Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
Seven battleground states are sending fake electors and others who worked to upend the 2020 election results to represent their state parties at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where they will officially anoint Donald Trump as their presidential nominee.
The fake electors and other election deniers identified by CNN include several who are currently facing criminal charges for their efforts in helping Trump try to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. They hail from the states that were central to that plot last presidential cycle: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin, according to lists published by state parties and other documents obtained by CNN.
They’ve been selected to serve as national committee members, delegates or alternates with one clear task: Make Trump’s nomination official.
Second news item
During a campus event focused on Jewish life on campus:
Three deans at Columbia University have resigned from the school after text messages that officials said contained antisemitic tropes were revealed.
…
The messages occurred in a group chat during an event at the university called “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present, and Future,” and were discovered by The Washington Free Beacon. Last month, President Minouche Shafik said the messages “revealed behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional, but also, disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes” before removing the three from their positions on campus.
Good riddance.
Third news item
Ukraine humiliates Putin with surprise attack:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Russia needed to “feel” the consequences of its war as a major Ukrainian incursion across the Russian border stretched into a third day.
Pro-Kyiv forces stormed into Russia’s southwestern Kursk region on Tuesday morning, deploying around 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armoured vehicles and tanks, according to the Russian army.
It appears to be the most significant Ukrainian attack into Russia since the war began, with independent analysts suggesting Kyiv’s troops had advanced up to 10 kilometres into Russia.
“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done,” Zelensky said in his evening address, without directly referring to the offensive.
“Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war,” he added.
The lack of a coherent Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast and the reported rate of Ukrainian advance indicates that Ukrainian forces were able to achieve operational surprise along the border with Russia. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have struggled to achieve operational surprise in the past year and a half of fighting due to the partially transparent battlefield in Ukraine. Ukraine’s ability to achieve operational surprise highlights that the widespread visual and sensor-based transparency that both sides have established does not translate into a fully transparent battlefield, however, and that the belligerents in Ukraine can leverage ambiguity around operational intent to achieve operational surprise.
Read why the attack on Kursk, specifically, adds to the humiliation for Putin.
Fourth news item
Taylor Swift shows cancelled in Vienna due to terrorist threat:
Austrian police have detained three men over the alleged plot, including two other Austrian youths aged 17 and 15.
The country’s top law-enforcement official, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, on Thursday told reporters that one of the suspects, aged 19, was “clearly radicalised in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels”.
Mr Haijawi-Pirchner said the man had confessed to a plan which he began devising in July to use knives and home-made explosives to try to kill as many people as possible outside the stadium.
Authorities say they found bomb-making materials during a raid on the man’s home in Ternitz, south of Vienna.
When he was arrested on Wednesday, authorities claimed the man had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
“The main perpetrator has confessed that he was supposed to carry out a suicide attack with two accomplices,” said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
“The suspects actually had very specific and detailed plans … to leave a bloodbath in their wake.”
Fifth news item
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign updated its online biography of running mate Tim Walz’s military service amid Republican efforts to question his record in the Army National Guard.
On its website, the Harris campaign axed a reference to Walz as a “retired command sergeant major” and now says that he once served at the command sergeant major rank — a small change that nonetheless reflects his true rank at retirement from the Army National Guard. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, served for 24 years in the National Guard before retiring in 2005 from the military to run for the U.S. House, where he became the most senior enlisted soldier to serve in Congress.
Led by GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who deployed to Iraq, Republicans have suggested that Walz inflated his credentials by calling himself a “retired command sergeant major.” The Minnesota governor did serve as a command sergeant major but was reverted back to the rank of master sergeant when he left the military because he had not completed required coursework for the higher rank with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.
Questions about the final months of Tim Walz’s 24-year National Guard career have triggered a flurry of questions and confusion among military members and veterans, and Wednesday drew a sharp accusation from Walz’s vice presidential opponent, Republican J.D. Vance. In a bitter attack at a rally in Michigan, Vance claimed Walz “abandoned” his guard unit in 2005, just before a deployment to Iraq.
“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did?,” Vance said Wednesday in Shelby Township, Michigan. “He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him.”…
We are talking about degrees of military service, not military service itself. Tim Walz served 24 years, Vance served four. Walz deployed to Italy. Vance to Iraq. Neither fought in combat. But both served far more than the vast majority of Americans and certainly many of those…
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) August 9, 2024
You can read the timeline of Walz’s military service at the link above.
Sixth news item
We’ll believe it when we see it:
President Biden, the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are calling on Israel and Hamas to take part in a final round of negotiations next week to finalize a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the three leaders said in a joint statement on Thursday.
…U.S. officials said in recent days that a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal is the only way to calm regional tensions that reached a new height after Israel assassinated a top Hezbollah military commander in Beirut and Hamas’ political leader in Tehran last week.
Seventh news item
Why no media pushback on this self-serving gibberish?:
Trump was asked at a news conference whether he thought there would be a peaceful transfer of power after November’s election. He insisted there was a peaceful transfer when he lost in 2020, though he challenged the results legally all the way up to the Supreme Court and has continued to falsely claim the election was fraudulent and rigged.
Pressed on whether he thought there was a peaceful transfer of power in January 2021, Trump launched into a defense of his Jan. 6 rally outside the White House, which preceded the violence at the Capitol.
“I think the people that — if you look at Jan. 6, which a lot of people aren’t talking about very much, those people were treated very harshly when you compare them to other things that took place in this country where a lot of people were killed,” Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “Nobody was killed on Jan. 6. But I think the people of Jan. 6 were treated very unfairly.
“The biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken before was that day,” he continued. “And I’ll tell you, it’s very hard to find a picture of that crowd. … If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours. Same real estate. Same everything. Same number of people, if not, we had more.”
“We actually had more people. They said I had 25,000, and he had 1 million people. And I’m OK with it, because I liked Dr. Martin Luther King,” Trump concluded.
Trump complains that he had a bigger crowd in DC on J6 than MLK for his I Have a Dream speech but the media won’t give him credit for that. pic.twitter.com/3hCIt7zi3S
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 8, 2024
I think this is my first time posting anything from Lawrence O’Donnell, and yet I agree with his analysis. The media is on track to once again help to get Trump elected:
Lawrence is heated tonight pic.twitter.com/9KL5uvsrFj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 9, 2024
MISCELLANEOUS
Iran’s leaders continue to demonstrate their fear of Iranian women and their collective power:
This hug was censored by the Islamic Republic’s state television. Kimia Alizadeh, who refused to bow to forced hijab or compete under the Islamic Republic’s flag, and Nahid Kiani, who participated wearing the regime’s mandatory hijab, both women medals. Yet, the misogynistic… pic.twitter.com/X84jVmZmu4
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) August 8, 2024
Have a good weekend.
–Dana
Happy Friday, and a big F-U to Iran’s leaders.
Dana (087bd3) — 8/9/2024 @ 9:38 amFifth News Item: On August 6th Kamala’s team posted a video of Walz. They were so proud of it they quoted him verbatim[emphasis mine]:
This self-own is what got combat veterans riled up. Did Tim Walz carry a weapon of war “in war?” For things like Aid and Attendance benefits, being a “wartime veteran” is a must. The definition of “wartime veteran” is based off the period of time you served and whether it coincided with an actual recognized conflict. Where you were located is not of consequence; combat zone or a million miles away gets the same benefit.
That said, I know with absolutely certainty that an Army Veteran, stationed in Germany during Vietnam, would not dare tell any 1st Cavalry in-country Veteran that he also carried a “weapon of war in war.”
Klink and I don’t get along on much. But he knows exactly what I am talking about.
The attempt to sweep it under the rug is too obvious if you know what you are looking at. Vance and Trump did not start this controversy. Harris and Walz did. And the media is obfuscating by not mentioning what is the actual concern that Walz needs to explain.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/9/2024 @ 10:36 amFourth item, Too Funny:
Comedy gold!
Rip Murdock (f17b34) — 8/9/2024 @ 10:58 am“They’ve been selected to serve as national committee members, delegates or alternates with one clear task: Make Trump’s nomination official.”
Oh the outrage.
Meanwhile, exactly who voted for Kamala?
lloyd (655a68) — 8/9/2024 @ 12:17 pmTrump got more Democrat primary votes than Kamala.
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/decision-2024/thousands-of-philly-democrats-wrote-in-names-other-than-biden-during-pa-primary-data-shows/3859764/
lloyd (655a68) — 8/9/2024 @ 12:23 pmTim Walz Clarifies That He’s Never Been To Iraq, But He Has Been To Downtown Minneapolis Which Is Basically The Same Thing.
lloyd (655a68) — 8/9/2024 @ 12:31 pm#3 Rip – Excellent!
Jim Miller (4a2c1e) — 8/9/2024 @ 12:43 pmRe: JD Vance’s comments:
Like Ron DeSantis, who served his country in Iraq as a lawyer, JD Vance (before he changed his name) served as a Marine in Iraq for six months as a public affairs officer (aka PR flack). He spent his entire four year Marine career writing articles for the 2nd Marine Air Wing.
Rip Murdock (7b3cf0) — 8/9/2024 @ 12:46 pmI wonder what all of these guys are going to do after Trump loses the general overall popular count for the 3rd time, people just don’t vote for him in the numbers of people voting for “literally anyone else), and loses the EC 2 out of 3?
I know it’s all fixed against him, blah, blah, but it just seems to be true that not that many people are willing to vote for a conman, draft dodger, who seems to be insane, and when lucid knows no actual information. But hey, it worked for the conman once, so he’s chasing that high, and all the sycophants love the feeling they got when he won the most EC’s, I mean he still got millions fewer votes. I wonder; you MAGA heads, is it like rock, or smack? What high are you chasing in propping an American traitor bent on the destruction of all that has been built?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/9/2024 @ 12:58 pmNo surprise, but this reminder is timely:
Here’s a link to the report.
Jim Miller (4a2c1e) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:00 pmRead why the attack on Kursk, specifically, adds to the humiliation for Putin.
Got that at first impression.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:18 pmI gotta say that Italy was probably a better billet than Iraq and far less likely to result in combat. Still he served, which is more than I ever did.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:20 pmThe media is on track to once again help to get Trump elected:
The celebration in the press of everything Lightbringer II does would seem to argue not.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:23 pmOne day the Ayatollah will be found trying to sneak out of the country in a burqa.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:25 pmI wonder what all of these guys are going to do after Trump loses the general overall popular count for the 3rd time,
I wonder what all you guys are going to do when he wins both the electoral and popular vote, but Harris refuses to count votes for the “insurrectionist.”
As long as we’re making stuff up.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:27 pmWhat JD Vance did in Iraq, as told by the friend who served with him
But don’t worry, Rip, there are other bums who think as little about combat correspondents as you do.
BuDuh (1dc68e) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:35 pmFor things like Aid and Attendance benefits, being a “wartime veteran” is a must. The definition of “wartime veteran” is based off the period of time you served and whether it coincided with an actual recognized conflict. Where you were located is not of consequence; combat zone or a million miles away gets the same benefit.
If you have aged parent(s) and either they or their most recent spouse served in the military during wartime (even if they were posted in Kansas City), they are eligible for an infirmity-related pension from the DoD of well over $1000/month.
In my late Mom’s case both her husbands served in WW2, one flying cargo planes in the Aleutians and the other (my Dad) a supply sergeant at a garrison in China in charge of beer and cigarettes. Dad saw the war coming and signed up early to have his choice of jobs.
Aid & Attendance, added to her SS and Medicare paid for her housing and care in the last 5 years of her life.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:36 pmDay 20 of Kamala shielded from an adoring media.
lloyd (fad6c0) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:37 pm@16 Rip is just gracing our presence with what he finds interesting.
lloyd (655a68) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:40 pmAnd please, with the weapon of war thing. Let me know when I can go buy an M-16 or a M60 at my neighborhood gun store. It is intellectually dishonest to call an AR-15 a “weapon of war”and those who call it that should be shamed mercilessly.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:41 pmYes, Lloyd. Just neutrally presenting facts, as well. Such as “PR flack.” That probably came straight from his best sources.
BuDuh (1dc68e) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:42 pmThe only way to calm regional tensions is for an authority in Gaza, perhaps prompted by the Arab League saying it first, declaring that they are not interested in being enemies with Israel, and even if Israel kills people that they say it shouldn’t, t still will not be interested in being enemies with Israel..
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:44 pmAs for not being in combat, let’s start with there being a difference in enlisting in the Marines and signing up to be a weekend warrior in a lesser service. Further, Vance deployed to Iraq and was in combat zones. Walz did not. Vance carried a camera, sure, but I bet he also carried a rifle.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:49 pm4. lloyd (655a68) — 8/9/2024 @ 12:17 pm
Joe Biden.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:51 pmI think the Taylor Swift concerts were targeted because ISIS and al Qaeda oppose music (except reading the Koran with a tune.)
I don’t think that was a matter of principle for whoever dreamed this up, but a jihadist could be more easily persuaded to target it because first of all, maybe he could be persuaded that the people who went to a concert really deserved death, and if that is wrong, then because he would agree that no supporter of ISIS would be there so he wouldn’t unintentionally kill a supporter.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:57 pmThe “PR flack” comment was entirely my own, and I do regret it.
Rip Murdock (7b3cf0) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:03 pmI’ve always believed a civilian should be able to own any weapon that a single soldier can carry. Hopefully in the future we can.
Rip Murdock (7b3cf0) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:11 pmBuDUh @2.
Well, as Kevin M says at #20, the whole argument about an AR-15 being a weapon of war is a lie (or a distortion of the facts – there’s an argument that it’s similar in an important respect) so why not also lie about himself, to make his point stronger?
Conservative or maybe MAGA talk radio has been playing audio of a slight different version of this that Tim Walz said.
Here is video with subtitles of Walz himself saying this:
https://www.facebook.com/NYPost/videos/tim-walzs-claim-that-he-carried-weapons-in-war-was-deemed-absolutely-false-by-a-/866929492057299
He is against reciprocal carry (meaning it won’t be reduced to the lowest common denominator but also getting some people to make unintentional or unplanned violations of law)
He mentions the CDC research. This is another talking point. Now although making statistical correlations might be interesting, the CDC has no special expertise in this – it’s not like smoking and cancer, but it’s like researching the effectiveness of the death penalty. And there are too many confounding variables.
This research could be done but it doesn’t need the imprimatur of the CDC. That could be a compromise, if the fix wasn’t in.
And the bit about background checks means applying them to informal gun sales. The problem with background checks is that they way overpredict danger and they miss things too.
The same thing with the terrorism watch list.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:18 pmIf for whatever reason Donald Trump was unable to continue as the Republican presidential candidate, he would probably be replaced by someone that the Republican electorate didn’t vote for during the primaries.
Despite Trump’s protestations that it was “unconstitutional” (it certainly was not), replacing Biden mid-campaign was a ruthless but brilliant maneuver. It united the Democrats and has temporarily discombobulated the Trump campaign, though I think they found their footing with their attacks on Harris. I expect to see more of the same at the Trump-Harris debates.
Rip Murdock (7b3cf0) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:24 pmI’ve always believed a civilian should be able to own any weapon that a single soldier can carry. Hopefully in the future we can.
My suggestion for “gun control”: Any weapon barred to the People is barred to civil authority as well.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:28 pmlloyd (fad6c0) — 8/9/2024 @ 1:37 pm
She needs to be shielded in order to avoid certain questions, not necessarily because she is stupid or not interested in becoming familiar with issues.
Merely getting asked some questions is the problem.
What is her position on fracking? And why did she reverse herself?
Is it true that she would consider placing an arms embargo on Israel as a group of [Hamas supporters] claimed she told them indirectly?
However she handles that, she loses votes.
Her campaign denies that.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg798l439ydo
Middle Eastern groups have been known to lie in the past about what people told them.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:29 pm“You go to the elegy with the hillbilly you have, not the hillbilly you might want or wish to have at a later time.”
What J. “the D is for Disadvantaged” Vance and Donnie Two Inch want us to think is important has nothing to do with what is important to us.
nk (bb1548) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:29 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:28 pm
It’s a good idea. Maybe make an exception for the National Guard.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:30 pmI think they found their footing with their attacks on Harris.
A target-rich environment. Can I say that?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:40 pmMartin Luther King spoke at the Lincoln Memorial; trump at the Ellipse.
The January 6 committee (which presumably was interested in making the size of the crowd as large as possible said Trump had 53,000 (are they counting the Capital also?) The estimate I heard on the radio today was 250,000 for MLK.
So Trump is claiming there were well over a million supporters he had in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. That’s what he tried to convince members of Congress also.
He always claims that the cameras are not pointing at the crowd.
Trump also contrasted the size of the crowds at his rallies with the size of the ebullient crowd Kamala Harris has gotten claiming she got maybe 1,500.
Here he is, I think from yesterday’s press conference:
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ctmo/date/2024-08-09/segment/01
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:41 pmIt’s a good idea. Maybe make an exception for the National Guard.
If you make one exception, you make many.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:42 pmI liked his start at the NABJ convention.
