ceasefire deal that returns hostages), just poor judgment. Biden is still too afraid of his left-wing base.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:56 pmThere isn’t any “obvious corruption”. Hunter traded in on his dad’s last name and got onto a board of directors of a company run by a crook. End of story.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:58 pmPulitzer Prizes: 2024 Winners List
* ProPublica? Is there a special propaganda prize?
* Reuters for attacking Elon Musk
* The WaPo for “exposing” the AR-15.
* The New Yorker for exposing the racist application of felony murder charges.
One of these days they will surprise me and honor a story from the Right. But not this year.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 2:58 pmMaybe if there’s a real emergency like Iran launching a nuke or full-scale attack, then American aid would be useful and helpful.
There, I think, Israel would have the response well in hand.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:00 pmHunter traded in on his dad’s last name and got onto a board of directors of a company run by a crook. End of story.
A man of integrity would have stopped Hunter.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:01 pm> is that Biden’s hold on armament to Israel is very obviously political in nature due to domestic politics…. rather for any stategic imports.
Yes, but that isn’t the same as what Trump was impeached for.
Trump was impeached because the Democrats belived he had used the power of his office to threaten to withhold aid for Ukraine *unless Ukraine became involved in a domestic political dispute*.
There’s no analagous situation here at all. Nobody’s asking Netanyahu to get involved in a domestic political dispute.
aphrael (1797ab) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:03 pm@247 T
But 10% for the Big Guy™!
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:04 pmIf Iran goes full nuke, Israel won’t be around to retaliate.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:05 pm@251
Pepper Ridge Farms remembers…that halting arms shipments to an ally there were approved by Congress in order to realize a personal political benefit was to:
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:05 pm— i.e., gain an election advantage
–was an impeachable offense.
Why won’t people believe that Joe is as bad as Donnie? SO UNFAIR!
nk (c5287b) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:11 pm@256
Yeah… don’t care.
I’m just fine shoving it in your faces.
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:20 pmBTW, I am not concerned about China starting a war in Taiwan, at least for the next decade or so. Why? Demographics. The old One Child policy has left a dearth of young men and the problem is growing as that generation is having fewer children still.
Xi is trying to rectify that, but it isn’t easy.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:21 pmWhy won’t people believe that Joe is as bad as Donnie? SO UNFAIR!
With Joe the sleaze is identifiable. Like a stain on a shirt. With Donnie, it’s endemic, like dirt on Pigpen.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:23 pmIf Iran goes full nuke, Israel won’t be around to retaliate.
They have sub launched missiles.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:24 pmhttps://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/israel-submarine-capabilities/
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:26 pm@199 too bad too many christians would rather use force then persuasion as they make such bad examples that knowone would be persuased. You just made the point that the filibuster is undemocratic.
asset (8c4acc) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:29 pmScream about bad Christians and the crusades some more, asset. See if anyone cares. Meanwhile your comrades are assaulting Jews on college campuses everywhere, defending the animals in Hamas.
When will bigot leftists like asset finally understand that no one needs their approval to worship Christ?
qdpsteve again (488501) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:34 pmWell said Steve
NJRob (8e15e7) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:38 pm@249 Maybe when they report news instead of right wing apologia and talking points.
asset (8c4acc) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:40 pmNJ, thanks.
In fairness, asset has the most perfect handle of anyone here. He/she/it is so out of touch, I can’t tell anymore if they’re an ass or an E.T. 😉
qdpsteve again (488501) — 5/6/2024 @ 3:47 pmBTW, I am not concerned about China starting a war in Taiwan, at least for the next decade or so. Why? Demographics. The old One Child policy has left a dearth of young men…….
China doesn’t need to land troops and occupy Taiwan to defeat it, airpower and a naval blockade would do just fine.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 4:39 pmSorry for the lack of blockquotes around my first sentence. Here is how it should read.
China doesn’t need to land troops and occupy Taiwan to defeat it, airpower, cyber attacks, and a naval blockade would do just fine.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 4:42 pm@268
There’s been ample analysis that Taiwan can hold off long enough for others to come to their aid.
China is in a rock and hard place with Taiwan… they WANT Taiwan… but they do NOT want to DESTROY Taiwan.
whembly (86df54) — 5/6/2024 @ 5:19 pmWhich is why a naval blockade would be ideal. The US doesn’t have the military capability to sustain an armed conflict against China, which is over 1500 miles from the US west coast, versus the 100 mile distance between China and Taiwan. The only option would be a nuclear attack on China, and I’m pretty sure the Chinese government thinks the US wouldn’t do it; and given the choice, I don’t think a nuclear attack on China would be supported by the public. I think most would feel that it’s not worth tempting Armageddon over Taiwan.
It will be over before we get out of bed.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/6/2024 @ 5:36 pmRegarding my post above this J6 simp says the sloppy classified Mar-a-Lago floor photo could only have been created after the FBI placed their cover sheets on each document. Apparently Jack Smith’s team revealed the truth about the cover sheets due to a corrupt judge getting in over her head.
BuDuh (baab1b) — 5/6/2024 @ 5:59 pmRip, but can China’s blockade keep Taiwan’s tech giants from destroying their factories and intellectual property?
That’s what I’ve always read they’ll do if China finally makes their move; i.e. leave the Chinese with nothing worthwhile to seize and monetize.
qdpsteve again (8aac97) — 5/6/2024 @ 7:02 pm@263 hypocrites never need anybodies approval ;but themselves. See: pharisees matthew 23.
asset (174194) — 5/6/2024 @ 8:11 pmYep, not a shred of evidence to show.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 8:43 pmThis Economist piece shows how Putin manufactures a lie and causes it to spread across the interweb. I suspect there are countless other examples. This is the kind of sophisticated propaganda the free world is up against.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/6/2024 @ 9:17 pmasset, thanks for responding. It *proves* I got under your skin and, frankly, you deserve the aggravation.
Also I don’t take lectures on hypocrisy, or anything else, from leftists who constantly screech about Christians, Crusades and other stuff that happened 40 to 400 years ago, but can’t be bothered to condemn the people on their own side that are, today, terrorizing Jews on college campuses.
qdpsteve again (8aac97) — 5/6/2024 @ 11:17 pm@276 I like educating the uninformed. As for condemning terrorizing jews I am not a racist so I condemn terrorizing anyone. I point out to racists who say all lives matter is racist because black lives are in danger not theirs. Terrorizing jewish students or any other group who is threatened like protesters at UCLA and U. of Mississippi should not be tolerated. As for getting under my skin good luck with that as I am not a conservative. You just gave me an excuse to educate. If you go after my auto racing mostly young women race car drivers then you could get under my skin. Especially after some punk has wrecked them in race because they don’t want to get passed by a girl. You will have better luck there.
asset (174194) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:12 amSure, if you ignore the laptop, firsthand testimony, shady loans, etc.
When you ignore all evidence there’s no evidence. Imagine that.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 5:48 am@274
Actual witnesses and emails is apparently not enough for Paul.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:23 am@271
This is mind-boggling.
Spoliation of evidences can throw the case.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:24 amMore like the Trump team giving the judge something, anything at all, that she can hang her hat on, so she can throw the case.
nk (894799) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:12 amCannon’s tightrope is right over Trump’s head and she is wearing golf cleats. There is no double jeopardy if the judge is fixed.
nk (894799) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:37 am@281
It’s not the judge’s fault, nor the defense team’s fault if investigator spoiled the evidence.
In fact, it’s the job of the defense to poke holes in the prosecution’s case.
Are you somehow arguing that Trump doesn’t deserve a vigorous defense?
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 8:23 am“More like the Trump team giving the judge something, anything at all, that she can hang her hat on, so she can throw the case.”
A prosecutor, judge, venue and jury all in partisan alignment is the four legged stool ever Nevertrump prosecution needs. Lose one, and they can’t poop it out.
lloyd (a3b4ac) — 5/7/2024 @ 8:37 amOf Joe’s alleged corruption? No. The only lawbreaking where there’s actual evidence involves Joe’s blacksheep son.