Rip Murdock (7b3cf0) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:42 pmWalz is friendly politically with a Minnesota imam who endorsed October 7 and promoted a neo-Nazi pro Hitler film from 2013.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tim-walz-ties-muslim-cleric-antisemitic-views-gave-state-funding-group-report
It’s business, not personal
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:44 pmClassic Trump.
Rip Murdock (c1c1dd) — 8/9/2024 @ 2:45 pmFifty years ago today.
Rip Murdock (c1c1dd) — 8/9/2024 @ 3:01 pmThe two biggest issues in this election are Ukraine and our national debt. None of the candidates are seriously discussing the latter, but there is a significant difference between the candidates when it comes to Ukraine (and relationships with our allies in general).
Foreign policy is usually more important than domestic policy.
norcal (2b06e0) — 8/9/2024 @ 3:35 pmForeign policy ranks virtually dead last among among voters. And among foreign policy priorities, Ukraine ranks towards the bottom, just above supporting Israel. Domestic (kitchen table) issues have always taken priority over foreign policy concerns.
Rip Murdock (7b3cf0) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:03 pmSee also this Economist/YouGov poll. The top 15 issues are inflation (23%), immigration (13%), health care (10%), and jobs & the economy (10%). National security ranks eighth (5%) and foreign policy is tied with criminal justice reform for dead last (1%).
Foreign policy and Ukraine are only important to an elite minority, not to the American electorate.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:24 pmForeign policy ranks virtually dead last among among voters. And among foreign policy priorities, Ukraine ranks towards the bottom, just above supporting Israel. Domestic (kitchen table) issues have always taken priority over foreign policy concerns.
Rip Murdock (7b3cf0) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:03 pm
Yes, I know, and that’s unfortunate.
What voters think is important and what actually is important don’t always coincide.
norcal (2b06e0) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:32 pmRFKJr. keeping it weird :
You can come up with your own jokes. 🧐
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:41 pmVoters (not incorrectly) are concerned only about the issues that affect them directly. If Ukraine fails to the Russians, it will have very little impact on the domestic concerns of Americans.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:44 pmRip Murdock (fec955) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:44 pm
If aggressive countries are allowed to gobble up weaker countries, Americans will be impacted sooner or later.
It is very misguided to only think about one’s own house when the neighborhood two blocks away is going to seed.
The world is much more connected now.
norcal (2b06e0) — 8/9/2024 @ 4:54 pmObama left Iraq because the politics said so, never mind what was our long-term interest. Sure, now we have an Iran that doesn’t have to worry about Americans in Iraq or Afghanistan, but that wasn’t on anyone’s list back then.
And what will Harris do if she has to decide between more weapons for Ukraine or expaning access to Medicaid? Only one of those will give her votes at the midterm.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 5:17 pmThe American voter doesn’t care, as evidenced by the rise of Trump and his isolationist foreign policy.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/9/2024 @ 5:19 pmShe’ll just add the cost of both to the deficit. The cost of more aid to Ukraine will be a fraction of the cost of Medicaid, it’s a rounding error.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/9/2024 @ 5:26 pmThe American voter doesn’t care, as evidenced by the rise of Trump and his isolationist foreign policy.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/9/2024 @ 5:19 pm
Sad!
norcal (2b06e0) — 8/9/2024 @ 5:44 pmYou have no clue how hard so many Americans are struggling under leftist policies. Do you even care?
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/9/2024 @ 6:59 pmGreen party candidate Jill Stein (who cost hillary clinton the 2016 election) says she will have a palestinian-american as her running mate. Rashida Tliab would be an interesting choice.
asset (f81702) — 8/9/2024 @ 9:56 pmRashida Tliab would be an interesting choice.
Not if she wants to keep her committee assignments. It’s not like the Republicans would have her back.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 10:08 pmFrom Politico’s weekly collection of political cartoons, my favorite.
Jim Miller (30c1f6) — 8/10/2024 @ 7:20 am#42 “Domestic (kitchen table) issues have always taken priority over foreign policy concerns.”
Always? In 1812? In 1844? In 1916? In 1944?
Usually, sure. Always, probably not.
(In electing a president, considered by itself, foreign policy should be more important to voters, since the president has more control over that than Congress.)
Jim Miller (30c1f6) — 8/10/2024 @ 7:30 amFirst (and maybe only) question Kamala needs to be asked:
“you previously tweeted that what happened in Chicago to Jussie Smollet was ‘an attempted modern day lynching.’ As a former prosecutor and state’s attorney general, do you still believe what happened that cold Chicago morning was an attempted lynching?”
Harvey’s Potted Plant (a2d7ca) — 8/10/2024 @ 7:38 amSince modern polling didn’t exist in 1812 or 1844 it’s hard to say what issues were the top concerns of voters. Minus the specter of war (as in the 1916 or 1950 elections), most voters since then have focused on issues that affect their personal lives when voting.
Whether or not foreign policy should be important is irrelevant, it’s how the voters believe what happens overseas is important to their daily lives, and the polling for the 2024 election shows They. Don’t. Care.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 8:00 am@52, hard to know what you classify as a leftist policy when you call ppl like Romney leftist politicians.
Time123 (6c1ae7) — 8/10/2024 @ 8:56 am#58 I’m guessing you meant the 1940 election, since there was no presidential election in 1950.
I would say that modern polling really began in the US in 1935, when Gallup was founded. But there were many other ways of reading public opinion before then, especially when the electorates were much smaller.
(Among many other things, you can find some discussion of public opinion in the early United States in Ian Toll’s “Six Frigates”, a book I learned much from. Though, for those — like me — who need some help on sailing lingo, I would suggest reading it with a good dictionary by your side.)
Jim Miller (30c1f6) — 8/10/2024 @ 9:18 amRomney is more like a far, far leftist politician.
And nominating him is why the GOP broke. His nomination burned the bridge between populist social conservatives and the GOP elite. It was pretty easy for the masses to then go for a populist last resort.
This year, the Romney supporters had a chance to humble themselves and compromise with Desantis, validating their claimed grievances with trump. They refused, selecting another Romney (Haley) and further ensuring (and knowingly ensuring) Trump is the nominee.
Take responsibility. It is the only chance for the conservative movement. By refusing to compromise because of social liberal views, the populists will always have to override, and they always will.
The GOP only works if everyone compromises quite a bit. Dubya is a great example.
Romney, a far leftist who imposed some of the most awful and poorly performing liberal policies in America, for example ruining healthcare and freedom of commerce while ripping off American businesses to plant zombie versions in China, is also a good example. That burned the bridge.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 9:19 amThis isn’t wrong, but I also think Obama had a chance for greatness by correcting course and staying in Iraq, which would have been one of America’s greatest accomplishments, and something that actually was largely working despite the cost. It took decades for Japan and South Korea to emerge into what they are now. IT would take at least as long in an Islamofascist dictatorship.
But such an accomplishment would have been a short term point in the GOP’s favor, so yes, politics for a democrat was to discard all those lost US Soldiers.
Imagine a middle east where Iraq was as successful as South Korea, in 20 years? That is a fundamentally better world. That justifies the cost we paid. And we paid most of that cost for what I see as a failure. Bush’s mistake was that America lacks what it had 70 years ago, and simply will not stay the course. Partisanship is so bad, attention spans so short, cynicism so powerful. I don’t blame him for the leap of faith. It’s still on Obama.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 9:24 am“The GOP only works if everyone compromises quite a bit.”
True 100%
Dubya and Romney weren’t my candidates, but I voted for them. Everyone I know who is voting for Trump also voted for them. McCain, too. We compromised.
We went through the nominating process in 2016 and a candidate was chosen, and the establishment wing give it a middle finger salute. It’s escalated from there. This is what broke the party. Eight years later we could’ve coalesced around a DeSantis, but he failed a purity test, proving it’s not about Trump anyway.
To read the comments on this blog, the path to repair the party is to keep the middle finger raised, usher in a socialist ticket, and destroy the party so that it can somehow rise again in pure form. For these folks, compromise just isn’t in their DNA. Nor is common sense.
lloyd (f39ff0) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:09 amhard to know what you classify as a leftist policy when you call ppl like Romney leftist politicians.
Hunh? It’s easy. He opposes the One True.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:17 amDustin,
Romney broke with what became MAGA because he was corporate America incarnate. He was the guy who closed US factories and shipped their equipment to China. He was the guy who wanted more H1-B and was soft on illegal immigration. MAGA isn’t about social conservatism — Trump isn’t anti-abortion or anti-gay.
It was about economics and Romney was on the other side.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:23 amMcCain and Romney weren’t criminals and didn’t act like buffoons in the public eye. We can add W to that list too. Despite having clear policy differences, none of them cast Democrats as evil or out to destroy the country. That’s where right-wing entertainment now takes us…and Trump is the biggest wannabe entertainer. I was not a wild McCain supporter in 2008 for numerous reasons, but he was never unfit or an embarrassment. Since then, and with the demise of civility, I respect him more. He understood something about leadership and governance. Now Trump gives us an hour of televised clown time and no one on the Right bats an eye.
It’s pointless to attempt a rational discussion of DeSantis here….because we attempted it many times before…and commenters simply were non-responsive — ignoring well-reasoned arguments. Now it’s just trolling. So, it’s fine. If you believe Haley and Romney are the problems in the GOP, then there’s not much more to say about it. In my eyes, it’s a pretty stupid conclusion. The GOP is Trump’s party and most Republicans are OK with that. That’s the problem.
NeverTrump is fundamentally about fitness and respect for the office. It isn’t NeverTrump except if Kamala runs. Trump doesn’t care about rules and will not be constrained by having to face the voters. He is a disaster waiting to happen. I have no interest in owning that.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:41 amDustin and Lloyd, well said.
NJRob (64b398) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:47 amAJ,
One quibble: McCain was a buffoon on economics, and this was never so clear as when he rushed back to DC to “help” after the 2008 crash. Obama wasn’t perfect on that score either, but he was far calmer and that carried a lot of weight. Romney would have wiped the floor with Obama in 2008 as everything turned to the economy and that was Romney’s strong suit.
He is a disaster waiting to happen. I have no interest in owning that.
They both are.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:51 am@66 For 150 years the Republican Party was the chosen nominee’s party, until 2016. Folks like you picked up their marbles and ran home, and now it’s the party of those who stayed. That’s on you. You own it.
lloyd (f39ff0) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:52 amFalse. DeSantis was a perfect chance to prove it either way.
Kamala is part of the Biden administration that fomented violence against a political opponent and I do not see any intelligent reason to distinguish them from Trump as far as democracy goes. Saying you want to take Trump behind a shed to beat the hell out of him, he’s a threat, and he must be stopped, is unacceptable, and no better than Trump’s BS around Jan 6.
This is the least important election of my lifetime and I just don’t care which one of these losers loses.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:58 amRomney voted with Trump 75% of the time. That’s not “far, far leftist”.
Paul Montagu (f7ef6d) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:01 amI didn’t leave the GOP, the GOP left me. I’m eager to get back to work. I’m just not climbing into the clown car and pretending it’s something else.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:12 amAs I pointed out many times during the primaries, DeSantis was something like 20 points behind Trump when he announced his candidacy. By pulling out after the Iowa caucuses, DeSantis didn’t give Republican voters a chance to vote for him.
He (and everyone else) were mirages In Trump’s rear view mirror.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:13 amTrump donated to Nancy Pelosi over 100 times.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:14 amRomney is the architect of the most fundamental liberal policy harming Americans today.
Ignoring why the Tea partiers went the way they went is not owning up to the mistakes we made with Romney. Romney is smooth. He sounds smart, particularly on foreign policy. He also got richer by destroying American businesses that ‘relocated’ to China. He is not your friend. Nominating him was a massive mistake.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:16 amTrump isn’t a conservative.
This is ridiculous. The trend of offshoring for cheap labor started en masse in the 1960s and continues to this day. To put all that one person, Romney, is absurd.
Paul Montagu (f7ef6d) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:21 amSophistry is tiresome.
You just argued Trump was so conservative, that Romney must be not be leftist, because they voted the same on Trump’s massive expansion of government power and spending, which I would agree mimics Romney’s leftist ideology.
There’s leftist like the clown with blue hair holding up a sign and screaming at cops in a bullhorn, and then there’s leftist that fundamentally ruins the country.
Romney is the one I care about. Nominating him was intended to thwart the Tea party more than it was intended to accomplish anything for the GOP. Same as Haley.
Nevertrumper abandoned the argument it cared about leader’s morals and patriotism when it had a perfect compromise with the social conservatives that would have a fighting chance against Trump, and rejected him explicitly because he is conservative on social issues.
Thus, refusing to rebuild the bridge that Romney fans burned down.
All I’m saying is learn. It’s not because I’m psychic I predicted all this 12 years ago, on this blog.
Dustin (7e1c99) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:58 amFor me, ruminating over presidential candidates from 16 or even 4 years ago is unproductive and hardly relevant to the 2024 campaign.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:12 pmMy question is why Politico didn’t write a story and publish the documents.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:31 pmI didn’t leave the GOP, the GOP left me.
It appears more that you joined the opposition in your yearning for the good old days. Reagan’s revolution is over; it was just stumbling down the road with no goals left.
The process of opening up the world to America had continued to the point where it was America opened up to the world. It wasn’t so much raising the world up to the first world any more as it was crushing much of America down to the second, and those being crushed decided to vote for something else.
Oh, sure, for those of us who were still riding high with our professions and expertise it was great. But not for many more. I deeply regret that the invisible hand of politics found Trump and not someone with more principles like Cruz (yes), but there you have it.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:37 pmThis is ridiculous. The trend of offshoring for cheap labor started en masse in the 1960s and continues to this day
Oh, really. 1960s? Except for United Fruit, not much was imported for sale into the United States in 1960. But maybe you have sources?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:41 pm“It’s the economy, stupid!”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:42 pmWow! We could have had gonorrhea!
I have no reason to like DeSantis any more than I like Trump. Hounding 16-year old girls who wish they were boys to suicide just not put Shinola on my Florsheims, what can I say? The Zieglers will just have to cruise Sarasota bars instead of DC bars looking for a third in their threesome for a while longer, that’s the way the bedsheet wrinkles.
nk (cc1db9) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:55 pmSource page 8.
Mexico also began developing maquiladoras next to the US border in the mid-1960s.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:57 pmThe non-italicized paragraph in post 85 is a quote.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:58 pmDustin, I never got a chance to vote for desantis. He dropped out before I got the chance. I know you liked him and I understand where you’re coming from, but he never mounted a real challenge to Trump. I feel like he wanted to establish his brand, increase his name recognition and then run is 28. So he didn’t want to create any ill will with the maga base by presenting a serious challenge and getting Trump mad at him.
Time123 (71f491) — 8/10/2024 @ 1:00 pmIt’s odd to see attacks on “elites” from self-proclaimed conservatives.
But I suppose it should be expected when so few read the Federalist papers and Edmund Burke, and so many get their ideas, often second or third hand, from people like C. Wright Mills. (Author of The Power Elite, and the man who first used “New Left” to describe an emerging movement.)
Jim Miller (a58461) — 8/10/2024 @ 1:05 pmAll the stuff everyone here was saying made Trump a horror story, Desantis lacks.
But that is no reason. Proves what a lot of Trump’s fans here have been saying all along.
We already knew that. Biden was just as guilty of subverting the peaceful transition of power as Trump was.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 1:27 pmHow do you figure?
Also, while I wasn’t a Desantis fan he was vastly better than Trump.
Time123 (71f491) — 8/10/2024 @ 1:36 pmI suppose the question becomes, is the United States the pre-eminent economic power or is it not? No doubt there are winners and losers from globalization, but those people do change over time. The follow-on question is the solution to increase tariffs, introduce other trade barriers by tossing out trade agreements, giving unions greater power to “protect” workers, and continue to subsidize dying industries with government money? This seems like a recipe for making the pie permanently smaller.
Much of these Trumpian logical conclusions increase the power of government to pick winners and losers. Whoever has political clout or influence will get protected and whoever does not, won’t. This isn’t where the Right is typically. I really don’t want the invisible hand being replaced by visible politicians’ hands buying votes…most likely with other people’s money.
Has Trump marketed economic angst effectively? Certainly. Is there some underlying truth to the rise of China? Of course. Could the US have unilaterally stopped the emergence of China? Probably not. Trump is a master marketer. I don’t believe that he is a master economist. I think he tells people what they want to hear, just like most politicians. The problem is whether he’s taking us down the right path? Saying globalization is hard is a bumper sticker. This benefits Trump’s power. Trump had no problem using foreign production or illegal immigrants at his properties. This is a convenient new message.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/10/2024 @ 1:38 pmFutile:
After Joe Rogan said nice things about RFKJR, he walked it back when criticized by Trump and TrumpWorld.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 1:38 pm@78 The hacking could’ve been done by the Iranians, Russians, Chinese or Democrat operatives. We’ll never know of course. That would require a two-year special counsel fishing expedition, but only if a Republican is president.
lloyd (ab2870) — 8/10/2024 @ 1:56 pmImagine for a second that when Trump was president, he added to his stump speech that he wanted to take his political opponent behind a shed and beat him up. And then he said his opponent is a threat to America. And then he said his opponent must be stopped. And then when his opponent was predictably shot, started minimizing the seriousness and his campaign started sending out, within minutes, idiotic conspiracy theories to just amp it up even more.