Paul Montagu (895dc0) — 5/7/2024 @ 8:38 amIgnored? No. There’s no evidence that Joe committed a crime. There is evidence of Hunter’s criminality, and there’s evidence that Joe’s brother is kinda sketchy but not a criminal.
Paul Montagu (895dc0) — 5/7/2024 @ 8:40 amThis is kinda the problem with you right-wingers these days. You’re all about the allegation but don’t deliver on evidence.
More on Putin’s War Against Ukraine from 2014-2022.
Paul Montagu (895dc0) — 5/7/2024 @ 8:44 am#257
It’s so much easier to vote for your preferred evil when you can allege the other guy is as bad or worse. This is why all the good Trump adjacent punditry pushes this line so far. And this is why people who push this stuff need to be challenged. Biden isn’t as awful as Trump.’ He’s just an average Dem pol who believes the government is good at micromanagement and doesn’t mind if his family uses his name in an attempt to influence peddle. (Like Eric and Deej and Ivanka’s husband don’t do that. Snort)
Appalled (13c9c2) — 5/7/2024 @ 8:51 am@288, Exactly, but we no longer have a media ecosystem where truth matters. Everyone creates their own reality. Here at Patterico, Biden is obviously not just allowing his family to influence peddle, he’s guilty of other stuff. Somehow…indignant indignant. Even the House understands it can’t tell a compelling story to non-hyper-partisans. But hyper-partisans will believe whatever is necessary to keep the fragile narrative that their team is righteous and their opponents are always worse. I’m not sure if walking through their “evidence” is worth the time. It’s whack-a-mole. In 10 years here, has NJRob ever said anything negative about his team? Politics is religion. You can “correct” to the cows come home….will any of it matter?
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:06 amWhile people here keep whining about Judge Cannon following the law and allowing Trump to actually present a defense, their hero Judge Merrchan keeps doing everything he can to rig the joke of a case in NY.
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2024/05/06/the-one-guy-who-could-stop-the-nyc-trump-case-isnt-allowed-to-testify-why-n4928777
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:12 amAppalled and AJ,
when they 2 of you make any excuse to justify that Biden isn’t as bad as Trump when it’s clear he’s worse, you are what you accuse others of being.
Carry on carrying water.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:13 am#291
There’s no convincing the guy who does not find Trump’s actions to steal an election he lost worse than garden variety family member influence peddling. So you carry on as well.
Appalled (99593f) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:21 am#290
Incidentally, your link — complaining that some GOP leaning election law experts have not been allowed to testify that New York state doesn’t have the law right — is interesting but flawed. It isn’t the jury’s job to interpret the law. It’s to determine the facts and apply the law as explained to them by the judge.
Trump will appeal a guilty verdict, where these issues can be litigated.
Appalled (99593f) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:27 am#276 If you actually like “educating the uninformed”, I can recommend some books for you starting, perhaps, with Strunk and White.
From there, you might go on to Carl Sandburg’s biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Jim Miller (86614c) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:38 am@288
And here you lost me.
Claiming Trump is “evil” is so hyperbolic in a world where we see atrocities like 10/7 in Israel or Russian invasion into Ukraine.
I’m going to vehemently push back at the idea that ‘Biden isn’t as awful as Trump.’
Furthermore, the idea that Biden is “just an average Dem pol who believes the government is good at micromanagement ” so understates how much of a disaster his administration has been.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:42 am@286 “This is kinda the problem with you right-wingers these days. You’re all about the allegation but don’t deliver on evidence.”
Irony on steroids. Zero evidence was a sufficient bar for Nevertrump’s two year fishing expedition in 2017. The problem with right wingers these days is they are following the sorry standards your tribe set.
lloyd (a3b4ac) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:46 am@296
It’s not really irony, but outright hypocrisy.
There are far more evidence of the Biden’s corruption, that warrants a special counsel than anything related to the Russia-gate Collusion Insanity™.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:52 am@292 “There’s no convincing the guy who does not find Trump’s actions to steal an election he lost worse than garden variety family member influence peddling.”
Remember when whatabouts got called out? Now they’re essential.
“garden variety family member influence peddling” LOL, just listen to yourselves.
lloyd (a3b4ac) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:56 amScream about bad Christians and the crusades some more, asset.
He just shows his ignorance of what the Crusades were: a defensive war. Prior to Islam’s jihads of conquest, “Christendom” spanned the western world from England to the borders of India. The jihads drove Christianity out (and those who refused to convert were often put to the sword). Finally, Islam destroyed Bysantiaum then encroached on Europe proper. At its height, Islam controlled Spain and everything to the south and east of Austria and Italy.
And so the Christians fought back. Like now, fighting back against the jihad is denounced by all weak-minded people.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 10:40 amhttps://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/07/us-concerns-over-israels-gaza-policy-led-to-weapons-holdup-00156528
Pepper Ridge Farms remembers…that halting arms shipments to an ally there were approved by Congress in order to realize a personal political benefit was an impeachable offense.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 10:43 am#295
I was playing with the term “lesser of two evils” in my comment. It may have been less obvious than I thought it. If you want to get technical about it, I was calling both Biden and Trump evil. Why not double down on hyperbole, eh?
My comment to you is the same as it is to NJRob. If you find that garden variety influence peddling by relatives and inaction on immigration enforcement is as bad as trying to steal an election and candidate enforced inaction on immigration enforcement, then carry on.
Appalled (db986d) — 5/7/2024 @ 11:16 amin order to realize a personal political benefit
Well, the object is ostensibly to enforce a American policy preference. Like any policy choice, it may be reflected in gain or loss of political support, but it not ONLY for that purpose. Trump’s demands on Ukraine seemed entirely to damage his political opponent. He is not a subtle man.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 11:18 amWhembly & Lloyd, The investigation into Russian interference was based on the hack of the DNC. The evidence eventually showed that Russia was mostly likely behind it. A number of people associated with Trump had ties to Russia and were being investigated. The SC was appointed when Trump fired the head of the FBI and announced on national TV that he did so to stop the investigation of Russian interference in the US election. You’re leaving that out of your comparisons.
Time123 (b23eac) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:09 pm@300, Based on the evidence I saw I believe Trump withheld the aid to pressure Ukraine into announcing a baseless investigation of a political rival. That’s substantially different then a policy disagreement.
Time123 (b23eac) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:11 pmEvil has a strange threshold with you. Couldn’t think of anything more evil regarding Biden?
BuDuh (baab1b) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:13 pmHow does putting the documents into their original boxes in a different order spoil the evidence? In what way does that alter or change the facts of the allegations?
Time123 (b23eac) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:15 pm@301
Fair enough.
Evil is just too strong of a word.
They both have “bad” qualities and are not even close to a decent candidate each party could offer.
And again, I’m going to accuse you of engaging in naked partisan hyperbole that Trump tried “to steal an election”.
I think we both can find agreement that Trump’s 2020 antics was egregious and is a blight on our country. That was the reason why I was so hell-bent advocation here, and at home for use to be engaged politically during the primary season.
But it wasn’t a “coup” or an “insurrection” attempt. The republic was never under a serious threat and our democracy was not “hanging by a thread” or by whatever hyperbolic descriptor you’d want to use…
The riot lasted a few hours, and it was whatever the opposite of this “existential threat to our political order”…to the point that Congress was able to reconvene in the barely damaged capitol that very night to ratify Biden’s win.
The constitution and the various state/federal courts was the hero of the day. The constitution does not leave it up to the incumbent to deign to leave office… his presidency simply lapses by law.
Our system of governance barely bent…Trump and his ridiculous band of Kraken lawyers never had a chance against it.
The main takeaway was that our system of governance withstood this and shown the world that it’s nowhere near as fragile as some makes it out to be.
And just to be clear. I’m NOT saying Biden is as bad as Trump.
I am saying that a 2nd Biden Administration™ would be FAR WORSE than a 2nd Trump Administration©, for all the reasons I’ve previously articulated.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:20 pm@303
And?
That still doesn’t dispute my previous statement that there are numerous interviews, under oath, as well as hard evidence of Biden corruptions that easily deserves it’s own special counsel.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:22 pm@304
Except Biden withholding specifically for political reasons. It’s not a simply policy disagreement.
…and I repeat:
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:24 pmPepper Ridge Farms remembers…that halting arms shipments to an ally there were approved by Congress in order to realize a personal political benefit was an impeachable offense.
I hope that everyone is aware that LBJ DID steal an election and wasn’t cagey about it.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:33 pm@306
It’s evidence tampering.
Trump is also charged with obstruction because the alleged classified document was in a box that was moved. How can the prosecution prove that the boxes being moved is obstruction, when they cannot reassure the court that the evidence was documented correctly?
Remember that special master that Smith objected to and he appealed and won? The special master scanned all the documents in those boxes, and that was how the defense raised this concerns. The indictment/charges didn’t match to some of the scanned documents/boxes.
The defense is going to argue that the sequence of papers was crucial to their defense, which that sequence would show papers were stored in boxes in chronological order and undisturbed since he left office. This is crucial because “willful intent” is required element of the Espionage Act and obstruction charges the prosecution is advocating.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:34 pm#310 —
Which one? 1948 Senate or did he help with 1960 Presidential?
Appalled (99593f) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:48 pm@309, In this case Peperidge farms is misstating what happened with Trump Ukraine. If you want to make the case that Joe Biden should be investigated by special council that will have to stand on it’s own. It doesn’t seem like the house committee agrees with you btw.
Time123 (b23eac) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:50 pm@311, The defense is free to argue that I expect that the prosecution may be unable to rebut that by citing the ordering of the documents. But that’s far from the prosecutions entire case. There’s other evidence of willful intent; such as Trumps efforts to hide the boxes from the FBI and his recorded statement that he had classified documents he knew he wasn’t supposed to have.
I think the impact on the case favors the defense, but the extent of that impact is going to depend on the specifics.
Time123 (b23eac) — 5/7/2024 @ 12:55 pm#305 — I was comparing impeachments. Biden’s was over Hunter Biden’s activities. Trump’s second impeachment was over January 6. There are creepy handsy accusations against Biden stretching back years, but the person on record about that kind of thing has now fled to Russia, IIRC.
#307 — I take Trump’s efforts in Georigia personally. He was trying to get the votes of me and my wife thrown out, first by making bogus claims about the Georgia drop boxes, and then by trying to pressure Raffensparger. And finally, failing that, trying to send in a bogus set of electors and putting the screws to Mike Pence. I believe Trump is culpable for January 6, but my statement (partisan or not) stands apart from that.
But hey, this is an agree to disagree. I am so not convincing you on this, nor am I really trying to do so.
Appalled (99593f) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:02 pm@313
Nice try.
Democrats impeached Trump for abuse of power over withholding aid to Ukraine, to use the aid as leverage for seeking help from Ukraine to look into his likely political opponent. Democrats and #NeverTrumpers refused to even consider the possibility that there were any legit rationales to look into alleged Biden corruptions. The only consideration was that it only HAD to ONLY be because for Trump’s personal political benefit.
…fast forward to today.
And, please, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.
Biden is getting pressure from the pro-Hamas wing of his party/Administration, that many are theorizing could impact his re-election chances.
Israel is one of our staunchest allies.
…and according to investigations:https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/07/us-concerns-over-israels-gaza-policy-led-to-weapons-holdup-00156528
Pepper Ridge Farms remembers…that halting arms shipments to an ally there were approved by Congress in order to realize a personal political benefit was an impeachable offense.
whembly (86df54) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:03 pm1948 Senate Democratic nomination
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:12 pmWhile the 1960 presidential election was close in popular vote, and it is widely believed that fraud in Mayor Daley’s Chicago allowed Kennedy to (barely) win Illinois, But winning Illinois would not have put Nixon over the top in the Electoral vote. Several states went for Kennedy by very narrow margins, but Nixon declined to ask for recounts.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:23 pm“Evidence tampering” as defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 1519 is knowingly altering destroying, mutilating, concealing, covering up, falsifying, or make a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter.
I don’t think placing documents into their original boxes in a different order constitutes evidence tampering.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:36 pmIn the Robert Caro documentary Turn Every Page, he describes meeting the man who fixed the Texas Democratic primary.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:40 pmI don’t think placing documents into their original boxes in a different order constitutes evidence tampering.
You would have to show that the order was material to the investigation or administration.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:48 pmAnd that the intent was to impede an investigation.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/7/2024 @ 1:49 pmThen you are angry about something that didn’t happen. This explains a lot.
There were plenty of questionable actions in Georgia and Trump was within his rights to question the election. He didn’t ask to cheat. He believed, with reason, that fraud was involved.
But carry on carrying on.
NJRob (7bd60d) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:00 pmIndeed ironic, lloyd, because your comment is categorically false, given the Mueller and Senate Intelligence Committee reports.
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:02 pmIt’s not. They were protecting classified documents from being seen by anyone without the necessary security clearance, so they were replaced by referenced placeholders. If there was a chain-of-custody charge made, I haven’t seen it. It’s a nothingburger, an angle by the defense to stall the trial date.
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:08 pmNJRob —
Frankly, you do not know what you are talking about. Stop paying attention to Dinesh D’Souza and pillow guy.
I hope you are enjoying the two Georgia Senate Democrats, and Giuliani’s bankruptcy, all of which were the direct result of Trunp’s meddlings in Georgia.
Appalled (99593f) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:09 pmTrump’s delay tactics in FL worked.
I’ll “indefinitely” to mean some time after this November. Sigh. I wonder if Smith has any recourse.
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:15 pmMaybe Smith’s crew should not have deceived the court..
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:19 pmBuDuh, yup.
I also love that so many people here seem to be under the delusion that they know more than the freakin’ Judge does.
Do they want Trump to get a fair trial, or just to hang him?
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:22 pmAppalled:
Giuliani will be ‘bankrupt’ for about as long as any found-guilty Dem pol would be. Too many powerful friends.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:25 pmNo, but like you, Cannon bought their spin.
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:46 pmShe bought Smith’s “spin?”
Do tell!
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/7/2024 @ 2:49 pm“Their”, as in Trump’s lawyers. That wasn’t clear to you?
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:00 pmPaul, since you’re so full of shrieking piss and vinegar, I recommend you do something about it RIGHT NOW!!
Get your ass over to that courtroom!! Scream at Judge Cannon about what an incompetent POS she is, right to her face! Tell Trump he’s the worst traitor to this country since Benedict Arnold! Fellate Smith and his team, right in front of everyone, including whatever minors might be there!!
Do something about it, dammit!! Stop screaming at us and DO SOMETHING!!!
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:04 pmIt’s not. They were protecting classified documents from being seen by anyone without the necessary security clearance, so they were replaced by referenced placeholders. If there was a chain-of-custody charge made, I haven’t seen it. It’s a nothingburger, an angle by the defense to stall the trial date.
Exactly. This is the kind of thing you see in pro se post-conviction petitions written in pencil by prisoners with nothing else to do for the next 20 to 40 years. “My arrest was illegal because the officer wore a tie clip instead of a tie pin in direct contravention of department regulations.” (I don’t vouch for the spelling.
But Cannon was appointed only, and only, because she would be in the tank. Definitely not for her expertise, temperament, or competence.
It is not what she is doing in Trump’s case that should bother us. It is that nobody, plaintiff or defendant, can ever count on getting a fair trial according to law in her courtroom.
nk (f87b72) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:08 pmnk: got any proof for those allegations?