How is that not actually as bad as Trump’s commentary on Jan 6? Or his scheme?
It’s not.
The peaceful transition of power matters. When the Biden administration realized it would not win the election, it fomented violence. Why would anyone support that? Except if they actually think violence is justified. Which I realize many do. Those people are beyond the reach of reason.
Dustin (7e1c99) — 8/10/2024 @ 2:05 pmAssumes facts not in evidence.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 2:11 pmIt appears that DeSantis is making moves to run for President again in 2028, whether or not Vance becomes “the next in line.”
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 2:28 pmDustin, If I’m reading you correctly you’re saying that bidens rhetoric about Trump amounts to a threat to the peaceful transfer of power. Thank you for your answer.
Time123 (a2ffb6) — 8/10/2024 @ 3:05 pmI think he’s saying something more when he posted:
This statement really assumes facts not in evidence.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 3:22 pmWhen George W. Bush ran for governor of Texas, he promised to improve test scores in public schools. He succeeded, by following the science. His brother, Jeb, made the same promise, and may have done even better, in Florida.
Now, we are seeing improvements in some surprising states.
Three Republican presidents in a row argued for improving American education, Reagan with “A Nation at Risk”, George H. W. Bush with his promise to be the education president, George W. Bush with “No Child Left Behind”.
The fourth? Well, we don’t need to even mention his name.
(For the record: I was, and am, skeptical about the ability of any president to improve education directly in the US, since so much of the control is in the states and localities. So, though I supported the efforts by Reagan and the elder Bush to encourage improvements, I was, and am, unsure whether NCLB was good policy.
I would strongly favor education experiments, for example, charter schools. And I think we really need to do the research to find better methods for teaching arithmetic.)
Jim Miller (a58461) — 8/10/2024 @ 3:39 pmIf you haven’t looked at the “Nation’s Report Card”, you should.
Those who hate Mitt Romney should look at the scores in Massachusetts. As governor of that state, he worked to reform public education. Judge for yourself whether he had any success.
Jim Miller (a58461) — 8/10/2024 @ 3:44 pmDeSantis was actually ahead in the polls before Biden put his thumb on the scale and started indicting.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3846545-desantis-leads-trump-in-head-to-head-primary-contest-poll/
SaveFarris (cf1da7) — 8/10/2024 @ 4:06 pmYes.
And a bit more than that. In the context of constant violence from the left, Biden wanted violence against Trump. He’s always been awful in his attacks on his opponents. Frankly it’s another way he’s like Trump. Remember, Romney fans, he claimed Romney would put blacks back in chains – that was over the line and then some.
The constant violent rhetoric about Trump led right where it was obviously going to lead.
I’m not assuming. I am simply the dude. He specifically talked about personally using violence against his political opponent. If Putin did that we’d all call it out. But because it’s directed at Trump, and some of y’all actually think violence would be justified, it gets a pass. Not from me.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 5:36 pmI am simply quoting the dude.
Sheesh. I work here is done.
I don’t hate him, lol. I don’t know what it is about Romney that gets his fans so upset when he’s criticized. Read this blog from 2012. Far worse than Trump supporters. It’s really something.
Dustin (659de9) — 8/10/2024 @ 5:37 pmThat poll (released in February 2023) showed DeSantis leading Trump in a head to head contest (which never was going to happen) ; in a seven person race Trump was marginally ahead. In addition, DeSantis wasn’t officially a candidate; he didn’t announce until May.
The May 31, 2023 Morning Consult poll showed Trump leading DeSantis 56-22. This had nothing to do with Trump’s indictments; the classified information indictment was dropped on June 8th and election subversion indictment was released in August 2023.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 6:09 pmRip magically ignores Alvin Bragg’s indictments. Amazing how he missed those. He probably missed Bidem giving one of his AG’s top attorneys to Bragg too.
When did that happen?
Oh yeah.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/10/2024 @ 6:54 pmTrump’s New York State indictment was in April 2023; one month before DeSantis became a candidate. DeSantis obviously knew its impact on Trump’s polling, yet he still decided to run for President. That’s a decision he made on his own.
Thanks for reminding me.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 7:16 pmI agree. Romney voted with the party, which Trump led. It doesn’t contradict my statement that isn’t a conservative, because a lot of what Trump did wasn’t conservative. It wasn’t fiscally conservative to cut taxes and toss out the sequester deal.
Paul Montagu (4a28d4) — 8/10/2024 @ 7:25 pmThis hatred toward Romney really strikes me as irrational. He was running against an incumbent in a solidly growing economy, and his rival had superior political skills. It would have been an uphill battle for any challenger in 2012, including Trump, who was a candidate in that cycle for a minute.
Kevin, I said 1960s, not 1960, the decade when “Made in Taiwan” was a thing. Sheesh.
Paul Montagu (4a28d4) — 8/10/2024 @ 7:29 pm@Jim Miller@99 NCLB was decent for low performing schools and schools where people had just kind of given up. Once you got to mid performing schools or mid-high, it wasn’t really possible to get the kind of high percentage gains year on year over the long term that NCLB required to stay out of program improvement and it became kind of just fatalistic. We win awards for the level of and kind of support, intervention, and acceleration we provide for our students and the other jr highs in our district (that have less struggling populations) basically watch us to see what new thing we are trying and then copy it the next year, but we have pretty much maxed out the performance gains we can get over 3 years and it wouldn’t have satisfied NCLB. In my experience, charter schools aren’t particularly useful. Sometimes they do as well as public schools, but often they don’t, or they are very lopsided in their results.
Most districts also put a lot of supports into getting people to pass high school. My personal thoughts on it are that more resources need to be directed at the elementary level, because in my experience, kids who struggle in elementary mostly don’t “catch up next year” unless they get significant interventions, they just keep falling behind and no matter how much intervention you give them in 11th grade, they aren’t going to catch up. However, if students have a good grasp of the skills they need to pass the 8th grade, almost none fail high school.
Nic (120c94) — 8/10/2024 @ 7:42 pmAh, so now Trump is upset that a hostile foreign power hacked the emails of an American political campaign. He was less upset 4 years ago.
To be clear, the hackers should be brought to justice, to the extent we can.
Paul Montagu (f7ef6d) — 8/10/2024 @ 9:15 pm@110 I’m glad Paul agrees a special counsel should be appointed.
lloyd (043a97) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:30 pmThe question is does Justice Thomas and his inferior judges support it.
Paul Montagu (f7ef6d) — 8/10/2024 @ 10:57 pmAnd this is a great argument as to how Romney is less of a coward that the nevertrumpers that hide behind electoral college skirts.
Right now Trump leads the party. Like it or lump it.
You can put a coalition together that can vote in a majority towards a shared goal. A team that the perfect conservatives get 75% of what the conservative country wants, or you can pout together and form a team that plays absolute defense and gets 0% because they don’t want the leader of their party to help them out 3 out of every 4 attempts. Instead they want a Marxist.
Weird.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/10/2024 @ 11:31 pmKevin, I said 1960s, not 1960, the decade when “Made in Taiwan” was a thing.
I remember “Made in Japan” as being a good thing, where it had not been in the 50s. And in the 70s it was where the good stuff came from.
But imports from Taiwan were not particularly voluminous, and trade with Red China wasn’t a thing.
Imports did not really impact American life as far as jobs were concerned until the 90s. Between 1990 and 2010, America was pretty much hollowed out manufacturing-wise as rising competition with low-wage no-EPA China drove company after company off-shore. The last of the great textile mills (Cannon) lasted until the early oughts, but it had been gutted earlier by people like David Murdock and the corporate raiders of the 90s.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:11 am@81 cancun ted cruz was a corporate shill not a populist like trump. He got caught being lying ted in the 2026 indiana primary. Another corporate anti-populist free trade shill mark lavine had a nervous break down on the air when cancun ted dropped out that night.
asset (cbd81c) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:53 amTulsi Gabbard on terrorist watch list say fox news. Is she planning to hijack kamala’s plane?
asset (cbd81c) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:54 amGung Ho was in 86, but what really shifted were two things, availability of CNC machines and robots that could replace humans with repeatable assembly line tasks, and the internet. Component manufacturing jumped the southern border and then the pacific, and the internet shifted call centers, help desks, and large scale IT delivery to India. It was American companies doing it to American workers.
IBM largely off-shored itself to death, well, whatever IBM is left in IBM after the last few fire sales.
At least Taiwan and South Korea has shared the wealth with their people post democratization, also in the 90’s.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:57 amThe point is that Romney isn’t “far leftist” as Dustin claimed, but you obviously feel the need to troll, so carry on.
Paul Montagu (1e1329) — 8/11/2024 @ 4:35 amMaybe we ought to give the orange cannibal 25% off the top of every government contract too?
But he wouldn’t think that was FAIR!, would he? He’d want what he could pick and choose, whatever it came out to, and the country could have the rest.
nk (cc1db9) — 8/11/2024 @ 4:42 am@110, so politico didn’t publish the emails….
Whoever did it needs to be caught and brought to justice. If it’s a foreign government this needs to be treated seriously. I don’t know if I’m ready to go to war, but if it’s a nation we can get away a drone strike. Of the facility the hacker works from that would be a good deterrent
Time123 (ae7b06) — 8/11/2024 @ 4:50 am@87
The primaries is about momentum.
What Dustin is opining is the sense that DeSantis was persona non grata from NeverTrumpers from the start.
It might’ve not made any impact to his chances to overtake Trump. But, we would never know because NeverTrumpers didn’t coalesce behind the one guy that could thread the needled to bringing the various factions of the GOP together.
It was this discord within the party that allowed Trump to overcome any challenger.
whembly (a43e5a) — 8/11/2024 @ 4:57 am@112
It’d be kosher if the special counsel is POTUS nominated and Senate confirmed.
whembly (a43e5a) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:02 ama drone strike. Of the facility the hacker works from
Heh! Hack into their computers and delete all their p*rn, maybe.
It’s not like they broke into the gardener’s shed at Mar-a-Lago and stole the Top Secret documents Trump had stored there.
Do I recall correctly that in 2016 Trump publicly invited the Russians to hack Hillary’s campaign?
nk (cc1db9) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:19 am#109 Nic – Thanks much for that information.
Jim Miller (3a89a5) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:32 am@120
I think if politico has those email communications, and if they’re unsavory we’ve would’ve seen them already.
There will be a time, if not now, that no one is going to communicate on internal email anymore.
whembly (a43e5a) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:38 amHas Mike Lee blamed the Secret Service yet?
nk (cc1db9) — 8/11/2024 @ 6:02 am@121, The party picked Trump because they like Trump. Desantis was never a viable challenger. Also I don’t like him for valid reasons. I’d have been happy to vote for him over Trump and I don’t view him as threat to our country the way Trump is, but the idea that his failure to win because ppl who preferred other candidates didn’t support him is silly.
Time123 (6703c8) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:36 am@125, you’re assumption of Politicos behavior appears to be at odds with the facts. Perhaps they’re not what you think they are. I
Time123 (6703c8) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:37 amIt was American companies doing it to American workers.
More directly, it was American investors doing it to American workers. And those American workers discovered that they could change things with their vote. At one point it seemed like the Democratic Party was their champion but then Bill Clinton threw in with the bosses, competing for campaign funds from the donor class and this continued with Obama.
Trump is if nothing else an opportunist, and this was a golden political opportunity. Tens of millions of voters that both parties had written off suddenly found a champion again, however imperfect.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:42 amIt was this discord within the party that allowed Trump to overcome any challenger.
Again. See 2016.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:44 amIt’d be kosher if the special counsel is POTUS nominated and Senate confirmed.
Less obscurely, it would be kosher if the SP was selected from USAs who had already been confirmed.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:46 amMy personal thoughts on it are that more resources need to be directed at the elementary level
Indeed. Which is why I think that some of the inclusion efforts are the college level are misguided. If I were a billionaire wanting to make an impact, I’d be forming private elementary schools in the inner city with subsidized tuition.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:50 am* inclusion efforts AT the college level
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:51 amThere will be a time, if not now, that no one is going to communicate on internal email anymore.
The SEC is suing several large brokerages for using encrypted services like WhatsApp instead of SMS and email because the SEC wants to be able to read all of their communications. Apparently the kind of thing you cannot do with laws, you can do with regulations.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 7:53 amNot to me, and it wasn’t NeverTrumpers who killed his campaign.
Paul Montagu (f7ef6d) — 8/11/2024 @ 8:20 amTrump went after DeSantis when the gap was single digits in early 2023, and his followers followed suit. A year ago today, his support had dwindled from upper 30s% to 15%. That wasn’t because of NeverTrumpers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/08/10/jordan-chiles-olympic-bronze-jeopardy-court/
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 8:34 amHard time:
The sentence may be 20 years but the time served will be a matter of months before he is pardoned.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/11/2024 @ 8:59 amDid they ever figure out who built the gallows?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/11/2024 @ 9:17 amI haven’t said much at all about Ukraine’s invasion of the Russian Kursk Oblast, but they’ve advanced 30km into Russian territory, according to the Russian terrorist state, and Putin still hasn’t put forward an effective defense.
Bold move, approved by Zelenskyy, especially now that Russian forces in occupied Ukraine are being redeployed to the Kursk front.
Also, this effort crushes the ridiculous White House concept of “escalation management”, which was stupid at the outset and is now effectively provably stupid.
Paul Montagu (f7ef6d) — 8/11/2024 @ 9:24 am@138
Actually… yes.
The prop was like 3ft tall.
That’s why the person wasn’t important. The J6-hysertics wound rather exaggerate saying someone built a real gallows, when in reality it was a small prop. Akin to the protests during the GWB years where protestors had a GWB dummy with a noose around the neck on a stick.
whembly (a43e5a) — 8/11/2024 @ 9:43 amThat ” symbol is inches, not feet, Nigel.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/11/2024 @ 9:58 amActually…. no.
They have plenty of video of nefarious characters assembling it in the wee hours of the morning. They also have a pretty good picture of one of the morning crew, later that day, standing on or at the gallows prop.
But like the pipe bomber, it seems impossible to find these agitators.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:21 am@BuDuh… do you have citations/pictures?
The pictures I saw was impossible to be a full size gallow.
whembly (a43e5a) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:32 amThe second to last photo puts to rest that the gallows was 3’ tall.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:35 amIt certainly was not a full size two story functional gallows, Whembly. But there is no way it could be considered a fixture from Storybook Land.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:39 amDid they ever figure out that the gallows was only large enough for a Chucky doll?
NJRob (1b05aa) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:42 amIt’s always about size-gallows size, crowd size, hand size, etc.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:50 amBro… look at the photos:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/the-famous-gallows-of-january-6-who-what-where-when-and-why.html
You’d have to be a midget for this to work… if that.
I mean, it’s interesting that we don’t know who built it… but, it was a prop rather than a functional one.
whembly (a43e5a) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:59 amI think we’re saying the same things. Sorry.
whembly (a43e5a) — 8/11/2024 @ 11:00 amAbsolutely, Paul. It was stupid and is now provably so. That then leads us to wonder how Biden will respond to exposing the um, concern. Will he expedite what Zelensky still needs or will he continue to take the excuse way out?
Dana (ae6d3e) — 8/11/2024 @ 11:01 amIt was a comment on MAGA’s obsession with the size of things.
Rip Murdock (fec955) — 8/11/2024 @ 11:06 amNo kidding???? Wow!
Of course no one ever suggested otherwise. Was it 3’ tall? No where near.
I think the point of the prop, its prominence, and the identity of its assemblers is completely lost on you.
Bro..
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/11/2024 @ 11:35 amGood on rip for bringing a size comment into it and then blaming MAGA for making him make the comment. I never expect more from you, rip. Fair and impartial to the end.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/11/2024 @ 11:38 amSeventh News Item:
Trump has threatened to sue the NYT over this story, saying “We have the flight records of the helicopter.” Trump had included the same story in his 2023 coffee table book.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/11/2024 @ 11:56 amThe book is Letters to Trump, now $90 on Amazon.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:12 pmJD Vance was on Face the Nation and several other Sunday morning interview shows.
He gave good answers when he could, and specious answers when he couldn’t. Sometimes they were glaringly obvious specious answers – he was busted – but he kept a straight face.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:46 pmYou know how to tell if Trump is lying. You don’t have to, he literally never tells the truth, ever, like ever ever. No, really, never.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:49 pmThe NYT and other outlets I read did not report that Trump told a story like that in the past, What exactly is in the book?
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:49 pmWhat if Trump were to say that he was once president? Is that a lie?
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:50 pmHe’s lying, he’s always lying. He was never President, didn’t happen, shared hallucination.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 12:56 pmRe: Hacking and leaking:
Iran seems to be copying the same methodology that Russia used/s but some authority commented that they seem to be on opposite sides in this election (that would be Russia against Biden or Harris and Iran against Trump.)
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/11/2024 @ 1:04 pm162 lies and distortions in a news conference. NPR fact checks former President Trump
That’s a lie every 24 seconds
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 1:12 pm#162 For some time I’ve thought that Trump’s sheer volume of lies protects him to some extent, oddly enough.
If, for example, you are a columnist looking at that transcript, how do you write a readable discussion of all the falsehoods, given the limits on space you have? It would be even worse for most TV producers, given their time limits.
(FWIW, I concluded some time ago that most conventional American politicians lie less often than than many voters believe; Our conventional politicians are more likely to mislead voters than tellthem outright lies.)
Jim Miller (974cef) — 8/11/2024 @ 1:39 pmTo be fair some of the lies are repeats, is it one lie, to say you’ve had the biggest crowds of (insert random thing), that is just made up numbers. Or each time you through out the crowd size thing it’s a new lie. I get that whenever he says “crowd size” then a lie is coming, so is it really fair to ding him for every time that lie comes out.
I was wrong though, he made 184 claims in total during the “press conference”, 22 were not demonstrably false. It could have been 187, so we’ll just go ahead and call it 25, so 13% were truths, 87% lies, frankly I’m shocked. In the 64 minutes, there were times when other people were talking, so the babble density was incredibly high.
I still think he 100% believes whatever he’s saying in the moment, in 5 seconds he’ll say something that is different to the same question, and he 100% believes that too.
He’s Tony Bennett in Vegas, playin’ the hits.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 2:24 pmthrow out
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 2:24 pmYes, because it shows that he hasn’t learned to admit he was wrong to begin with. If Trump ever admitted his crowd size claims were wrong (for example), it would destroy his credibility.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/11/2024 @ 2:36 pmBoth the USA men’s and women’s basketball teams won gold at the Paris Olympics, beating their respective French teams. The women’s team extended its win streak to 61 games.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/11/2024 @ 2:43 pmHe said Trump and credibility, heh 😉
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 3:31 pmBrittney Griner’s reaction to winning her third gold medal is just right:
Jim Miller (974cef) — 8/11/2024 @ 4:10 pmComedy gold! 🤣😂😉🙃😜
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/11/2024 @ 4:32 pmWTF is up with the crowd size thing? I know he has a teeny tiny weenie, but I don’t know how him having an opponent that brings so many more people out than him is going to make his schwantz not so small.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:14 pmShe’s a CHEATER.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:14 pm
I think the irony meter just shattered.
norcal (ddfa76) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:20 pmThe Harris campaign really knows how to get under Trump’s skin.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/11/2024 @ 5:45 pmAnd Trump really knows how to get under yours.
LOL!
BuDuh (970138) — 8/11/2024 @ 6:23 pmActually he doesn’t get under my skin, but he is a target rich environment for mockery.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/11/2024 @ 6:27 pmSure…
BuDuh (970138) — 8/11/2024 @ 6:29 pmIf you love Donald Trump, all his lies are real.
I am not joking. I am not being ironic.
I am stating the fundamental nature of the successful confidence game.
And love is the word.
nk (bb1548) — 8/11/2024 @ 6:47 pmIf Kamala told the truth about her politics and her plans for the country, she would be down 20 points.
If Biden actually fulfilled Trump’s security requests, instead of lying about them, Trump wouldn’t have been one inch from having his head blown off and one decent family man wouldn’t be dead.
But, Trump lied about crowd sizes, so….
lloyd (e23fa0) — 8/11/2024 @ 9:22 pmDay 22 of Kamala being shielded from an adoring media.
lloyd (b714c1) — 8/11/2024 @ 9:23 pmAnd literally everything else, once every 24 seconds for an hour.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 9:46 pm@180 “And literally everything else, once every 24 seconds for an hour.”
Trump tells the truth about Kamala’s leftist politics, when you and others here willingly lie about it, and that’s what really irks you Klink.
lloyd (e23fa0) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:00 pmWhen did he have time? He only talks about his small peni-crowd size.
It’s something I’ve noticed about Trump supporters, always trying to make up for their lack of…crowd size.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 10:17 pmIf Biden actually fulfilled Trump’s security requests, instead of lying about them, Trump wouldn’t have been one inch from having his head blown off and one decent family man wouldn’t be dead.
A decent family man is dead because Donnie Two Inch used him as stage decoration and a backstop for a would-be assassin’s bullets.
What legal duty did Biden have to divert resources in order to fulfill Trump’s security requests outside the standard operating procedure for ex-Presidents and major party candidates?
Why isn’t Donnie Two Inch responsible for his choice of venue and the attendant logistics?
nk (aeea1e) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:57 am@183 Women who dress provocatively deserve it too, nk.
lloyd (95de1b) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:15 am@183
If thems the rules, then I blame Democrat’s and NeverTrumper’s rhetoric that lead to this shooter believing he’s doing the right thing.
I don’t think you’ll going to like thems the rules…
whembly (477db6) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:20 amNew Citizen: Rod Carew (78)
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:32 amThe Harris campaign really knows how to get under Trump’s skin.
It’s not hard. Baiting Trump is like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s really amazing the way that the trivial attracts his mind so. This election sucks.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:35 amIt’s something I’ve noticed about Trump supporters, always trying to make up for their lack of…crowd size.
Really, Klink? Is this the best you’ve got?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:37 amA decent family man is dead because Donnie Two Inch used him as stage decoration and a backstop for a would-be assassin’s bullets.
With similar logic and facts, a decent family man is dead because Biden picked the wrong assassin.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:39 amA toddler’s parents owe him unconditional love. Nobody else.
nk (aeea1e) — 8/12/2024 @ 8:19 amIf you’re looking for a reason, any reason to either refrain from voting or vote for Trump… it’s the judiciary.
Democrats are on record to pack the Supreme Court and to stuff it with radical ideologues.
Here’s an example:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/08/an-unconstitutional-agency-may-finally-meet-its-end/
We know how impactful SCOTUS seats are… but the Appellate and District levels are just as important.
In short, there’s no “conservative case” to actually voting for Harris. Even if it’s to keep you know who out of the WH.
whembly (477db6) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:28 amKevin M #189. They are not the same.
The first thing is something Donald Trump actually did – hold an outdoor rally – although no blame cannot be attached to him for that decision, while the second thing is something Biden did not do, (pick an assassin) nor would anybody else have done that because the chances of success, were too small, and the chances of killing other people, including Secret Service agents was too great.
A similar thing for Biden would be him attacking the prospect of Donald Trump getting elected too strongly. But that was coming from many places.
I have thought that might have been a factor in Biden’s decision to quit the race, for there were two ways an would be assassin could hope to prevent Donald Trump from being elected president: One was by killing Trump – the other was by killing Biden! (according to the standard liberal conventional wisdom)
After the June 27 debate, Biden had turned into the weakest Democratic candidate – even weaker than Kamala Harris..
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:28 amlol, this will get laughed out of court:
whembly (477db6) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:30 amhttps://www.nationalreview.com/news/trump-plans-to-sue-justice-department-for-100-million-over-fbis-mar-a-lago-raid/
I doubt it will even make it to court. Any lawyer worth his oath wouldn’t file it, but then again……..
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:39 amColonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/11/2024 @ 2:24 pm
Well, he did in his convention acceptance speech about whether his life was in danger because he turned his head too much or too little.
He goes more with he turned his head too little, but the truth was he turned his head too much – how else could it barely graze his right war? Turning more would only hit him in the front of his head.
I had thought Trump was somewhat improved in character or a little bit more serious by his brush with death, but it was only a little. It’s wearing off.
I need to check if one version was in the prepared speech and the other one was from his memory.
You can read the full text of his speech (as delivered) here
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/19/us/politics/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html
I think it is possible that NBC had the prepared version.
I quoted both versions in this thread at #235 and I got two replies at #237 and #239:
https://patterico.com/2024/07/21/president-biden-bows-out-of-the-race/#comments
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:43 amhttps://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1822889460243001547?
Correct on all counts.
NJRob (33497d) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:50 amwas wrong though, he made 184 claims in total during the “press conference”, 22 were not demonstrably false. It could have been 187, so we’ll just go ahead and call it 25, so 13% were truths, 87% lies, frankly I’m shocked.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:53 amThe “are-you-better-off question was originally asked by Ronald Reagan in 1980in is debate with Jimmy Carter and hit home because in 1976, toward the end the AFL-CIO had endorsed Jimmy Carter on the grounds that he was a Democrat and that the economy was better when a Democrat was president.
Well (almost) four years had passed. Was it true?
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:57 amMaybe you forgot what was going on during Trump’s term.
Delusion and crowd size.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:57 amLet’s watch and see if Elon Musk’s interview with Donald Trump on X goes better than his “failure to launch” interview with Ron DeSantis.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:02 amTrump doesn’t say things that are lies that he believes – he tells lies that he thinks others will believe.
And he thinks so because they are circulating uncontradicted in the MAGAsphere.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-harris-campaign-photo-crowd-size-detroit
I don’t know where they come from. But here’s how, presumably, Trump got that meme.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:06 amSomebody decided that, because the picture was made public by someone affiliated with the Harris campaign. it
could havemust have been fake, since Trump was saying she drew no such large size crowds.The right wing is fond of “evidence” for its assertions, so there must have been an argument made as to how the picture was fake..(it wouldn’t have gone viral without an argument.)
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:11 amCorrect on all counts.
Except for the implied claim that he’s the bast person for the job.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:18 amBetting odds just increased Nikki Haley’s chances at White House by 5 fold, to 2%.
So you’re saying there’s a chance.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:29 amHow many demonstrably false claims did Kamala Harris make in her press conference?
… Oh, that’s right. She hasn’t held one since being gifted the nomination.
You can’t fault one candidate for not telling the truth as much as you’d like when the other candidate doesn’t speak AT ALL.
SaveFarris (79ab12) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:29 amIt’s as if she’s held no rallies that were subject to fact-checking.
Paul Montagu (09c7fc) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:44 amOne could say that Zelenskyy’s call for an incursion into Kursk oblast was “genius” and “savvy”, but you won’t hear Trump saying that.
Paul Montagu (09c7fc) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:46 amIt’s as if she’s held no rallies that were subject to fact-checking.
The qualification makes it true.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:15 pmOne could say that Zelenskyy’s call for an incursion into Kursk oblast was “genius” and “savvy”
It’s hard to see what the plan is there. It seems like performance rather than strategy. Now they need to have F-16s strike the Kremlin for the blow-off.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:17 pmThe big question: Will Putin nuke Kursk?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:19 pm#196 Now that is more than a little unfair to House Speaker Mike Johnson, and his narrow Republican majority.
As anyone who was paying attention in civics class knows, Congress, not the president, has the most power over economic policies. And, as anyone who was paying attention in a good civics class knows, the House has more power over the economy than the Senate, since tax bills must begin in the House.
So, whatever blame, or credit, there is for the economy should go first to the House, not the president.
There are all kinds of numbers one can be used to judge the overall performance of the economy. For example, I don’t think Speaker Johnson should feel too badly about these recent numbers.
The decrease in the inflation rate is also good news. (Much of the world’s current inflation was caused by the Loser’s friend, Czar Putin.)
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:37 pmcorrection: “that can be used”
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:40 pmThe plan put in place by Russia to insert their asset into the White House ensured that their plan to invade Ukraine would be assisted by FUD planted by their asset would minimize risk to the Russian state in case of a quagmire.
The plan was successful until the west finally OK’d Ukraine to attack into Russia proper.
Putin has known that his military was suspect, but like a good spy, inserted an asset into the enemy ranks to sow discord amongst NATO state members. It worked quite well.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:45 pmBy the way, if you want to see comparative economic numbers, a good place to look is the back of the Economist magazine. In every issue, they have a “league table” comparing the important economic statistics for more than 40 nations (and the European Union).
Looking at most convenient issue (June 1st), I see that the US growth rate is higher than that in the EU (3.0 vs. 0.4), and the unemployment rate is lower (3.9 vs. 6.5). The inflation rate is higher in the US (3.4 vs. 2.4), but is getting close to the Fed 2 percent target.
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:52 pmThis is the dumbest article I’ve seen in a while.
I get that Vance and much of the right really dislike trans ppl.
But acting as if dressing up like a chick for a Halloween party is an act of hypocrisy is just dumb. There’s an obvious difference between a costume and being trans.
The article should have been “JD Vance Looked dumb at a Halloween party 10 years ago.”
There are plenty of ways to create humor out of the photo, but this isn’t one of them.
non-paywalled link
Time123 (cfc66b) — 8/12/2024 @ 12:59 pmSure you can. They both suck in different ways, to different extents, and for different reasons. It’s totally okay to complain that Harris is avoiding potentially unfavorable media interactions to focus on large rallies in a naked act of opportunistic cowardice and to complain that Trump is incredibly dishonest and has been for his entire public life.
It’s also fine to draw conclusions about ppl based on their reactions to this.
For example if you were to assert that my reaction to Harris’s strategy is blase indifference that indicates my opinion of her is unchanged by this strategy you would be correct. I have a very low opinion of her. I think she’s smart, and opportunistic, and not strongly principled. He actions are in line with that.
If I were to say you don’t care that Trump is a massively dishonest man who lies continuously I think that would also be correct. But I don’t know enough about you to say why you’re so unconcerned.
Time123 (cfc66b) — 8/12/2024 @ 1:07 pmTrolling trump about crowd size is funny. He’s the only person in modern politics who cares about that metric. I suspect he knows it, and knows that when ppl bring it up they’re messing with him.
Time123 (cfc66b) — 8/12/2024 @ 1:09 pmI think he’s painfully insecure and desperate for external validation of his popularity. Crowd size is one way for him to make claims about how popular he is.
Time123 (cfc66b) — 8/12/2024 @ 1:11 pmSpeaking of comparisons, here’s one I like to use: As president, Barack Obama told at least an order of magnitude more falsehoods than George W. Bush; as president, the Loser told at least an order of magnitude more falsehoods than Barack Obama.
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 1:25 pmDr. Leanna Wen has this to say about the Olympics:
Of course we have had similar problems in the US, but most of the time we try to clean them up, not cover them up.
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 1:37 pmIt is just another weird thing about him. He obviously doesn’t actually know anything of substance so he just makes crap up.
His crowd size J6, that was larger than MLK’s is just stupid.
So he claims he had 25k, and he also claims MLK had a million, so his lie doesn’t even make internal sense within the lie in the same sentence. Even by his own claim, MLK’s was 40X larger.
The reality is Trump had 10k (not the largest crowd Trump spoke to that month), and MLK had 250k, so it was only 25X.
He started off claiming he had more than Obama at the inauguration, again that was just patently dumb.
Weird.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 1:38 pmAnd what’s with hanging out with all these incel streamers, and JD Vance? Why would you want to be king of the incels? Does adding the incels not subtract normies 10-1, or is it just Donnie Jr. and Eric.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 1:49 pmMedia propaganda at a level that even Pravda couldn’t aspire to.
https://x.com/TimMurtaugh/status/1823061456818233852
NJRob (33497d) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:00 pmthe House has more power over the economy than the Senate, since tax bills must begin in the House.
That rule was found empty in the first Congress. Take any House bill and replace every word it in the Senate.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:08 pmAlso, Congress’s power over the economy is seen clearly in Congresscare and Congressnomics.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:09 pmI get that Vance and much of the right really dislike trans ppl.
I don’t have an issue with trans folks doing their trans thing. I do have an issue with them expecting me to cheerlead. Can’t we just stop at “Live and let live”?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:11 pmWTF is up with the crowd size thing?
I think it’s related to the MSM’s glorification of all things Harris. That it’s a stupid reaction only means it’s Trump’s reaction, not that there is nothing that deserves a reaction. I do wish the GOP standard bearer was less witless.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:15 pmHere’s a brief history of our nation’s most important tax committee
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:18 pmSo, what are the odds that Biden will resign in October, giving Harris the bully pulpit.
*Surprise*
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:36 pmOh please. Trump has been exaggerating his crowd size since 2016.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:37 pmHarris/Walz have just found something that gets under Trump’s skin in a big way.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:39 pmTrump has been exaggerating his crowd size since 2016.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:37 pm
And he’s been crying “stolen election” since he lost to Ted Cruz in the 2016 Iowa primary.
norcal (13fd15) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:39 pmasset (f81702) — 8/9/2024 @ 9:56 pm
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/9/2024 @ 10:08 pm
She might lose her election. (not too likely. Ilhan Omar is in greater danger)
The primary tomorrow is uncontested for her.
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/whos-running-against-rashida-tlaib-michigans-12th-congressional-district
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:41 pmI wouldn’t be surprised, but he should have done it sooner when he withdrew from the campaign.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:42 pmThe United States has made an offer to Maduro.