Didn’t think so.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:10 pmI may have said this before, qdp, but mindreading is an intellectually lazy and dishonest practice.
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:11 pmPaul, which you perform all the freakin’ time.
As we speak, Cannon is now about to give Smith the Fani Willis treatment. Again, I’d bet everything I have that she knows far, far more about this trial, the allegations and the evidence than you, I or Patterico ever will.
Try opening your mind a bit. Even Trump is (GASP!!) deserving of a FAIR trial.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:12 pmYou wanna argue that Trump is getting far more benefits of the doubt than any other plaintiff would?
Be my guest. I would happen to agree. But that’s true of every defendant with far more money than common sense. See: Alec Baldwin.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:14 pmAs long as the lesser of two evils argument allows you to vote for one of these two bozos the two parties have no reason to change. The problem is not them ;but you. As the song says you knew I was a snake before you let me in. They try to keep third parties off the ballot so you don’t have a choice. On youtube you can watch the liberal media ring their hands and gnash their teeth as jill stein takes votes away from hillary clinton allowing trump to win michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. Maddow breaks down on the air. I vote or write in third party when democrat party throws crap at me try doing the same for your country’s sake!
asset (f77df3) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:23 pmYou’re the one voting for leftism and enjoying all that entails. Continue blaming others for your actions. Carry on.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:48 pmIt’s the two-tiered system that bothers me.
Other people indicted for theft of classified documents are given free room and board in a secure facility with TV, recreation, and regular exercise, a free lawyer, and free transportation to the courtroom, not to mention day-to-clothes and other necessities, all paid by the taxpayers.
Poor Donnie has to pay for his own housing and sustenance and other necessities, andhire his own lawyers, and make his own way to court, and solicit donations from strangers to pay for it all. SO UNFAIR!
nk (f87b72) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:03 pmWho concluded there was deception-Judge Cannon?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:10 pmThe Jan 6th Simp, Rip.
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:14 pmasset (f77df3) — 5/7/2024 @ 3:23 pm
Just as the fact that one major party is bad doesn’t make the other one good, so also the fact that both major parties offer bad candidates doesn’t make the candidates of the third parties good.
The average third party candidate is worse than both of them. (considering judgement and experience)
In fact, I can’t think of one that is, even theoretically, better.
I know better people exist, but they don’t make it onto the ballot.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:14 pmMaybe Trump can testify and avoid perjury if the judge will not force him to answer whether what Stormy Daniels said was true.
It is interesting that they ae now referring to her only as Stormy Daniels and no longer mentioning her real name, Stephanie Clifford. Maybe to protect her.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:33 pm@342 “It’s the two-tiered system that bothers me.
Other people indicted for theft of classified documents are given free room and board in a secure facility with TV, recreation, and regular exercise, a free lawyer, and free transportation to the courtroom, not to mention day-to-clothes and other necessities, all paid by the taxpayers.”
nk, instead of writing out a whole verbose paragraph you could’ve just said “White House”
Ohhhh, people indicted. An important qualifier. Yes, you’re right, two-tiered for sure.
lloyd (6705e8) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:34 pmnk:
no question we got a two-tiered system.
So improve the system for low-status people who don’t have piles of cash to blow on hookers and, uh, blow.
But ignoring Trump’s constitutional rights (note I said *constitutional* rights, not rights he thinks he has, had in the past, or rights that others think he may or may not have had as president and/or a candidate), doesn’t solve anything anywhere anyhow.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:41 pmAnd before it gets mentioned:
YES, Biden has all the same constitutional rights and protections Trump has as well.
It’s just that I don’t think Joe will survive long enough to ever see any real repercussions. Trump might not either.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:44 pmSince the world knows her by both names, how does mentioning one and not the other protect her (and from what)?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:44 pmRip, duh. Protecting her from strange horny guys who need a lap dance from a seasoned professional ASAP! 🙂
But seriously, how much of the cash sum of her civil judgment does anyone think Trump will ever see?
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:47 pmEvery time I (reluctantly) defend the BOAR, I go to X/Twitter, and then get treated to photos like this. Sigh/grrr/WTF/whatever.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GM_vPqsWEAMAeVz?format=jpg&name=medium
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 4:51 pmFrom Paul’s dElaY TActiCs!!! link:
That biased judge is going to get her clocked cleaned by Jack Smith at all of these hearings! Haha! She hoisted herself by her own petard!!!
Little did she know she is supposed to rubber stamp everything in a case of first impressions.
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/7/2024 @ 5:47 pmNot bad, qdpsteve, not bad at all. I would not compare it to a portrait of Elvis on black velvet, but I know art when I see it.
nk (c9d9b1) — 5/7/2024 @ 5:48 pmnk, it’s waaaay past time for Congress to pass Common Sense Tattoo Control.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:10 pmDo they want Trump to get a fair trial, or just to hang him?
Can’t we do both?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:12 pmMaybe Trump can testify and avoid perjury if the judge will not force him to answer whether what Stormy Daniels said was true.
“I did not have se3x with that woman, Stormy Daniels.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:14 pmOther people indicted for tax evasion …
It writes itself.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:15 pmKevin M, I shared it in the MIT thread but will do so again here:
How Trump Is Just Like Bill Clinton
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/21/bill-clinton-donald-trump-lowry-217695/
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:15 pmYou know the really funny thing about Hunter Biden and unfair prosecution? Even a tax cheat who is willing to testify against Donald Trump gets sent to prison.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:19 pmDid you know that Mohammad Atta believed that Monica Lewinsky was a Zionist agent sent to control Bill Clinton?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:20 pmDid you know that Mohammad Atta believed that Monica Lewinsky was a Zionist agent sent to control Bill Clinton?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:20 pm
YOU MEAN SHE WASN’T?!?!?!?
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 6:28 pmJuddge Merchan continues to show he is a leftist hack, but he is loved for all the wrong reasons.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:03 pmAny who support this sideshow are fans of Lavrentiy Beria. Stop pretending otherwise.
NJRob, you know I love ya man and probably agree with you on most things.
But just to be fair, I’ll ask you the same thing I asked nk: what’s your proof that Merchan is ‘in the tank’ for the left, like others here believe Cannon is ‘in the tank’ for Trump?
Also, is there any charge against Trump that you think has real merit? I gotta admit that I think some of the charges are worth looking into, and that others are fishing expeditions.
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:10 pmAllowing testimony that has nothing to do with the case, but is used to smear the defendant in the eyes of the jury.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:36 pmI said long ago that the hush-money trial would diminish the real charges against Trump, giving him cover. I see no reason to change my mind. Yeah, I know that prosecutors think the charges are golden, but politically it’s just trying to criminalize Trump’s womanizing. It failed with Clinton and it will fail here, too. At least politically, which is what counts.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:39 pmI believe these cases are designed as a witch hunt to smear the Republican nominee because they cannot defeat him at the other box.
The left has a history of doing so. For examples see Alaska and Texas.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:39 pmAllowing testimony that has nothing to do with the case, but is used to smear the defendant in the eyes of the jury.
The judge cannot make the defense’s objections for them. That in itself could be grounds for mistrial because the judge could be interfering with defense strategy.
If Todd Blanche objected during the prosecution’s questioning of Stormy Daniels and Merchan overruled him, then you could blame the judge. But from what I read (and for what that’s worth), that’s not what happened.
nk (c9d9b1) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:49 pmNJRob, I agree that the charges against DJT have almost all been filed with either bad and/or the wrong intentions.
Having said that, it’s entirely possible that he *is* actually guilty of something he shouldn’t have done.
(Just another reason why a politically independent judiciary is so incredibly important.)
qdpsteve again (782c5b) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:49 pmCan we all agree that IF there is some higher bar to filing charges against a former President, the the Stormy Daniels case doesn’t qualify?
The J6 case, otoh, is exactly the kind of thing that you would have to charge.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/7/2024 @ 7:54 pmI agree, open your mind, qdp. Documents out of order is a nothingburger. Cannon is already on eggshells with her ridiculous jury instructions she issued a few weeks back.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:28 pmNot to worry, BuDuh, Trump’s lawyers have 2½ more months to conjure up more delay tactics, and Cannon will slowly acquiesce to every single one and review them slowly and with unrushed deliberation. It’s not hard to see where this is going.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:33 pm@371 If it were Biden on trial we’d be hearing how the prosecution is corrupt and incompetent and the judge had no choice but delay.
lloyd (e9346b) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:39 pmHere is the May Fourth conjured up letter from Trump’s amateur-hour lawyers to the DOJ superheroes.
What kind of sorcery is this?!?
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/7/2024 @ 9:43 pmAbout the false equivalences and other fact-challenged assertions anti-anti-Trump never tires of re-litigating, Patterico has already said everything I would, and better. I have only one thing to add: Pepperidge Farm is two words, not three. Don’t mess with Pepperidge Farm. I take that personally.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/8/2024 @ 1:35 amI think it’s horrible the way we treat adulterous stripper shtuppers who lose Presidential elections so differently from six-term Senators and two-term Vice-Presidents who win Presidential elections. SO UNFAIR!
nk (d1e2e3) — 5/8/2024 @ 2:54 amSeriously, folks, you’ve got a bitchy 42nd Street weak sister with penis envy who when given a chance to be President got pushed around by everybody from Putin down to his own Justice Department and the most he managed to do about it was snivel like a spoiled brat to his mommy, and you still think that’s who should lead America?
nk (d1e2e3) — 5/8/2024 @ 3:29 amBelow is my New York Post column on the unseemly scene in the courtroom of Judge Juan Merchan as prosecutors used porn star Stormy Daniels to present lurid details on her alleged tryst with former president Donald Trump. It was a dumpster fire that Judge Merchan watched burn for a full day and then said the jury may have to disregard much of what they saw and heard.
Here is the column:
Before the start of the Manhattan prosecution of former president Donald Trump, I characterized the case of District Attorney Alvin Bragg as based on a type of obscenity standard.
In a 1984 pornography case, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote “I shall not today attempt further to define [obscenity]. . . . But I know it when I see it.”
Bragg has refused to clearly define the crime that Trump was seeking to conceal when payments for a non-disclosure agreement were listed as a legal expense.
We would just know it when we saw it at trial.
We are still waiting, but this week, Bragg seems to be prosecuting an actual obscenity case.
The prosecution fought with Trump’s defense counsel to not only call porn star Stormy Daniels to the stand, but to ask her for lurid details on her alleged tryst with Trump.
The only assurance that they would make to Judge Juan Merchan was that they would “not go into details of genitalia.”
For Merchan, who has largely ruled against Trump on such motions, that was enough.
He allowed the prosecutors to get into the details of the affair despite the immateriality of the evidence to any criminal theory.
Neither the NDA nor the payment to Daniels is being contested.
It is also uncontested that Trump wanted to pay to get the story (and other stories, including untrue allegations) from being published.
The value of the testimony was entirely sensational and gratuitous, yet Merchan was fine with humiliating Trump.
Daniels’ testimony was a dumpster fire in the courtroom.
The most maddening moment for the defense came at the lunch break when Merchan stated, “I agree that it would have been better if some of these things had been left unsaid.”
He then denied a motion for a mistrial basis on the testimony and blamed the defense for not objecting more.
That, of course, ignores the standing objection of the defense to Daniels even appearing, and specific objections to the broad scope allowed by the court.
This is precisely what the defense said would happen when the prosecutors only agreed to avoid “genitalia.”
There was no reason for Daniels to appear at all in the trial.
Even if he was adamant in allowing her, Merchan could have imposed a much more limited scope for her testimony.
He could also have enforced the limits that he did place on the testimony when it was being ignored by both the prosecutors and the witness.
Merchan said that he is considering a limiting instruction for the jury to ignore aspects of the testimony.
But that is little comfort for the defendant.
The court was told that this would happen, it happened, and now the court wants to ask the jury to pretend that it did not happen.
Merchan knows that there is no way for the jury to unhear the testimony.
More importantly, the prosecution knew that from the outset.
Daniels appeared eager to share the stories for the same reason that she was eager to sell her story. While she said that she “hates” Trump and wants him “held accountable,” Daniels is no victim.
She had an alleged tryst with Trump and then sought to cash in on the story.
It is a standard form of extortion of celebrities.
She later sought to cash in on the notoriety by appearing in strip clubs as part of a “Make America Horny Again” tour.
She is in her element in Merchan’s courtroom.
In New York, the relevance or credibility of witnesses like Daniels is largely immaterial.
This is a district that voted against Trump, 84.5% to 14.5%, in the 2020 presidential election.
New Yorkers elected a state attorney general, Letitia James, who ran on the pledge to bag Trump on something — without specifying any crime.
Bragg then indicted Trump without clearly defining any crime — a debate that continues among legal experts after two weeks of testimony.
This is entertainment for many in New York — as is the thrill of the possibility his going to jail under Merchan’s poorly written and arguably unconstitutional gag order.
When it comes to a thrill kill trial, who better to call than Daniels?
After all, she has been treated as a heroine by many, even being given the key to the city of West Hollywood, California, on “Stormy Daniels Day.”
Well, it was Stormy Daniels Day in Judge Merchan’s courtroom this week, and it is a bit late for the court to express shock over her testimony.
It is not the witness, but the case that seems increasingly obscene.
You have a judge who should have recused himself given his daughter’s major role as a Democratic activist and fundraiser.
You have a gag order that is allowing a New York Supreme Court justice to regulate what the leading candidate for the presidency may say in an election on the weaponization of the legal system.
You have a lead prosecutor, Matthew Colangelo, who not only left the Biden Justice Department to revive this case, but once worked for the Democratic National Committee.
You have a case based on two dead misdemeanors shocked back into life by a still mysterious theory of an undefined crime.
In comparison, Daniels may be the only authentic part of the entire case in New York v. Trump.
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 5:32 amOops. I meant to put in a quote and a hyperlink. Here is the link:
https://jonathanturley.org/2024/05/08/stormy-daniels-day-alvin-bragg-lights-dumpster-fire-in-manhattan-courtroom/
Sorry about that. Not sure how that happened.
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 5:34 am#379
Your #378 was Ripped from the headlines (as it were).
Not only Turley (who is the most hacktastic of Trump’s band of legal scholars) believe that Stormy Daniels testimony was a mistake. Basically, the testimony was arguably prejudicial (meaning the Trump appeal will have more legs), and added little except headlines to the prosecution’s case. The opposite argument to this is that the Prosecution did elicit that Trump did not seem to care about all this until the Access Hollywod tape dropped and that Trump has denied the whole Stormy thing.
Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:22 amWhat makes Turley “Hacktastic?”
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:31 am@
Then please accept my humble apology for that…
I certainly don’t want to disparage the good name that is Pepperidge Farm!
whembly (86df54) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:37 am@377
Over a Weekends At Bernie’s™ administration at the Whitehouse?
Yes. Absolutely.
whembly (86df54) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:39 am@380 Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:22 am
The idea that Turley is a “the most hacktastic of Trump’s band of legal scholars” is especially laughable and shows little appreciation to Turley’s legal acumen.
Just say you like seeing Trump being railroaded. It’d be more honest.
whembly (86df54) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:48 amIf testimony is not “prejudicial” in the sense that it tends to make a proposition more or less likely to be true, then it is not relevant. The objection is when its probative value is outweighed by its potential to inflame the emotions of the jury. But, yeah, another judge could have limited the blue movie script to four questions:
nk (d1e2e3) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:58 am— Ms. Daniels, do you know what sexual intercourse is?
(Wait till the jury stops laughing.)
— Did you engage in sexual intercourse with the Defendant, Donald Trump?
— Where?
— When?