Jus in case what’s stopping him from leaving office is the US investigation into he and his people smuggling cocaine into the United States an offer has been made not to seek his extradition if he leaves office and Venezuela.
hat sounds like there might be a sealed indictment.
here are two special reasons for intervention: He stays in power because of Cuba and the indictment (like Noreiga in Panama)
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:44 pmLOL! The Ukrainian F-16s would get nowhere close to Moscow. They would be lucky to leave Ukrainian air space before being shot down.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:46 pmRe: Trump’s threatened lawsuit against the DOJ for the MAL search. Two words: qualified immunity.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:50 pmThe indictment of Maduro (along with a host of other Venezuelan officials) was announced in 2020. Not a secret.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 2:56 pmIs Kamala more ideologue or opportunist? That is the big question.
If the answer is the former, then there is cause for concern. If it is the latter, then I could envision a Bill Clinton type of presidency.
Even if she is an ideologue, there will be incentive to moderate so as not to ruin her chances of re-election four years hence. With any luck, by that time neither Trump nor any other grifters (I’m looking at you, Ramaswamy) will be candidates, and I can vote Republican again.
norcal (13fd15) — 8/12/2024 @ 3:13 pmI must give credit where credit is due:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mormons-don-t-want-to-vote-for-trump/ar-AA1oG7yn
norcal (13fd15) — 8/12/2024 @ 3:40 pm#239 norcal – I’ve been thinking about the same question, and have come up with this tentative answer: She’s probably an ideologue on abortion, but probably not on economic issues, and very probably not — considering her record — on crime.
According to the WaPo, she is already moving toward the center on some issues, even rejecting some past views.
(Washington state’s attorney general, Bob Ferguson, who has had conventional Democratic views throughout his career, is promising to add more police, if he is elected governor. Reminds me of Bill Clinton’s promise to pay for an additional 100K cops, if he were elected president.)
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 3:54 pmAccording to the WaPo, she is already moving toward the center on some issues, even rejecting some past views.
Jim Miller (c0f6d0) — 8/12/2024 @ 3:54 pm
Good. She has the world at her fingertips. All she needs to do is be a moderate a la Bill Clinton (and forswear Clintonian sexual behavior).
norcal (13fd15) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:06 pmOuch! Cataggio today on Trump:
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/boilingfrogs/something-is-wrong/
I’m not keen on having someone with a psychological disability control the nuclear codes.
norcal (13fd15) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:10 pmThe front page Wall Street Journal story didn’t mention the indictment, but says “Maduro and his top lieutenants…face Justice Department indictments”
On the other hand Maduro obviously knows about it, and it says the U.S. has discussed pardons.
The article says that in 2020 the US.placed a $20 million bounty for informstion leading to Maduro’s arrest
https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/in-secret-talks-u-s-offers-amnesty-to-venezuelas-maduro-for-ceding-power-e22b4821=
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:32 pmI guess the WSJ reporters were confused or wrote the story on too short notice,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:37 pmThere’s an actual outstanding indictment but the WSJ reporters probably did not know about it o were unclear.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:39 pmSince the indictment was mentioned in their story I would assume they knew about it, since it is old news.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:43 pmIf you search “Maduro indictment” it’s the first result that pops up.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:45 pmthink what you have to look at with Kamala Harris is who are her allies and associates, and whose arguments she echoes. I don’t think she really has very many principles. Yes she genuinely is pro-abortion but that is probably not really important to her, and the entire Democratic Party is looking fir a way to make it an issue, Most people would rather have a law that is too liberal, even much too liberal, than one that is more restrictive, even just potentially, than they want.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:55 pmNo, that Maduri faces indictnent was mentioned and that the US. was looking fir information.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/12/2024 @ 4:57 pmI think what we have to look for with Trump is his plan to transfer the Social Security Trust Fund to Gazprombank.
nk (012a32) — 8/12/2024 @ 5:00 pmAnd we know that the WaPo is so moderate and objective. They absolutely aren’t leftwing ideologues who are in lock step with the radicals in the Democrat party.
/s
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/12/2024 @ 5:22 pmSome of you may recall my Mustang-carcass encounter from several days ago.
It turns out I’m getting a new transmission, along with some other underside parts! (The transmission is a fancy 10-speed, jointly developed with GM. The cost for that alone is $5732.)
I haven’t spoken to my insurance company since the day of the incident, but it has already signed off on the estimate, the grand total of which is over $9,000. I was all ready to do verbal battle with them, but there was no need.
I’ll be paying $1000 (my deductible) of that total. I would rather have spent that on dinner at the French Laundry, but oh well.
I just hope my premiums don’t go up much.
norcal (13fd15) — 8/12/2024 @ 5:34 pmOh please. Trump has been exaggerating his crowd size since 2016.
And the MSM has been glorifying his opponents since then, too.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 5:54 pmIf the answer is the former, then there is cause for concern. If it is the latter, then I could envision a Bill Clinton type of presidency.
She has walked the far left walk her whole political life, up to and including picking Walz, a fellow traveler. But maybe if you wish real hard.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 5:58 pmWith any luck, by that time neither Trump nor any other grifters (I’m looking at you, Ramaswamy) will be candidates, and I can vote Republican again.
If you expect the GOP to return to the status quo ante, you will need more serious wishing.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:00 pmAccording to the WaPo, she is already moving toward the center on some issues, even rejecting some past views.
Rube.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:01 pmNot to belabor the point (but I will), when the media reports that someone “faces” an indictment, it generally means that the indictment has been released to the public, as Maduro’s indictment was in 2020.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:02 pmI just hope my premiums don’t go up much.
They shouldn’t go up at all. Road hazard.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:03 pmNew York Judge Kicks RFK Jr. Off Ballot in Residency Challenge
How to make sure he endorses Trump.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:07 pmSo, wait. If RFKJr’s residency claims were unlawful and he voted in New York, does that make every vote a felony? Asking for a friend.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:09 pm“It’s as if she’s held no rallies that were subject to fact-checking.“
It’s as if the original allegations were about press conferences.
Like complaining candidate A lied more in a state of the union than candidate B did in a 15 second ad.
SaveFarris (a2eb50) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:26 pmHmm,
yet they refuse to clean up voter rolls for just that issue. Why is that?
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:31 pmSad!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:32 pmI see you beat me Kevin, touché!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:33 pmThey are soulmates-both are conspiracy mongering authoritarian wanna-bes. It’s a match made in heaven.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:49 pmhttps://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/08/why-people-dont-like-illegal-immigration.php
This is the America that Biden and the left desire.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:06 pmOh, now we like New York judges?
And Kamala! How dare she not let MAGA manage her campaign? SO UNFAIR!
nk (af896d) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:16 pmThis Trump/Musk interview is the funniest damn thing I have heard in years
Patterico (e6d1ab) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:37 pmOooh, wait, you mean illegal immigrants raped and murdered people when Trump was president when he fixed everything and then Biden un-fixed it?
What? No, our perfect widdle boy never actually got around to doing anything…when he was president and his party had control of both houses of congress and the SCOTUS.
You mean wanting illegal immigration as a problem is more important to run on than, uhh, fixing it?
What, No, I mean I never.
Well, really we all knew he as always lying, because IT’S ALL HE FREAKIN’ DOES.
But sure, forget all the things, only he can fix it…this time, he swears, all you have to do is let him get a little taste of that sweet sweet government teet, maybe some Egyptian cash, some Russian cash, sell a seat on Air Force two, pay for his criminal defense(s). But sure, this time he’ll re-fix all the things that were un-fixed, totally.
Just gotta pull out of NATO, quadruple tariffs crippling the economy, driving inflation to only 10-15% matching unemployment, gettin’ him some crypto dollars, letting his buddies Xi and Un have their way with the neighbors.
Luvs him some Putin, Xi, and Un, he keeps telling his edgelord buddy about it tonight.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:37 pmI have not been able to pay much attention to the substance because it’s all “Even worth, they prothecute the poleeth offither” and “A Than Franthithco liberal who dethtroyed Than Franthithco”
Patterico (efedf6) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:41 pmSo, what was that all about with the Kamala Time cover looked like Melania?
Maybe he has prosopagnosia, face blindness. Or anyone not him is just an NPC.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:47 pmDoes this look like Melania?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:49 pmDid Ronny Jackson give him too much Ambien?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:54 pmDoes this look like Melania?
It looks like the photo Elizabeth Warren sent with her Harvard job app.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 8:12 pmPatterico (efedf6) — 8/12/2024 @ 7:41 pm
Dogberry
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 8:15 pmFor example, see here and here.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/12/2024 @ 8:23 pmHuh, why does that tickle the memory banks?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 9:45 pmThere’s just the general stupid of Trump but sometimes he just quadruples down on the most possible stupid. Like crowd size, or that he almost crashed in a helicopter with Willie Brown, that he “built the wall”. He just makes up crap about things we all saw him do, nope, not me, didn’t do it.
Remember sharpiegate.
But…I still don’t believe he is technically lying, he exists in multiple realities that we don’t share, so these things happened, just not in our reality. He’s a quantum stub that exists across all potentialities.
Either that or he’s a mentally defective geriatric that has somehow convinced the rubes that he sees’ the reality under the reality, Cheeto Jesus.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/12/2024 @ 10:23 pmIs the Musk interview of Trump worth watching? Asking for a friend.
norcal (a42f77) — 8/12/2024 @ 11:07 pmI’m genuinely surprised that Politico or WaPo haven’t posted the documents, or at least written stories about their contents. If “Robert” claimed possession of documents leaked from the Harris campaign, conservative media would be demanding their release.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/12/2024 @ 11:55 pmIt’s audio only, and Trump has marbles in his mouth. Plus, Musk is obviously stoned. It’s basically the hits, though his weird riff on Kamala looking like Melania was bizarre. He did the whole “friends with” Putin, Xi, and Un, and their strong and smart guys; it’s jarring every time.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:21 amA working class rural American like Elon Musk — who is seeing his way of life destroyed by the elites and multinationals who have shipped our economy overseas, and by the secular social liberals who are corrupting America from within with their drugs and sexual license — would naturally gravitate towards a moral, Christian, America-first, populist conservative like Donald Trump.
nk (5ddbba) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:53 amStill no interest in the attempted assassination that came a half inch from murdering the leading candidate for the Presidency.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:51 am2 men won gold medals beating up women at the Olympics.
Crickets.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:54 amTrump tried to fix it via Congress. Democrats filibustered.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/468368-senate-democrats-block-defense-spending-bill/
So Trump used Executive Authority and got the funding that way. Then Democrats wearing judicial robes stopped him there too.
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/appeals-court-rules-trumps-border-wall-illegal-blocks-further-construction
It would have been appealed to SCOTUS where, as you note, it would have probably been allowed. But the clock ran out and the Biden admin withdrew the challenge.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/01/politics/supreme-court-border-wall-asylum/index.html
I suppose Trump COULD have pulled a Biden and just ignored Congress and the courts and kept on building anyway. But he didn’t. Because, it turns out, he’s NOT an authoritarian.
SaveFarris (79ab12) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:55 amThe EU threated American citizens, specifically Elon Musk, and the UK threatened American citizens in general for daring to exercise their 1st Amendment rights speaking out against the violence and horror coming from an islamic invasion.
Why are we protecting these values? Why are we spending untold gobs of money protecting these hateful beliefs?
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:58 amThe only one who says that is Gazprom’s fake sports organization. But if you love all things Russian, that’s enough.
nk (5ddbba) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:24 amHoly crap someone tried to shoot Kamala Harris??
Patterico (ef4035) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:26 amDon’t know what an XY chromosome is, do ya?
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:34 amAn innocent man was murdered, two critically injured, a candidate an inch away from being blown away.
This calls for flippancy.
lloyd (a86d89) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:56 amDay 24 of Kamala being shielded from an adoring media.
lloyd (a86d89) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:57 amhttps://www.wsj.com/economy/consumers/inflation-costs-housing-utilities-purchases-8b6f18d8?st=je0w5fhm0s9gg32&reflink=article_email_share
The imaginary adjustment in inflation is due to game playing with the CPI and not with a reduction in inflation. Middle America hardest hit.
Keep supporting leftism.
NJRob (33af0a) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:18 amDon’t know what an XY chromosome is, do ya?
Never heard of it. I have heard that there are X chromosomes and Y chromosomes. But if you have a karyotype showing an XY chromosome from either of those girls, I would like to see it.
nk (5ddbba) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:23 amIs it anything like the disinfectant we can inject people with for Covid? Or is it more like an ultraviolet light?
nk (5ddbba) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:25 amI’ll say this much. I have heard worse gibberish, albeit not scientificalistic.
One time, a natural-born Trump supporter told me, face to face, that the reason Obama traveled overseas is a lot was because the President gets paid double when he is out of the country. Honestly.
nk (5ddbba) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:33 amoverseas
nk (5ddbba) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:35 amisa lotDon’t know what an XY chromosome is, do ya?
Do you? Because it does not absolutely determine sexual features. AIUI, both these athletes were females from birth. They are NOT trans.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:37 amI’ll say this much. I have heard worse gibberish, albeit not scientificalistic.
All my magnets are wet.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:40 amKevin,
they were both male from birth with female characteristics. There is a reason they are banned from all legitimate sports… for a little while longer till the leftist insanity of destroying sex continues its rampage though society.
NJRob (33af0a) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:43 amNo, they simply show X & Y chromosomes. Genetics, like most biology, is messy.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:09 amX&Y= man
NJRob (33af0a) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:16 amSuddenly people can’t define what a man is. Must be nominated to the Supreme Court.
NJRob (33af0a) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:17 amGuilty:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:25 amSo you’ve seen some DNA test, huh? Please, share this test, maybe with all the “legitimate” sports.
Or did you hear that they got disqualified in a tournament in Russia…after beating Russians, and then so weirdo incel told you what to think.
Those Algerians, well known for trans rights, good one.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:28 amThey were disqualified by the IBA, which was itself disqualified from Olympics rule-making.
But it is not at all clear. No reporters seem to be able to ask the “man parts” question and neither athlete is willing to publish their own version of the genetic testing.
All that is said is that they have identified as females throughout their careers and neither is considered transgender.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:40 amEast German XXY athletes are at a loss here.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:40 amTrump had an immigration deal with Congress in 2018 that included $25 billion for his wall, but he bailed because he (read Stephen Wormtongue Miller) refused to budge on DACA.
Paul Montagu (d40e94) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:15 am@290 Patterico is killing it today! That was funny and fast!!
NJRob, did you have some news about the assassination attempt on Trump that you wanted to share or some new insight into news that is already known?
Time123 (69e26d) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:19 amSounds like a good reason to invade Kursk…
Paul Montagu (d40e94) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:20 am@309 Paul, should he have caved on DACA? And, you were a fan of the wall? Tell us how a True Conservative and Rule Of Law guardian would come down on this.
lloyd (bfc7a9) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:23 am@310 Time123 appreciates assassination humor. Probably also illegal-immigrant-rapist humor, and kids-can’t-read-because-of-Covid-lockdowns humor.
lloyd (bfc7a9) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:27 amI thought you considered a woman as a person born with female reproductive organs? That would qualify Imane Khelif as a woman. She (reportedly) has female reproductive organs and has been considered by everyone around her to be a woman her entire life.
From what I’ve read the assertion that she has XY chromosomes has not been supported by evidence and was introduced after the fact when the decision to disqualify her was challenged. if you have such evidence I’d like to read it.
Also, if you look at her professional record She’s 56 and 9. That’s very good, but it’s not like you’d see if Iron Mike got to compete in women’s boxing.
Time123 (69e26d) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:28 amTrump should’ve compromised on DACA, because that’s how legislation gets done, even when he had majorities in both houses. “Caved” is your word, and I’ll note that, given your smarmy tone, you’re not a “True Conservative and Rule of Law guardian”.
As for the wall, I don’t have strong feelings about it. If there’s data that shows it can be effective in certain places, surewhynot.
Paul Montagu (d40e94) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:31 amHey Lloyd, How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Answer: THATS NOT FUNNY!!!!! Jokes based on stereotypes abut women’s mechanical aptitude reenforce those negative stereotypes and blah blah blah
Don’t be such a snowflake, Paterico’s one liner was funny.
Also, you should consider finding a style of argument that’s based on what ppl say, and not a hypothetical about what you think they would say in some other circumstances.
Time123 (69e26d) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:35 am@316 Time123, sounds like you didn’t find my @313 funny. Snowflake.
lloyd (bfc7a9) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:40 amThe wall seemed like a stupid idea, but not super expensive relative to the federal budget.
Trump’s inability to get it done is evidence of his incompetence.
The law says that dreamers should be deported.
We should follow the law.
Failing to do so weakens the rule of law and incentivizes further lawlessness.
But following the law will result in sending ppl who were brought here as children and have been leading productive lives in our country to a place they have never been and do not know.
Sending productive ppl from the home they’ve known their entire lives to a place they’ve never known is tragic and unjust.
Following the law should not result in tragic and unjust outcomes. Tragic and unjust outcomes weakens the rule of law and incentives lawlessness.
Hence what to do about Dreamers is a hard problem with no perfect solution, just trade offs. Our political system as it’s currently constructed punishes elected officials for making trade offs and rewards candidates that stoke enmity and promise to be unyielding in the pursuit of extreme goals. I’m pessimistic that we will have a solution on DACA any time soon.
Time123 (69e26d) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:44 amWas @313 supposed to be a joke? Did anyone else get it?