More conjured up legal sorcery:
When will these hacktastic attorneys stop with the delay tactics????? Don’t they know Paul has a right to a speedy Trump trial?
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:00 am#381 and #384
Take it up with the boss:
https://patterico.com/2020/02/29/court-of-appeal-vindicates-the-houses-obstruction-of-congress-article-of-impeachment-as-trumpists-run-false-victory-laps/
I’m sure Turley has plenty of legal acumen. He uses it as an advocate for Trump at all times. If you read my comment instead of focusing on my opinion of Turley, you will have noticed that I was calling to light that folks outside the usual suspects believe calling Stormy Daniels was an error.
Each time Trump gets a delay of righteous federal cases, the less I care that he has to spend time sleeping in Court to address a genuine, but relatively trivial crime up in New York.
Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:06 amThe judge is the one who sets parameters as to what a witness can talk about. We see the fraud put plenty of restrictions on Trump and his witnesses, but allows the prosecution to introduce nonsense into the case to further prejudice the jury
Par for the course for those who believe the ends justify the means and you must get Trump by any means.
NJRob (e4afb0) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:09 am#386
Unfortunate, from my POV, but not surprising. The judge in the Fani Willis case arguably rewrote the law to provide a middle way between completely disqualifying Willis from the prosecution and tossing her entire team, or simply ignoring the whole thing. When a judge chooses to make the law, they set themselves up for a reversal, no matter that the decision is the correct way to go from a “what seems right” standpoint.
Question I have — if the Fulton County voters throw out Willis in the primary at the end of the month and she decides to resign — does this moot the entire case?
Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:19 amThanks, Appalled. About the effort I should have expected. I think that link ends more amicably than the declaration of “hacktastic” you claim, but I am sure you can dig for more of the same.
We can disagree to agree.
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:23 amStormy Daniels testimony was important to establish the “ick factor” of the encounter and why Trump (and his team) were so desperate to keep it out of the news, especially after the Access Hollywood tape. It would have been devastating to the 2016 campaign if “locker room talk” manifested as actual boorish hotel room behavior.
Trump knew this.
That’s why the usual tight-wad was willing to pay Michael Cohen premium bonus coin to take care that the encounter didn’t see the light of day, but why he would also try to hide it on the backend as legal fees.
And the $130k is hardly extortion for a billionaire willing to pay millions extra to take one more unsolicited lick at E. Jean Carroll. Now we can argue whether silk underwear and missionary position were key to the testimony but that’s why there are lawyers sitting next to Trump and, let’s be frank, it’s not exactly Hustler magazine quality salacious detail. There needed to be enough “ick factor” to elevate the encounter to why Trump would not just want to “catch and kill” but take a personal interest in the details.
Hey, this is your guy. This is who will lead your culture war revival. This is your albatross….
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:25 amWhat was the “law” prior to the rewriting? What are the specifics of the rewrite?
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:27 amThe culture war revival leader that is preferred?
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:31 amIck factor?
Man some of you are desperate to grasp at anything. I guess that’s what happens when you sell yourself to the left to get Trump.
NJRob (e4afb0) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:35 am#392
Briefly — from memory. Up until the judge offered his opinion, we thought there were two options available under Georgia law — (i) a finding of actual impropriety, requiring the recusal of Willis and her entire office or (ii) a finding of no impropriety, meaning things kept on apace. The judge essentally created an appearence of improprity standard in Georgia law, which arguably did not exist before. Under this, the judge could keep things moving, serve notice that Fani’s conduct created a real issue and urge the voters to send her packing in the Fall, and force Fani to kick Wade off the case. None of the legal commenters spouting at the time thought door #3 existed.
And that will have to do. Maybe Turley has an opinion. 🙂
Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:50 amOne thing BuDuh. This is a comment section on a blog where we spout opinions. These are not academic papers with extensive footnotes. It is interesting where people get their ideas from so I am sometimes willing to indulge. Constant demands for a whole packet of evidence to document each adjective does have that trollish feel, though, and I will likely ignore these requests in the future, unless the digging interests me.
Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:58 amSo, how is everyone with Biden’s rampant protectionism?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:24 amI appreciate that, Appalled.
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:25 amProbably not-it would be up to her successor to decide if they want to proceed.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:30 amSeriously, folks, you’ve got a bitchy 42nd Street weak sister with penis envy who when given a chance to be President got pushed around by everybody from Putin down to his own Justice Department and the most he managed to do about it was snivel like a spoiled brat to his mommy, and you still think that’s who should lead America?
Of course not. But it’s not like I am being given a wide range of choices. I see it like this:
1. Senile decrepit protectionist central planner who wants to continue down a very failed path at a much faster rate.
2. Corrupt sociopath assh0le wannabe dictator who wants to drive through wilderness with his Hummer, destination unknown.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:33 am#400
I view it as a choice between cyanide (Trump) and arsenic (Biden). So I get your point, while not finding the choice hard to make.
Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:41 amOne last item — only because I love the headline in the New York Times:
Appalled (9de713) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:48 amR.F.K. Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain
Frankly for Trump yesterday the most embarrassing moment came with Sally Franklin, a senior vice president and executive managing editor at Penguin Random House, reading excerpts from Trump’s books and Todd Blanche conceding that Trump used a ghostwriter. It was a way to get Trump to testify against himself.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:50 amThat explains a lot.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:51 amThere’s really no difference (except in degree) between Trump or Biden’s trade policies.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:58 amFrom Rip’s cOncEdINg!!! link [emphasis mine]:
I guess that shared byline was hidden all the way up until this trial. 🥴
#RipCallingBallsAndStrikesFairly
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 9:02 am@402
Wait until you hear about the President…
whembly (86df54) — 5/8/2024 @ 9:09 amDonald Trump claims to have written all his books.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/8/2024 @ 9:19 amOuch!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/8/2024 @ 9:23 am@391 “Hey, this is your guy. This is who will lead your culture war revival. This is your albatross….”
There was no testimony about how the albatross took showers with his daughter, but keep pushing the ick factor angle and reminding us what the trial is really about. To borrow Appalled verbiage, Trump’s behavior is just garden variety tail chasing.
lloyd (a3b4ac) — 5/8/2024 @ 9:28 amCo-authors do not an individual author make.
Thanks, Rip!
BuDuh (b046d7) — 5/8/2024 @ 9:32 amBut WHY Michael Cohen made it, and whether Trump agreed to it in advance, and why Trump might have wanted to pay the money (personal or electoral) is. Except that Trump did not want to pay the money.
You have to go into all the circumstances in an attempt to evaluate whether Michael Cohen or Donald Trump is telling the truth,
We still don’t know who fixed them up, except that Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels had different expectations of what was supposed to happen,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/8/2024 @ 11:07 amTrump made vocal comments to his lawyer, saying that certain things Story Daniels said were BS. But we don’t know if he meant it was BS that he and Melania slept in separate rooms in 2006, or if it was BS that he said it. (and would she really have a conscience about Trump being married? It could be that she was attempting to politely get out of it
And would he openly to her compare Stormy to his daughter? This room was not the Howard Stern show.
She says that Trump told her he was overruled about putting her on his show,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/8/2024 @ 11:14 amSo Sammy, are we trying to decide whether Donald Trump is telling the truth or Michael Cohen is telling the truth? They both have a relationship with the truth that is predominantly unintentional and the irony is killing me
steveg (ba8d68) — 5/8/2024 @ 11:36 amThere’s really no difference (except in degree) between Trump or Biden’s trade policies.
Except that Biden is implementing them, such as barring many Chinese EV imports and US exports, while Trump is just talk for now.
To the best of my knowledge, Biden’s trade war with China is leaps and bounds past what Trump ever did.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 12:14 pmDonald Trump claims to have written all his books.
Even the ones that list a second author? He should sue his publishers.
Really Rip, you cannot pick and choose which of Trump’s lies to pretend to believe and say you are just using facts.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 12:16 pmIf Trump wrote out a check to “Cash” and gave it to Stormy, would his bank be making an illegal campaign contribution by honoring it? How about if he wrote “shut yo’ mouth” on the memo line?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 12:20 pmNikki Haley still pulls 22% of Republicans in rock-ribbed Red state of Indiana.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-primary-elections/indiana-president-results
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 1:14 pm@418
?
You saying she should be Trump’s VP pick?
That…would be something. Don’t see how Haley peeps can reconcile with MAGA peeps…
whembly (86df54) — 5/8/2024 @ 1:35 pm#419 Haley as Trump’s VP pick doesn’t help Trump or Haley. So not going to happen.”
Appalled (617e01) — 5/8/2024 @ 2:00 pmTrump’s behavior is just garden variety tail chasing.
Back home, folks kept their gardens separate from the barnyard.
Be that as it may, that horrid Alvin Bragg probably cost Trump the vote of this God-fearing conservative suburban mom (NSFW). (h/t qdpsteve at 352)
nk (63386f) — 5/8/2024 @ 2:23 pmYou saying she should be Trump’s VP pick?
No, I’m saying that #neverTrump is not reconciling yet.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 2:29 pmGod-fearing conservative suburban mom (NSFW)
Monica, we hardly knew ya.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 2:30 pmhttps://redstate.com/benkew/2024/05/08/astrazeneca-withdraws-its-covid-vaccine-worldwide-citing-dangerous-side-effects-n2173893
Wow
NJRob (67eff9) — 5/8/2024 @ 2:40 pmIt was never approved in the US and was very similar to the J&J vaccine which was also withdrawn for the same reason. Both used an adenovirus as a vector to carry the spike protein.
Neither used mRNA techniques, which is the only vaccine type generally available in the United States.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 3:06 pmNovavax, using yet another method was also approved in the US, but is deprecated due to being less effective.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 3:09 pmOne, there’s no delay, unless they decide to bounce Willis.
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 5/8/2024 @ 3:10 pmTwo, troll.
Anyone who uses problems with a vaccine never approved in the US to make claims about other vaccines that were approved is dishonest.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 3:10 pmNews outside the bubble. Conservative freedom works shuts down saying its donors are old and dying off. The conservative economic libertarian/free trade group says it has no future as younger trump populists are taking over the republican party and won’t fund them.
asset (32c802) — 5/8/2024 @ 3:16 pm@419 Big problem for trump as they may vote for dead worm.
asset (32c802) — 5/8/2024 @ 3:21 pmSpeaking of baarnyards, Marjorie Taylor-Greene was told to go kiss a pig:
nk (63386f) — 5/8/2024 @ 4:03 pmKevin D Williamson calls out the Post’s AR-15 Pulitzer Prize as pure propaganda
…
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 6:03 pmHaley becoming Trump’s VP would confirm everything I’ve said about her as the queen of political expediency.
Rip Murdock (1cf899) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:19 pmShow me a politician who 1) Has a legitimate chance of winning and 2) Isn’t politically expedient.
norcal (09816b) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:23 pmHaley becoming Trump’s VP would confirm everything I’ve said about her as the queen of political expediency.
This is a manufactured argument by people who want to ignore that 1 out of 5 Republicans STILL will not vote for Trump.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:33 pmYou say that like it’s a bad thing. China is the largest economic and military threat to the US, why should fund that threat through trade? And it’s good politics. Trump says he wants to impose 60% or more tariffs on Chinese products, and 10% on everyone else. Running a presidential campaign on a pro-free trade with China platform is a sure loser.
I support the Administration’s policy to ban supplying microchips and their manufacturing equipment to China that began in 2022, to not to do otherwise would be giving China the rope to hang ourselves.
But you’re right, this is something Trump never did.
Rip Murdock (50ff5b) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:48 pmIm not ignoring it, but I’ll bet most of that 20% will end up voting for Trump on Election Day.
Rip Murdock (50ff5b) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:51 pmI agree, but Haley has been portrayed here and in the media as the second coming of St. George.
Rip Murdock (50ff5b) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:56 pmSomeone was going on about Annie Jacobson’s “Nuclear War” book so I picked up a copy. Several things are apparent.
Ms Jacobson has stacked the deck. No defensive system that is used works, which is possible. But no defensive system that is known to work is used, which is unlikely.
The Aegis/Standard missile system can be used in point-defense mode and is known to work. Some of these will be at port near DC. It’s no more than a software load to repurpose their theater-defense mode for incoming nukes. It would be hard if the target was far a way, but here it isn’t. Ms Jacobson ignores this possibility.
She also has the US not using every last anti-missile missile in order to shoot down a single ICBM. Instead, they shoot a few sequentially. They miss.
She also has NK able to bring a 50yo former Soviet diesel sub undetected close to the US in order to fire a cruise missile. She calls it “quiet.”
Further, North Korea not only has ICBMs capable of hitting DC, but hitting with amazing accuracy. With thermonuclear weapons. Maybe someday, but today at least 2 of those things are unlikely. Three if you count getting the device small and light enough to go onto an actual ICBM.
But OK, maybe their wildest claims are true and they can do all this (and the US somehow forgets how to fight). WTF would they? We’d never know because (as in the book) there would be nothing whatsoever left alive in NK to ask.
But it’s worse than that. To make her timeline work, she has an insane argument slowing the president’s evac from the WH (who gets the parachutes?). She also has the US war plan for NK making a mistake that Ms Jacobson knows, from declassified information, is a stupid thing to do (firing Minuteman missiles over Russian territory knowing their detection systems are poor). Sure, she does have a US nuclear sub unleashing hell, but never explains why 32 400kT warheads aren’t enough to kill every cockroach in NK and why they also need to fire 50 Minuteman III missiles over Siberia, which understandably confuses the Russians (who for some reason they cannot contact).
At this point my suspension of disbelief suffered. She really should not give up her day job to write SF.
Yes, we need to think about nuclear war. Number 1 task is thinking how we get them out of the hands of boy kings who may not understand what “deterrence” means. Bill Clinton should have devastated NK the moment it became clear they had violated the NPT and were seeking nuclear weapons. Were the scenario in this book to come to pass, it would be Jimmy Carter’s fault. As usual.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 7:58 pmAs Nikki Haley’s campaign proved, you don’t need to have a legitimate chance of winning to take politically expedient positions.
Rip Murdock (50ff5b) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:03 pmDefensive systems need to work all the time, letting even one warhead to get through will ruin your whole day.
If Bill Clinton had “devastated” North Korea, do you think China would have stood by?
Rip Murdock (50ff5b) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:08 pmDefensive systems need to work all the time, letting even one warhead to get through will ruin your whole day.
There was only ONE warhead.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 10:37 pmDefensive systems need to work all the time, letting even one warhead to get through will ruin your whole day.
Besides, this is stupid on its face. Iron Dome’s anti-missiles maybe work 30% of the time, yet the system is effective.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 10:39 pmIf Bill Clinton had “devastated” North Korea, do you think China would have stood by?
Yes. Why are we afraid of all those other nuclear powers, but we assume that no one is afraid of us?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 10:40 pmIf there’s ever an American nuke attack on NoKo, I always imagine the president and most of the entire State Dept pleading on the phone with China.
“This isn’t about you!! Just relax!! Nothing will go wrong!! We’ll help with the refugees!!”
qdpsteve again (711764) — 5/8/2024 @ 10:50 pmIf Bill Clinton had “devastated” North Korea, do you think China would have stood by?
In the 1990s, when NK had no actual nukes, demolishing their nuclear infrastructure could have been done conventionally. But after Jimmy Carter “defused” the situation, they went and built any number of nukes and may have a thermonuclear device now. Kicking the can down the road does NOT make problems go away.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 11:00 pmAt taht point, NK was the only country that had signed the NNPT, and received nuclear technology in return for that signature, and then secretly used it to build the bombs they promised they would not. Making an example of them would have saved the treaty. Now it’s just “words on paper” and a nuclear exchange somewhere is far more likely.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/8/2024 @ 11:03 pm@448 Who was the last country to nuke another country?
asset (982008) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:02 amThe US, to end WW2 and save millions of lives. Since then, deterrence has kept them from being used again, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has kept more countries from obtaining the weapons.