Time123 (69e26d) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:44 amMates… can we… chill for a bit?
whembly (477db6) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:50 amI’ll stop making fun of Lloyd.
But interested if your thoughts only comment on Daca.
Time123 (44b6d0) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:10 pm“But following the law will result in sending ppl who were brought here as children and have been leading productive lives in our country to a place they have never been and do not know.”
False.
DACA applies to anyone who came here before they reached the age of 16.
lloyd (fcc117) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:30 pmThere’s been audio released by the police showing the Secret Service was told about the building in question and were supposed to secure it.
Surprised you haven’t seen it. Wonder why?
NJRob (33af0a) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:37 pmDid getting shot at make DJT less of a freakshow?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:40 pm@321
…ight…
@318
The wall, or any other barriers are a great idea.
It’s a force multiplier and allows the Border Patrol to focus on areas of likely incursions, rather than going “wide”, which stretches resources to try capturing at the border.
I would argue having a robust wall, wherever possible, would be much much cheaper than the total cost of illegal immigrations on our social services per year.
I don’t think that’s right.
I doubt any republican would’ve been as successful due to Democrats and Democrats in black robes living in Hawaii.
With regards to DACA… I have sympathy for those whom are here now. Here’s how I approach this:
1) The overarching goal is this – how do we slow/stop the flow of illegal immigration? Right now, the incentives are so good, that any disincentives are deemed worth while.
2) That starts with truly securing our borders/ports of entry/temp green cards. It must be robustly acted upon and any appeals must be heard in a short timeframe (ie, 90 days).
3) DACA specifically – give them permanent green card (no citizenship) with open acknowledgement that they cannot vote unless they pass citizenship. If Democrats balk at that – then, it’s deportation time. To pressure Democrats to come to the table, a GOP president upon arriving the office, should start the APA procedure to rescind DACA. That takes about 90-120 days for Congress to pass any alternative to deportations and forces both sides to have those hard conversations.
whembly (477db6) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:41 pmooof… sorry for formatting snafu…
whembly (477db6) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:42 pm@322
lloyd… tbf, I think time is referring to the Obama era DACA recipients… who could be their late 20s/30s by now.
whembly (477db6) — 8/13/2024 @ 12:44 pmDon’t be such a snowflake, Paterico’s one liner was funny.
If you like snide. When he was shot, Trump was the leading candidate.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:03 pm@327 What did you think “to a place they have never been” meant? Plain English.
lloyd (fcc117) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:04 pmMyself, I have no problem with any resolution of the status of the Uninvited except for 1) mass deportation or 2) citizenship.
People who crawl over ground glass to come to this country are likely to be better behaved than some who were born here. They do not seem to feel “entitled” and will take any job that pays. We could do far worse.
But … there has to be a cost for sneaking in and evading our law. TO me the simplest and most humane punishment is to deny citizenship to those who came as adults.
DACA and citizenship is a tougher call. I think it should be possible but have to be earned and certainly no easier than the process for those that enter legally.
I also feel that any resolution has to be coupled with a strong revision of immigration from countries to our south. I’d advocate a formal treaty with at least Mexico involving expanded limits and some reciprocation. Right now an illegal can own property in the United States, but an American cannot own property in Mexico. I understand that Mexico has issues with what happened in 1830s Texas, but we also have issue with what some MExicans call the “Reconquista.” This too must be resolved.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:13 pmWhat did you think “to a place they have never been” meant? Plain English.
The plain English is one where they have no memory of, no connection with. I lived in two houses before I was 5, but have no memory of them at all.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:16 pmKevin’s comment @331 captures the point I was trying to make. Sorry if my word choice caused confusion.
Time123 (44b6d0) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:18 pmAs for Tim Walz: This is Beyond Trump
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/minneapolis-police-national-guard-paintball-shooting-porch-a9541016.html
(May 31, 2020)
Note that The Independent is a centrist publication in the UK. Sometimes the US press “misses” these things.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:40 pmI lived in two houses before I was 5, but have no memory of them at all.
That’s not quite true: I remember going to one of the first In-N-Outs, on Arrow Highway, during that time. But that’s In-N-Out’s fault.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:42 pmRip Murdock (fec955) — 8/10/2024 @ 12:31 pm
I would suspect:
1. They didn’t want to be anybody else’s tool, especially a foreign power.
2. They weren’t sure the captures were accurate and not changed. They would have to ask the targets of the hack about it to be sure.
3. There wasn’t anything particularly newsworthy about it. Better use it to inform their own reporting, treating it like an off-the-record conversation.
4. There was a possibility they could be accused of illegality, especially if they asked the leaker for better material..
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 1:44 pm> The vast majority support abortion bans after 12-16 weeks.
Sure.
But that doesn’t mean that, if their only options are a regime they think is too restrictive and a regime they think isn’t restrictive enough, they’d prefer the less restrictive one.
They might prefer 12-16 week bans overall but they’d still prefer a 24-week ban over a 6-week ban, if those are the two options they’re presented with.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:01 pmIt’s amazing what you find outside the boundaries of the MSM.
2nd Circuit Rules Lawful Gun Ownership Doesn’t Justify a Warrantless Search
The 2nd Circuit affirmed.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:08 pmThey might prefer 12-16 week bans overall but they’d still prefer a 24-week ban over a 6-week ban, if those are the two options they’re presented with.
I would prefer nearly anything over a 6-week rule, since those are often effectively total. But I support a first trimester window. Europe, which has had 50 years to slog through this morass, settled there. I’m thinking they had reasons.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:10 pmI find the word “ban” in the context of a early-pregnancy window to be pejorative and misleading. It’s like calling our alcohol laws “a 21-year ban.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:13 pmRoughly half of the people unlawfully present in the U.S. are people who entered legally and overstayed their visas. A wall does nothing to stop them.
There is a way to dissuade these people from overstaying, however, and it also works on people who sneak in. There is a system called “E-Verify”. It’s a Department of Homeland Security database that determines if someone is entitled to work. There are a handful of states which mandate that most or all employers use E-Verify.
If there were a federal law that required E-Verify nationwide (combined with robust worksite enforcement by ICE), people here unlawfully would have a hard time getting a job. Guess who doesn’t like E-Verify? Employers. They will scream bloody murder if E-Verify even comes close to being mandated. (The illegal immigration lobby will also get irate.)
Opponents are fond of pointing out a few instances where E-Verify is incorrect. Yes, sometimes someone will get inconvenienced, but no system is perfect.
Jobs are the biggest magnet. Another magnet is public benefits. If the laws are changed to prevent employment and deny public benefits to the undocumented, there is little incentive to come to the U.S., or even to stay in the U.S. You would begin to see self-deportations.
So, next time you’re tempted to get fired up about a wall, think of E-Verify instead.
I was an immigration officer for over 20 years. I support immigration enforcement, but I want to be smart about it.
norcal (50612c) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:34 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 8/12/2024 @ 6:09 pm
Possibly, unless he had no other residence in the United States. His connection with that location is really quite threadbare. A person can choose which residence to regard as his main home, but whether this would meet the minimum requirement for a residence, if you had another, is a question. It’s not clear whether he even had a key, especially after 2017. He had a van parked there till about 2017.
But these statements of residence are usually not questioned.
On the other hand for a criminal proceeding you’d need to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and he was following legal advice, and if he felt it necessary to maintain a New York address, he could easily have done so..
He used a California address when he first registered with the FEC for the election of 2024. He changed it because his lawyer told him the address had to be consistent with his voter registration. (his lawyer did not advise on whether his New York address could legitimately qualify as a residence of his)
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:42 pmHe could have registered in Santa Monica. It’s not hard.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:49 pmWhen was the last time you saw a republican ad attacking democrats mentioning abortion? When the republican primary is over so is the mention of abortion. If the voters agree with republican position on abortion why do they do everything they can to keep abortion off the ballot? In November it will be another post natal abortion for the republican party.
asset (38fb7c) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:50 pmThere was a famous political prosecution (later reversed on appeal) of someone who tried to run for Kings County DA.
https://nypost.com/2009/10/15/hynes-slapped-for-wrongful-prosecution-of-ohara
I’m surprised this was so long ago.
The conviction was eventually overturned in 2017:
https://www.brooklynpaper.com/exonerated-hynes-foe-john-oharas-voter-fraud-conviction-finally-overturned-after-20-years
It may not be a crucial lie – maybe being fit to live in is not enough to satisfy a claim of residency – all that this says is that inventing false proof of non-residency voids the entire conviction.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:50 pmBTW, I have a friend who’s a gym rat at Gold’s in Venice. He reports that RFK Jr works out a lot and is exceptionally strong.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:50 pm> If there were a federal law that required E-Verify nationwide
From which clause in the constitution do you believe Congress derives the power to prohibit any individual from employing another individual without the consent of the federal government?
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:51 pmDid you know that you can run for Congress in any district, regardless of where you live now? You just have to live in the state where the district is located by the time you are elected. If you fail election, I don’t think it’s a problem.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:53 pmWhy di Democrats try to create referendums on abortion or say they want to pass laws reinforcing abortion legality or claim the Republicans will outlaw abortion? (there actually by the way is away to do that, the 1873 Comstock law against sending abortion implements across state lines.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:53 pmFrom which clause in the constitution do you believe Congress derives the power to prohibit any individual from employing another individual without the consent of the federal government?
The Necessary and Proper Clause, of course.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:54 pm@340
I want both.
Embrace the power of “and” and go forth and conquer!
whembly (477db6) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:55 pm@346
Immigration laws.
Duh.
whembly (477db6) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:56 pmaphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:51 pm
They would use the elastic clause, but it has no basis because from an originalist and textualist point of view Congress has no power to regulate immigration in the first place!
Only naturalization. Or incidentally, with the border.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:57 pmEverybody is hallucinating a power of Congress to regulate immigration.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:58 pmIt’s not in the constitution.
In fact, the power to admit persons is specifically a power of the states, and not just because if the 10th amendment.
Congress does have the power to regulate foreign commerce. The meaning of interstate commerce has been stretched but this goes further than Wickard v. Filburn :: 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
On the other hand it is said that the Supreme Court follows the election returns, and we know the way that’s going. The Democrats are not arguing the principle.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:04 pmaphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:51 pm
It’s already federal law that employers must hire people who are here legally.
Form I-9 is mandatory.
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_I-9
norcal (50612c) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:10 pmaphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:01 pm
People do prefer the less restrictive regime. That is the whole point of the way abortion politics is played.
This is especially so when it is claimed that doctors will be afraid to do life saving surgery if the law is unclear.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/idahos-abortion-emergency-supreme-court-airlifted-rcna148828
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:11 pmThe problem with the I-9 is that it’s not backed up by E-Verify.
norcal (50612c) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:12 pmBut an employer is not required to insect for counterfeits, and this is anyway not enforced against small employers, or even required for day laborers.
Aphrael’s point applies in either case.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:14 pmIt’s aslso illegal to discriminate on the basis of national origin. Per the law. an employer should hire, give the employee 3 days to bring proof and then fire. And there is no exemption from wage and hour laws even if the employment is illegal.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:16 pmBut an employer is not required to insect for counterfeits
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:14 pm
Yes. I’ve seen counterfeits that are glaringly obvious, but the employer can always say “Looks good to me.”
E-Verify exposes the counterfeits.
norcal (50612c) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:17 pmE-Verify won’t work until a large number of businesses are actually put out of business.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:17 pmE-Verify won’t work until a large number of businesses are actually put out of business.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:17 pm
I don’t know what you mean.
norcal (50612c) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:19 pmThe reason Ukraine was so successful in its Russian incursion is that Putin relied on diplomacy, and the threat of nuclear war, to keep them out, and built no defense, so when Ukraine reversed course, they crumbled.
Similar to the U.S.A. in Afghanistan in 2001.
When the war first started the U.S. did not want to bomb close to the front lines for fear of killing their own side – so the Taliban put all their troops right by the front line. Then the U,S. reversed course and decimated them.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:22 pmLooks like nothing happened on Tisha B’Av in Israel this year, but that was only because Iran wasn’t ready. Some were thinking they might settle for a small scale attack.
They continue their preparations.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-latest-13-august-2024-42bee1b1dab452cfc913239b2cf5a993
That’s not going anywhere either.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/08/13/world/israel-iran-hamas-gaza-war
No, he doesn’t want to prolong the war – he wants to end it – with victory, and the end of Hamas’ power in Gaza.
But he’s wiling to agree to a ceasefire for the exchange of prisoners. He’s always been clear about this.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:31 pmUkraine has used drones instead of air force, so much so that they changing NATO military doctrine.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:35 pmOur Secret Service
In late May of this year, an erratic man was able to infiltrate and spend at least one night in the Miami Field Office, according to four sources familiar with the incident.
Some agents working out in the gym violated office policy by propping open the door to help ventilate the room. A man in shorts and a t-shirt entered through that partially opened door, and no one noticed. The man, identified as Ashtyn Domenech by one knowledgeable source, apparently found the “bunk room,” took a shower, and fell asleep in a bed overnight, sources said.
Domenech accessed computers on an open internet line and downloaded and watched porn, according to two sources familiar with the trespassing incident.
The next morning, Domenech asked administration staff where he “could get a cup of coffee around here,” and the employees responded by fulfilling his request for coffee without realizing he didn’t belong there, the sources said. He then ventured into a class on defensive tactics that a supervisor was teaching. The supervisor confronted him about his identity and apprehended him.
steveg (f515fd) — 8/13/2024 @ 3:55 pmIsn’t that how Trump got into the Republican Party?
nk (e5c47d) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:13 pmI was in a secure facility in Chantilly in the 90’s right after they switched out all egress from the main entrance and human people and photo ID’s at the door to card readers and combo doors that were on side doors and a jamoke tailgated in two layers deep. He was a catering guy that normally was escorted through the front door and into the same areas, but wasn’t supposed to be unaccompanied, so folks recognized him and didn’t question anything until he left and couldn’t leave as you needed to code out. Needless to say, some remedial classes were required, it wasn’t a SCIF or anything, but everyone either had clearance or must be escorted. They also changed from plain white RFID badges with ID/Location to color designated ones that made it obvious, Green/Yellow/Red, later with stripes as it got more detailed.
We’re so used to it today, and with so much remote work that you don’t necessarily recognize everyone, especially in an office, like a field office. People get complacent.
Same thing happened in PA, the locals were assigned an area, the local sniper team was 2 guys in the building, the one guy photo’d the dude and went out to look for him, but only one of them had a key card and the guy that went outside didn’t have one, so the other guy left his post to open the door at the moment the shooter went up on the roof. Everyone was responsible, but USSS was ultimately responsible and a lack of imagination and process led to a failure. Always the way of security, looking back it seems obvious, but to quote Connie Eble’s unnamed student, poopie happens. Then you have to accept responsibility and plan for failure.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:21 pmIsn’t that how Trump got into the Republican Party?
nk (e5c47d) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:13 pm
Pretty much, only Bill Clinton pointed out the propped-open door.
norcal (d2b6f2) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:29 pmReal question, the google machine is no help, what is “nuclear warming”?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:51 pmIs it the opposite of nuclear winter? Wouldn’t that be nuclear summer?
All I can find is Trump seems to have invented a thing in 2023, and he repeated it, but it’s a Trumpism, it doesn’t actually appear to mean anything.
“When I listen to people talk about global warming that the ocean will rise in the next 300 years by 1/8th of an inch and they talk about how this is our problem. Our big problem is nuclear warming but nobody even talks about it. The environmentalists talk about all this nonsense in many cases. I’ve become an environmentalist also, I guess in my own way because I have done a good job with the environment.”
“Nobody talks about nuclear… the problem… the biggest problem we have in the whole world… it’s not global warming, it’s nuclear warming.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:57 pmThere’s a reason people don’t talk about a thing that doesn’t exist in our reality.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 4:59 pmWell, you know … about global warming. You know how refrigerators work, right? They use Freon. So we have all these hollow places in the earth, caves and dry wells. And what if we injected them with Freon? They say Freon is bad for the ozone layer, but we don’t have to let it get to the ozone layer. In fact, we could harvest the Freon that’s in the ozone layer and use that.
nk (22407c) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:12 pmOn the Butler shooter, Mike has another great video on it.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:17 pmnk (22407c) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:12 pm
Good impression, nk! The only quibble is that your grammar is too good.
norcal (d2b6f2) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:21 pmI have a lot of grammar. I have the best grammar.
nk (85398d) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:39 pmBest news so far:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:40 pmI have a lot of grammar. I have the best grammar.
nk (85398d) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:39 pm
Terrific grammar!
norcal (d2b6f2) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:56 pm“If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we’ll meet the next time in Venezuela, because it’ll be a far safer place to meet than our country,” Trump said to Musk. “OK, so we’ll go. You and I will go, and we’ll have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela.”
……….
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/13/2024 @ 5:40 pm
Trump is a joke. How anyone could think highly of him is beyond me.
norcal (d2b6f2) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:02 pmSpeaking of grammar, here’s some bad news for some people. Japanese grammar has no genders for nouns and pronouns. Not merely “gender-neutral” like we might say here. No concept of gender.
LEFTISTS!
nk (85398d) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:17 pmThe Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight
The flip side of this limitation is that Congress may prohibit the importation or migration of any persons that Congress wished to prohibit AFTER 1808. TO say that they don’t have that power is ludicrous.
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
And therefore they may make laws to regulate that migration, only limited by their utility in doing so. E-Verify is one such law.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:26 pmEverybody is hallucinating a power of Congress to regulate immigration.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 establishes such a power after 1808.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:27 pmIt’s also illegal to discriminate on the basis of national origin.
But you can discriminate on the basis of being unable to get a security clearance, and those are unavailable to non-citizens (and some citizens).
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:29 pmnuclear warming
Being in the vicinity of a sudden high-energy plasma manifestation.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:32 pmnuclear warming = confused combination of nuclear winter and global warming?
Jim Miller (3664c8) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:41 pm“If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show,
… at least MTG would have gotten some naked pictures of Hunter Biden out of it.
The whole MAGA sty is ridiculous.
nk (38eb4f) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:52 pmJapanese grammar has no genders for nouns and pronouns. Not merely “gender-neutral” like we might say here. No concept of gender.
LEFTISTS!
nk (85398d) — 8/13/2024 @ 6:17 pm
Neither does spoken Chinese. There is a slight difference in written Chinese for male and female pronouns, but there is no gender per se for nouns.
norcal (d2b6f2) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:00 pmMy ex-wife, who is from Taiwan, often mixed up “he” and “she”. It drove my mom crazy.
norcal (d2b6f2) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:01 pm“When I listen to people talk about global warming that the ocean will rise in the next 300 years by 1/8th of an inch and they talk about how this is our problem. Our big problem is nuclear warming but nobody even talks about it.
To me this sounds like an entirely-too-cute way to talk about the threat of nuclear war, which would make all these other issues moot.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:31 pmAnd in 300 years Mar-a-Lago will be under water.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:32 pm@380 Japanese has separate pronouns for mother, father, grandma, grandpa, etc. There are also separate he/she pronouns but are mostly used to mean boyfriend/girlfriend. There is a frequently used pronoun to refer to someone in the third person, and it’s common to both male/female, but that would be the only example. ( I’m not fluent, but worked there years ago and picked up conversational level. Getting pronouns wrong in Japan is a big faux pas.)
Even if you were right, the point is absurd.
lloyd (54fb5c) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:32 pmMeet Brynleigh, The White House Intern Running The Country Today.
lloyd (54fb5c) — 8/13/2024 @ 7:40 pm> And therefore they may make laws to regulate that migration,
Could they require that all persons resident within the United States update a local constable with information about their place of residence *every time they change residence temporarily* (even for a single night)?
aphrael (8c9441) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:34 pm> It’s already federal law that employers must hire people who are here legally.
I’m aware.
I’m also aware that a rule which mandates that I not pay *anyone* money in exchange for their labor *unless the government says I may do so* is an insanely broad intrusion on liberty, and I think it’s absolutely inconsistent with any concept of a government of limited powers.
And I am baffled that so many people who are so concerned with limitation on government power in many other cases simply …. don’t care about this one. A minimum wage (prohibiting me from hiring someone at lower than a mandated rate) apparently infringes on my liberty, but requiring that I get government approval for each individual I hire *doesn’t* infringe on my liberty.
I don’t get it.
aphrael (8c9441) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:36 pmAnd I am baffled that so many people who are so concerned with limitation on government power in many other cases simply …. don’t care about this one. A minimum wage (prohibiting me from hiring someone at lower than a mandated rate) apparently infringes on my liberty, but requiring that I get government approval for each individual I hire *doesn’t* infringe on my liberty.
I don’t get it.
aphrael (8c9441) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:36 pm
It would take a bigger government, in the form of magnitudes more manpower, detention facilities, and immigration courts, to affect illegal immigration as much as E-Verify would. With E-Verify they self-deport.
norcal (d2b6f2) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:48 pm@394
No, its not an intrusion on your liberty to make it illegal to pay for wages for illegal aliens.
That’s absurd.
You are providing incentives for people to commit a crime by offering work.
If there are no jobs, many illegal alien would go back home.
Furthermore, jobs for illegal migrants drives down competitive wages in the workforce for actual citizens.
whembly (ff55df) — 8/13/2024 @ 8:53 pm@394 I can’t hire a thirteen year old. Have you tried hiring an unlicensed random dude off the street to represent you in court? Treat you for cancer? Being here legally is s minimum requirement, alongside the other countless minimum requirements that no one in their right mind regards as an infringement on liberty.
lloyd (54fb5c) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:03 pmEverybody is hallucinating a power of Congress to regulate immigration.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/13/2024 @ 2:58 pm
See Article I, Section 8, Clause 18. There is a long history (dating back to the colonial period) of government control over immigration:
Footnotes omitted.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:04 pmThat clause, also known as the Migration and Importation clause, has nothing to do with immigration, but is a restriction on ithe slave trade.
You also failed to quote the entire clause:
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:15 pmMore on Article I, Section 9, Clause 1:
Not a section of the Constitution I would cite to support an argument.
Rip Murdock (172586) — 8/13/2024 @ 9:43 pmCould they require that all persons resident within the United States update a local constable with information about their place of residence *every time they change residence temporarily* (even for a single night)?
If they are on parole, yes. If they are here by our sufferance, yes. Citizens? No. Regulating immigration is limited to immigrants.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:06 pm@348 why not? Az just put it on the nov. ballot. Even the republicans dumped the 1864 law.
asset (5ce801) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:08 pmI’m also aware that a rule which mandates that I not pay *anyone* money in exchange for their labor *unless the government says I may do so* is an insanely broad intrusion on liberty, and I think it’s absolutely inconsistent with any concept of a government of limited powers.
I don’t disagree. The “Necessary and Proper” clause has been stretched way too far. Scalia himself stretched it prohibiting growing your own medical marijuana.
But the Founders both allowed “migration” into the United States to be regulated by Act of Congress, and allowed Congress to make what laws they found necessary to accomplish that.
Is there a limit? Probably.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:10 pmThat clause, also known as the Migration and Importation clause, has nothing to do with immigration, but is a restriction on ithe slave trade.
No, what it did was prevent Congress from restricting the slave trade, but it also restricted them from any limitation on admission for other purposes, too. And in 1808, Congress gained that power. You may think they only gained the power to block the slave trade, but there is NOTHING in the text that demands that interpretation.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:13 pmYou also failed to quote the entire clause:
I’m still not seeing the word “slave” in that. Do you assert that, in 1805, Congress could have banned the admission of Germans?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:16 pmNot a section of the Constitution I would cite to support an argument.
Because it was cited stupidly in another case? Did you know that John Paul Stevens cited Cruikshank to buttress his dissent in <i<Heller?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/13/2024 @ 10:18 pmAbsurd.
Paul Montagu (b238ff) — 8/14/2024 @ 4:08 amMy current wife, who is from Russia, does the same. It only drives me crazy when she’s ten minutes into a narrative before I realize she flipped a pronoun, at which point I have to rewind the whole story to figure out what the heck she’s been talking about.
lurker (c23034) — 8/14/2024 @ 4:17 amThis time line can be quite useful in understanding the long fight against slavery.
One detail that fascinates me: The US and the UK banned the slave trade at almost the same time, 1807, independently as far as I know.
The fight continues, of course. One of the reasons that the George W. Bush administration worked for the independence of South Sudan is to protect the people there from slave raids from the northern parts of Sudan.
It seems odd to me to see people here and in the UK obsessed by what happened hundreds of years ago — and indifferent to what is happening, now, in, for example, Mauretania.
Or the Laogai, the ChiCom equivalent to the Gulag.
Jim Miller (3b472d) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:06 amSo many ppl who whole heartedly believed Trumps lies have done real damage to their lives. Here’s another example.
The ppl clinging to the Dominion Hacked the election are the saddest as that lie is easily disproved. If the counting machines were delivering fraudulent results the hand recounts would have shown a discrepancy. None of them have.
Time123 (01ead8) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:16 amThere is zero likelihood that the 2020 election was miscounted. The way that the election laws were manipulated in the name of Covid are another matter, but one that has no effective remedy or avenue of analysis. Other than fixing the problems, most of which have to do with authenticating mailed ballot and which were known before the 2020 vote was conducted.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 7:38 amMy ex-wife, who is from Taiwan, often mixed up “he” and “she”. It drove my mom crazy.
Then there is Ann Leckie’s Hugo-winning novel Ancillary Justice where there are no gender distinctions at all in the depicted society. That the society is a horrific dystopian despotism seems unrelated.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 7:46 amKevin, @411, would love to reply when I have more time. But thank you for your comment on my link.
Time123 (01ead8) — 8/14/2024 @ 7:48 am@410 “So many ppl who whole heartedly believed Trumps lies have done real damage to their lives.”
That’s a self correcting problem.
The problem with those who believe Biden/Harris lies is that they do real damage to other people’s lives.
lloyd (d18d23) — 8/14/2024 @ 7:51 amHas Trump had a stroke?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 8:14 amhttps://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/08/14/the-fall-of-the-january-6th-prosecutions-n3793124
Illegal, trumped up charges using illegal tactics violating our Constitutional rights
Yet some support this totalitarian behavior.
NJRob (8af622) — 8/14/2024 @ 8:18 amTime,
I really have no dog in the 2020 election hunt, but I do think that validating mailed ballots is a serious issue now that they seem to constitute a majority of all ballots. Comparing signatures against often ancient records isn’t robust, as the LA Times article I linked (from October 2020) discusses. We need to do better.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 8:23 amThat book was awful. It was painful to read and had no business winning a Hugo. That was the beginning of the end for the Hugo’s.
NJRob (8af622) — 8/14/2024 @ 8:24 amThere are a number of theories as to what is going on with Iran’s potential attack.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/14/2024 @ 8:47 amThat book was awful.
I suspect she didn’t write it for you.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:16 amYour assertion that Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 “restricted (Congress) from any limitation on admission for other purposes, too” is a novel interpretation unsupported by the understanding at the time. Are there any SC decisions citing Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 as basis for Congress’s immigration power?
“Importation” does not mean “immigration.” Slaves were products, not persons, when the Constitution was ratified. It essentially means that Congress could not ban the slave trade until 1808.
Source
Congress (or the Executive Branch) could have banned Germans prior to 1808 if they desired to do so, for example, through
The only assertion I made is that your interpretation of Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 is historically incorrect.
So what? Justice Stevens citing Cruikshank in his Heller dissent is irrelevant to a discussion on immigration.
Here is a good resource on the development of the development of immigration law from the colonial period to the present day.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:22 amCorrect. It was for the mentally ill, SJW crowd. I was still a voter back then. Quit donating afterward.
NJRob (8af622) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:02 amhttps://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/08/now-it-can-be-told-2.php
Now that Biden is off the ticket it can finally be told that Hunter was illegally selling influence and the administration covered it up.
Hey, isn’t Kamala part of this administration?
NJRob (8af622) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:14 amThree strikes and you’re…….
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:39 amYou don’t argue about what type of wood paneling you’re going to install inside your boat’s remodeled galley before you get around to fix the gaping hole in the hull.
Plug.
The.
Leak.
Every other discussion is irrelevant until that problem is fixed. Likewise, you don’t spend a single second arguing about “what to do with all the leftover illegals” before first ensuring that the border is secure and we’re talking about a finite number.
Thank you for confirming that erecting a wall would literally solve half the problem. Sounds like a great start!!!
SaveFarris (79ab12) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:43 amIs Trump still talking about building the wall?
Time123 (01ead8) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:51 amSo what? Justice Stevens citing Cruikshank in his Heller dissent is irrelevant to a discussion on immigration.
As is your bit about Taney quoting Article I.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:06 amCorrect. It was for the mentally ill, SJW crowd. I was still a voter back then. Quit donating afterward.
Sad Puppy or Rabid Puppy?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:07 amCorrect. It was for the mentally ill, SJW crowd
“The majority is always sane”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:07 amQuestion for the lawyers:
During Covid, a lot of contracts were broken on force majure claims. Did any case law result?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:10 amVery Sad that SJW’s destroyed a historic award.
NJRob (8af622) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:12 amI think that it was more TOR than anyone, promoting votes for their books.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:21 amDuring Covid, a lot of contracts were broken on force majure claims. Did any case law result?
Particularly wrt hotel contracts.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:22 amGood article about Tim Walz service and the various claims he’s made. https://apple.news/A8eEjsi6-QZCVQzMdvHc1Tg
My take is that he’s allowed his service to be exaggerated by others rather than, properly, insist on precision.
Speaks poorly of him, but I do like that he served for 20+ years, and the exaggerations don’t (IMO) eliminate that.
A better reason to dislike him politically are his terrible policy preferences.
Time123 (988610) — 8/14/2024 @ 11:54 amNJRob — thanks for the link.
The geofencing case is interesting. It’s completely inconsistent with case law as determined in other circuits (see https://reason.com/volokh/2024/08/13/fifth-circuit-shuts-down-geofence-warrants-and-maybe-a-lot-more/), but *in principle* i agree with the outcome —- this kind of dragnet really can’t be consistent with the requirement that warrants be particularized, and if the implication of existing precedent implies it is, then maybe we should revisit those precedents.
That said, it’s a little bit much to proclaim that the prosecutions are illegal based upon an outlier court. Certainly there was no reason to suspect, prior to this decision, that they might be illegal. Which means that qualified immunity says that nobody in the government can be accused of having done anything wrong.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/14/2024 @ 12:06 pmTIme,
He did serve 20+ years, but in the reserves and never deployed into combat during a time when the military was constantly in harm’s way. It would be wrong to conflate this with active service, let alone a career path, particularly as they are trying to demean the service of a guy who enlisted in the Marines.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 12:37 pmOff-topic: Yet another data breach
Companies that hold data should have some skin in the game besides reputation which, for oligopoly corporations like United Health Care, mean little. If they had to pay nominal damages of, say, $100 per account they might make more efforts to secure the data and train (or hire better) personnel.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 12:42 pm@436, I agree. I’ve just seen a lot of claims about his service and this provided useful details.
Time123 (988610) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:11 pmBogus analogy. A new wall isn’t a magic bullet that solves all southern border ills, it’s one step, and in a democracy where there are two parties, compromise is Civics 101.
Paul Montagu (d4d407) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:22 pmThe difference being, of course, that Taney based his opinion on a section of the Constitution, and Stevens based his opinion on a prior Supreme Court case. However, history has demonstrated that no one has considered Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 to be a source of Congress’s immigration powers.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:25 pmWalz is a few years older than me, and like a lot of those guys, the reserves were a great path to get college paid for, and the timing slots in between lots of combat. Those few years made a lot of difference in call ups though.
I haven’t seen anything that would construe anything like “stolen valor”, and Walz did deploy in support of the GWOT, to Europe to backfill regular Army being deployed in theater. That’s actually what most of the reserve units have done. Sure, a few ended up in combat, mostly Marines, but a few regular Army, and quite a few Air Force folk, lots of tanking and transport is homed into the reserves.
The whole “weapons of war I carried in war” is such a nothing burger that I can’t believe it’s become a thing.
James Hamel’s Marine service seems just as normal, not as long sure, but most folks don’t stick around for 20.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:32 pm> If they had to pay nominal damages of, say, $100 per account they might make more efforts to secure the data and train (or hire better) personnel.
Under existing law, demonstrating injury is too difficult, plus almost certainly every customer who tries to sue will be forced into single-case binding arbitration.
Congress could fix this via legislation, but they’re too afraid of the economic power of the companies to run campaigns against them.
The executive could fix this via regulation, but only if a majority of the supreme court agrees, which seems unlikely.
So it’s a nice outcome which is now completely impossible to achieve.
aphrael (8c9441) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:32 pmKevin, you were right about my insurance company. It found me not at fault. I had been told by some guys on another forum that I wouldn’t have been at fault for hitting a moving animal, but am culpable for colliding with a carcass.
I’m tempted to go back and tell those guys, “Nana nana boo boo, stick your head in doo doo”. 😊
norcal (b77225) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:34 pmSo far on Trump’s intelectual (his word) speech on the economy, no details about, you know, economic policy. But lots of complaints about 2020 vote counting, crowd size, Kamala’s laugh and Time cover.
Completely off the prepared speech they circulated. I guess his campaign asked, for the love of god (my interpretation), read the teleprompter this once. Not so much.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:39 pmTrump’s speech on the economy is going as expected, maybe because he considers the economy a less important subject than himself…
…so put on your pointy-headed economic intellectual hats and brace yerself…
Clearly some campaign advisors told him that he’s losing because he’s talking about crowd sizes and Kamala’s blackness and instead focus on the economy (a perennial number one issue), and you can tell he’s chafing at the idea. I’m tellin’ y’all, I’ve been tellin’ y’all, the guy is nucking futs, you nominated a mentally declining crazy guy.
Paul Montagu (d4d407) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:57 pmWhopping delusion or big fat lie? You be the judge.