But the NNPT is breaking down. First, NK violated it to start work on plutonium bombs. Then, after they were caught, they were given a second chance and more reactors and they violated it again making uranium bombs. They were caught a second time and still nothing happened. Their last nuclear test might have been a fusion bomb. Now they test ICBMs, all in the hands of an absolute dictator.
And others have seen the toothlessness of the NNPT and the fecklessness of the West. Iran for starters. The chance of nuclear war is a function of the number of nuclear weapons states. That function rises faster than N, probably about N log N. India-Pakistan, Israel-Iran and North Korea-South Korea are all potential flashpoints.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 8:12 amThis just in: Concerned that Trump might abandon Ukraine if re-elected? There is some concern he’d go the other way and get us deeply into the war.
Trump Is Unlikely to Abandon Ukraine—and Might Dangerously Escalate the War (WSJ free link)
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 8:16 amJapan had bad luck twice with the USA and then God sent a tsunami
steveg (ff43f7) — 5/9/2024 @ 8:29 amFun fact: Kazakhstan was nuked over 400 times by its Russian overlords
steveg (ff43f7) — 5/9/2024 @ 8:36 amUnexpectedly:
Fast-food workers make $20 an hour. California’s other low-wage earners ask: What about us?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 8:38 amFBI Christopher Wray:
“We don’t monitor protests”
Never mind that FBI air surveillance footage of the Kenosha protests was used in the Rittenhouse trial and shown repeatedly on National TV.
steveg (ff43f7) — 5/9/2024 @ 9:03 amThe FBI probably has well over 876,600 hours of footage of protests (100 years worth of hours)- all of it unmonitored?-
Donald Trump’s lawyer has brought out in cross examination of “stormy Daniels” that she has told two considerably different versions of her story – the one in 2011, and the one now (in recent years.)
this means at leastbshe could be hiding something.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 5/9/2024 @ 10:57 amUkraine and Gaza are not the only wars going on (although they may involve the highest technology)
There is also fighting going on in Syria – and a big conflict in Sudan witha Russian backed militia on one side – and maybe around Niger and Chad not ot mention the Congo.
And then Iranian proxies active in Iraq and Yemen.
And here’s war in Burma, with the opposition making gains.
and total disorder in Haiti with over 350,000 people abandoning their homes.
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 1:17 pmDrone warfare has really changed the war(s) in Burma. The opposition groups all have their own agendas, so probably won’t overthrow the junta but who knows.
steveg (3375a3) — 5/9/2024 @ 1:54 pmthis means at leastbshe could be hiding something.
More likely that she embellished then and is still embellishing now and can’t keep it all straight.
And that’s where Merchan is wrong. He called it corroboration. No. Embellishment is not corroboration.
That kind of woman should not even be allowed to testify. Maybe enough people on the jury will see it that way, too, and it will backfire on Bragg.
nk (bb1548) — 5/9/2024 @ 2:47 pmnk (bb1548) — 5/9/2024 @ 2:47 pm
She’s got to say that what she is telling now is the truth, because in 2011 she was not under oath. (Michael Cohen got the 2011 interview suppressed by threatening to sue)
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 2:52 pmUb 2011 she said Donald Trump himself approached her. Now she says it was his bodyguard.
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 2:53 pmI can’t tell if this is supposed to be a joke – or perhaps RFK Jr has nothing to say. It actually makes no sense.
https://www.newser.com/story/350126/rfk-jr-i-could-win-debate-with-a-6-worm-handicap.html
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:04 pmTucker Carlson moderating
SMDH
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:13 pmMore likely, try to imitate what Eisenhower did in Korea in 1953 (threatening to escalate in various ways, while telling the other side he’d settle for a ceasefire in place)
And if that doesn’t work??
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:33 pmThe money to reimburse Michael Cohen came out of Trump
s personal funds.
So what was it doing logged into Trump’s business records? Because Michael Cohen billed the company
He billed for the reimbursement for paying off Stormy, reimbursement for something else, a bonus he had not gotten in 2016, and enough to cover taxes.
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:46 pmRip Murdock (50ff5b) — 5/8/2024 @ 8:08 pm
They didn’t do anything 25 years ago when the United States bombed its embassy in Belgrade – and Serbia made peace soon.
China probably did not believe it was an error (the location not being identified as an embassy)
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:55 pm#462
But will RFK Jr be willing to get a COVID shot?
Appalled (9175f4) — 5/9/2024 @ 4:34 pmI don’t think he’ll even get a worm shot.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 4:56 pmAnd if that doesn’t work??
Eisenhower threatened China with H-bombs if they invaded Quemoy or Matsu (both islands withing China’s normal territorial waters). Quemoy is now known as Kinmen and is within swimming distance of China.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 5:00 pmTucker Carlson moderating
SMDH
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:13 pm
The words “Tucker Carlson” and “moderating” should not even be in the same paragraph, let alone sentence.
Tuckyo and Trump. The twin towers of trickery.
norcal (1a9ab2) — 5/9/2024 @ 5:01 pmI can’t tell if this is supposed to be a joke – or perhaps RFK Jr has nothing to say. It actually makes no sense.
https://www.newser.com/story/350126/rfk-jr-i-could-win-debate-with-a-6-worm-handicap.html
RFK Jr.: I Could Win Debate With a ‘6-Worm Handicap’
Sammy Finkelman (61907d) — 5/9/2024 @ 3:04 pm
It’s a joke, Sammy, and a pretty good one.
norcal (1a9ab2) — 5/9/2024 @ 5:02 pm6 worm handicap is a good joke, but it is also true. Combine all the abilities of Trump, Biden, Harris, and they’d still lose.
steveg (3375a3) — 5/9/2024 @ 5:33 pmGood joke. True. Very low bar
Timothy Snyder on Russia, specifically that they are not some invincible unbeatable force.
I highly recommend his 23-class series on the history of Ukraine, which is really a history of eastern Europe, starting with Class 1 here.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 5/9/2024 @ 9:17 pmThere’s a big difference between bombing an embassy (whether accidentally or not) in Europe and conducting a strategic bombing campaign, which you would need to do to “devastate” a country right on their doorstep.
Rip Murdock (f2e670) — 5/9/2024 @ 9:57 pmChina in the 1950s was in a much weaker position politically, economically, and militarily compared with today. Such a threat wouldn’t work today.
Rip Murdock (f2e670) — 5/9/2024 @ 10:02 pmI wish this dude was running for something so I could vote for him.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 5/9/2024 @ 10:27 pmI saw that earlier today on a BYU sports site, lurker. It got the most laughs of the day by far.
That’s the way you stick it to the Man!
norcal (70fc5d) — 5/9/2024 @ 10:47 pmChina in the 1950s was in a much weaker position politically, economically, and militarily compared with today. Such a threat wouldn’t work today.
And yet Taiwan still holds an island that is about 4 miles off the Chinese coast.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/9/2024 @ 11:32 pm@473 anyone who say russia is unbeatable has an ulterior motive. All ukraine has to do is not lose like America in 1778/1781 or russia in 1812/1941. Russia has to win like king george III or napolian/hitler had to win. We are helping Ukraine to bleed russia white at a fraction of the cost we have spent before Ukraine invasion which is in the trillions.
asset (c62472) — 5/10/2024 @ 1:21 amFor now, and only with the backing of the United States.
Rip Murdock (f2e670) — 5/10/2024 @ 9:14 amFor now, and only with the backing of the United States.
Including US troops that Biden has placed on Kinmen Island.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 5/10/2024 @ 9:44 am