As I recall, the economy given to Biden-Harris was ravaged by a pandemic that resulted in a recession and major unemployment and shortened the lives of 450,000-plus Americans. His intellectual economics talk is coming straight from the crazy man’s ass.
Paul Montagu (d4d407) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:04 pmHe temporarily forgot about the pandemic closings. (He’s so used to making claims, he doesn’t consider whether they are plausible or not)
He usually qualifies that by saying something like through 2019.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:10 pm> (He’s so used to making claims, he doesn’t consider whether they are plausible or not)
It helps that he’s persuaded his base to accept anything he says as true.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:15 pmThe whole “weapons of war I carried in war” is such a nothing burger that I can’t believe it’s become a thing.
It’s a multiple lie, the least of which is Walz being in combat. An AR-15 is never carried in war by regular military and conflating it with a select-fire weapon like an M16 or M27 is intellectual dishonesty and an outright lie.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:19 pmUnder existing law, demonstrating injury is too difficult, plus almost certainly every customer who tries to sue will be forced into single-case binding arbitration.
Which is why a law fixing a per capita amount would be welcome. Primarily pour encourager les autres, as opposed to making people whole.
1. Did you have a breach?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:24 pm2. How many accounts were affected? Fifty million? So sad.
3. Pay them $100 each. Double if the records were not acquired directly.
Most important in determining how people vote. James Carville said “it’s the economy, stupid” in 1992 Donald trump sometimes echoes what political prognosticators or consultants say.
The most important issue question in a poll is misleading. People pick matters where the parties are different, and that doesn’t mean that if something is wrong, or one candidate shows signs of mismanagement, that doesn’t affect the vote.
Jimmy Carter lost votes because of the Iran hostage crisis because that was a case study in mismanagement – not that he didn’t get them out, but that he constantly expected to.
Of course, his management extended also to the economy – and for once that was fair – he created a vacancy in the Federal Reserve Board by appointing G. William Miller, whom he’d appointed Chairman of the Fed the year before, Secretary of the Treasury, and appointed Paul Volcker in his place.
Volcker proceeded to raise interest rates until the prime rate went to 20% until he finally gave up his fight against inflation. which only made it worse while creating a recession. (A later decline in oil prices reduced inflation and interest rates were lowered too)
By the way the economy in 1992 wasn’t bad, but there was a perception that it was and a difference in the meaning of the word “recession” between the way economists (and GHWB) used it and the way it was used colloquially.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:24 pmThe executive could fix this via regulation, but only if a majority of the supreme court agrees, which seems unlikely.
He could send in the Seal Teams to start shooting executives until they paid.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:25 pm> Which is why a law fixing a per capita amount would be welcome.
There is zero chance that this will pass out of a Congress controlled by either of the two major parties.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:27 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:19 pm
That wasn’t Walz’s point.
But a common in the pro gun control argument.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:28 pm*Maybe* it will pass in a state like California, at which point it will immediately be challenged on dormant commerce clause grounds, and conservatives will line up against it because it’s just another unreasonable liberal imposition on the free market.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:28 pm@446 I remember all the scoreboarding about how high the Dow was in Biden’s first year compared to Trump. Those comparisons suddenly stopped being made in Biden’s second year.
But don’t let facts get in the way. Under Trump, inflation was down. Gas prices down. Mortgage rates down. There was none affordability. The lockdowns were blue state specials, cheered on by Democrats. The supply chain problems are the result. Covid was a natural wet market happenstance and Trump’s fault, until we let the facts inform us.
But the average American should believe you instead of their lying eyes. Really, the problem for Biden-Harris fans is that voters actually lived through the past eight years and they have functioning memories.
lloyd (dc1ff2) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:28 pm*home affordability
lloyd (dc1ff2) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:29 pmshortened the lives of 450,000-plus Americans
I don’t think Biden wants to go there since his administration shortened more lives, even given a vaccine and a year or more of experience in treatment. While I was unhappy with Trump’s initial attitude (full-on Amity mayor mode: Shark? What shark?) he did throw a lot of money at a vaccine and getting it approved. And THAT he did gift Biden with.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:29 pm> Can’t we just stop at “Live and let live”?
Yes, but even that has issues which arise.
Should my two transman housemates, both of whom *have beards*, be allowed to use the men’s bathroom, or should they be required to use the women’s room?
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:30 pmColonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/14/2024 @ 1:39 pm
Isn’t that usual with him?
The prepared speech is there just as a back up and as a service to the press.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:31 pmNote also that what got the world out of the pandemic was Project Warp Speed. News of the vaccine was conveniently held back until a couple of days after the 2020 election.
lloyd (dc1ff2) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:31 pmThere is zero chance that this will pass out of a Congress controlled by either of the two major parties.
Their feet are not being pressed to that fire yet. Let someone take mass advantage of one of these breaches — say empty out the accounts of 50,000 rich people — and you will see asses and elbows.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:32 pm> No, its not an intrusion on your liberty to make it illegal to pay for wages for illegal aliens.
> That’s absurd.
I agree that it’s not an intrusion on my liberty to make it illegal to pay illegal aliens.
The intrusion on my liberty comes from making it illegal for me to employ *anyone* without the consent of the government to my employing them.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:35 pmShould my two transman housemates, both of whom *have beards*, be allowed to use the men’s bathroom, or should they be required to use the women’s room?
It’s your house, do what you want.
But seriously, unless these bathrooms are in a grammar school or something, I don’t think anyone cares except the fringes.
There are some religious nutbars who would follow them around to make sure they don’t stray into the “wrong” bathroom, and there are some trans activists who would stray into all of the “wrong” ones even when they didn’t need them and make a show of it.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:38 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:29 pm
he gave up on other treatments, including the one which saved his life: Synthetic monoclonal antibodies. or the companies gave after Biden became president. DeSantis wanted to continue but with an unmodified version.
The problem was it became ineffective. but it became ineffective because, to avoid side effects, the pharmaceutical companies wanted to use just one or two antibodies and they did so.
The approval process was too slow to be able to churn out new antibodies as needed.
They eentually settled on antivirals which actually would work against any viral infection but under Biden it was back to slower approval processes. And it came with stupid prescribing limitations, like 5 days only and only if it was given close to the time of infection. And a big “mystery” was made of about why there was a rebound effect.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:39 pmThe intrusion on my liberty comes from making it illegal for me to employ *anyone* without the consent of the government to my employing them.
Also likely theirs. Unless you are doing the government’s business (e.g. making secret weapons), the government has a very narrow range of what constraints it can employ.
It’s odd, though. Once upon a time the government stayed out of these areas, but was forced to make some rules due to Jim Crow and such. Having done that, there appeared so many other needful interventions…
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:41 pmz The big “stolen valor” accusation against Walz is what he said about “weapons of war” which he carried in war at a Town Hall in 2018, plus letting someone else claim he was in Afghanistan without correcting him. They may have a few instances of both.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:42 pmThe problem was it became ineffective. but it became ineffective because, to avoid side effects, the pharmaceutical companies wanted to use just one or two antibodies and they did so.
The problems were 1) the need for a mass application and 2) the need for rigorous testing. Boutique solutions didn’t work given the mass needs.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:43 pmSammy, the treatments they used in the first months were all entirely wrong. They were killing people who could be saved because they didn’t know what they were doing. Yet. A year later they were not just throwing people on ventilators and hoping; they had protocols and drugs that had shown results. They had better ones later, but getting people through the acute phase of the illness was possible without them. A lot of asthma drugs proved useful before they had MABs and Paxlovid.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:47 pmThe big “stolen valor” accusation against Walz is what he said about “weapons of war
And that is entirely a red herring, which is why you see them throwing it up to debunk. The problem to people who know guns and war is not that Walz said he carried them in a war, but that NO ONE carried them in a war.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 2:50 pmAn M4/M16/AR15 are parts interchangable today (not legally), basically every AR15 manufactured is mil-spec, meaning the only difference between them is if you have a full auto trigger pack. Pre-86 there’s literally no difference, a full auto trigger pack is technically illegal if manufactured after 86 and your not an SOT, or have a demo, and those old packs need 3 pins instead of two pins, but new production M4’s don’t. FN’s production M4 and AR are manufactured exactly the same, on the same line, and only use 2 pins on the lower for the auto-trigger, so it’s really the same thing. An M4 has a 14.5″ barrel, an M16 20″, but there are 11.5″ in SOC too. The “rifle” barrel length has a minimum of 16″ for civilians, but you can buy a “pistol” with a 7.5″ to a 20″ actual rifle. Pewpew’s FAQ is mostly right. Police AR15’s with full auto packs are AR15’s and fully automatic.
A Marine M27 IAR is just an HK 416, a piston version of an AR15, with some ambi controls.
Big Army has said they’re going to standardize on the M7 in 277 Fury, which is a Sig MCX Spear, a hybrid AR15/AR180 piston full battle rifle (not an intermediate cartridge), it’s kind of a beast. The optic is awesome, but as a package it’s $12k, so 10X an M4.
BTW, doctrine today is to basically never flip your M4 into full auto, it’s a waste. If you are getting overrun maybe, but there’s a reason that SAWs exist and the Marines are replacing them with unified M27’s as semi auto aimed fire is more effective.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/14/2024 @ 3:01 pm> I don’t think anyone cares except the fringes.
Are you aware that the laws of multiple states require them to use womens’ rooms in all public facilities? In Utah, for example, the law applies to *airports*.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/14/2024 @ 3:03 pmBasically the argument is the AR is cheap, and it fires a “military” round 5.56, but so is 9mm, 308/7.62X51, 45acp. You can buy a Czech, Russian, Chinese, Serbian, Astrian, Israeli, etc military rifle in the US, just in semi auto and for a bunch more cash.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/14/2024 @ 3:06 pm@409 they are trying to defeat their enemies as Malcolm X said “By any means necessary!” In ferguson mo. they did not know michael brown he was a symbol like all the others. Its called waving the bloody shirt. The object is to win.
asset (722541) — 8/14/2024 @ 3:11 pmThe phony hypocrites supporting vietnam war draft dodger and chicken hawk “bone spurs” are upset about a vague reference to carrying a weapon in war when talking about gun control not his service record.
asset (722541) — 8/14/2024 @ 3:18 pmNot the point, which was that Trump didn’t give Biden an “economic miracle”.
The vaccine just started to come when Biden came into office, and it was a race between the Delta variant and the vaccine, and Delta won.
Trump gets credit for one thing about the pandemic, and that was putting vaccine development and approval on a fast track, but I’d like to think that any president with a lick of common sense would’ve done that.
Paul Montagu (e38bed) — 8/14/2024 @ 3:35 pm@467 z
The “Stolen Valor” aspect from Gov. Stolen Valor is multifaceted.
He continually mislead everyone that he was the Command Master Sargent, an E9 rather than his true rank upon discharge of Master Sargent (E8). This is a big deal because you don’t ever, ever advance the idea that you were of higher rank that you didn’t earn.
He continually mislead people that he actually went to Iraq/Afganistan.
The absolute sore point, is the fact that while he was in school to be a Command Master Sargent, being provisionally ranked as so, he got the notice to deploy to Iraq. Instead, he chose to retire, instead of deploying with his soldiers.
It’s hard to convey why this is so troubling to folks who’s unfamiliar about the military. A Command Master Sargent is the highest ranking NCO who’s job is to ensure that his soldiers are trained, accountable and be able to go to war and come back.
It’s such a sacred duty.
The analogy that I’ve heard, so that non-military folks could appreciate is that Gov. Stolen Valor dropped off his own pre-teen kids at an orphanage so that he could run for Congress.
For people in the military, Gov. Stolen Valor, this will resonate with disgust.
Since Gov. Stolen Valor is only on the VP ticket… remains to be seen if this will have any wide-spread impact electoral.
If it were me, Republicans need to just let their surrogates hit Gov. Stolen Valor on this, and focus on his Covid Tyrant policies.
whembly (4b0147) — 8/14/2024 @ 4:35 pmCan we all be thankful that the biggest fault we can find with a candidate is in arguing over whether he attained a rank earned over 24 years of service vs retained that rank upon retiring and whether they were quick enough over correcting others or whether we can find slight misstatements over 20 years of being in the public spotlight.
Compare to the blatant lies and obvious draft dodging of other candidates (which we largely ignore because there are much bigger issues).
The fact that this is the worst thing we can say about Tim Walz speaks well of him.
Nate (cfb326) — 8/14/2024 @ 5:35 pmAre you aware that the laws of multiple states require them to use womens’ rooms in all public facilities? In Utah, for example, the law applies to *airports*.
So? Male attire, beard? What’s the issue? Is there a monitor? When in places with stupid laws, just ignore them as much as you can.
Or, with the same male attire and beard, USE the women’s restrooms. Serve them right.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 5:42 pmI’d like to think that any president with a lick of common sense would’ve done that
So, now he has common sense?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 5:44 pmThe “Stolen Valor” aspect
It’s a strawman, thrown up by Walz to distract.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 5:45 pmMore on hacks:
Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American.
2.7 billion records. At $100 per, that would wipe out the company many times over. Maybe then companies would stop storing records unencrypted and stop hiring morons to design and run their systems.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 5:50 pm“And if people weren’t taking precautions in the past, which they should have been doing, this should be a five-alarm wake-up call for them.”
So, companies gather up data on us that we would rather they didn’t have, and when they allow hackers to steal them all, it’s OUR fault?
Bugger that.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 5:51 pmOf course, in that whole LA Times article, the world “encrypt” is nowhere to be found.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 5:56 pmUnder the Federal criminal code (18 U.S.C. § 704), whatever Walz has said about his military service isn’t “stolen valor.” As far as we know, he hasn’t worn any medals or decorations he wasn’t entitled to, which is the only offense under the law. Misstating one’s rank at retirement isn’t covered by the law.
Walz filed paperwork to run for Congress in February 2005; and the Minnesota National Guard was notified in March that it could deploy “within a two year time frame.” Walz’s last day in the MNG was May 16th, and his unit didn’t deploy until March 2006.
Walz made a life choice, especially since he was not a professional military man. It would be one thing if he served in the regular military to suddenly resign to run for Congress and avoid deployment, but it’s another thing entirely for a professional civilian and part-time soldier to choose to do something else with their life.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:12 pmhttps://web.archive.org/web/20081008201107/http://timwalz.org/uploads/%7BB3A24AC3-2045-4B0D-8ABE-47A24FC4E92C%7D.PDF
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:34 pmThis tweet from Stolen Valor covers Walz pretty well.
Their main issues were (1) not that he said he carried a weapon of war, but that he carried it in war, (2) Walz had achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major, but was reduced to MSG because he didn’t finish his educational requirements to hold the higher position, (3) in a 2008 book that he endorsed, he falsely claimed that he served in Afghanistan, (4) it’s likely that he knew his unit would be deployed, although they didn’t receive official orders until two months after he retired.
I think Williamson has it right…
Paul Montagu (03f639) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:39 pmKevin Williamson is a national treasure.
norcal (b77225) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:48 pmThe biggest fault is he’s a communist totalitarian that has used the power of the state to enforce his whims.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:51 pmWilliamson, while preforming digital fellatio on Walz, glosses over Walz’s gun grabbing ambitions.
“Hey guys, lets just calm down about the lie he told… he only did it to further an extreme leftist/totalitarian goal. No biggie. BONE SPURS!!!!”
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/14/2024 @ 6:58 pmWilliamson was eviscerating Walz on his left-wing policies. Some “digital fellatio”.
Paul Montagu (03f639) — 8/14/2024 @ 7:29 pmnope it was Vance who claimed that directly in an interview
Colonel Klink (ret) (3762bd) — 8/14/2024 @ 8:50 pmmaking some predictably dumb and banal remarks about gun control.
To me it was never about Stolen Valor. It was being stupid (or, worse, lying) about guns AFTER serving 20 years in the Reserves.
Consider that Harris is a serial gun-grabber who has said that “the president” should just order them to be grabbed and her pick of a fellow traveler is a problem.
All the things that I dislike about Harris are reinforced with Walz. This is the far Left of the Democrat Party seeking power.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:33 pmnope it was Vance who claimed that directly in an interview
Nope, it was the reporters focus on what what Vance said and it is in the context of attacks on his Marine service.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:34 pmKlink,
Do you agree that someone with 20 years of service should know that AR-15s are not standard issue weapons?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:36 pmThe fact that this is the worst thing we can say about Tim Walz speaks well of him.
It is hardly that. This is the worst thing the MSM wants you to see.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:36 pmThere is this, for example:
Tim Walz awarded $100K, hosted Muslim leader who didn’t condemn Oct. 7, touted Hitler film
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:43 pmOr maybe that he is to Bernie’s Left politically.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:44 pmThe first problem was solved by early 2021 (Donald Trump got special attention) and even that was delayed. The problem was that the virus mutated and by going for only one or two antibodies and not allowing quick approval they discarded and doomed to failure the best possible treatment after infection (a vaccine could only affect infections six weeks or so in the future)
The second problem – the need for rigorous – read time consuming – testing, was an artificial problem. Donald Trump and his administration only challenged the medical approval bureaucracy to a limited degree,
There were a lot of other things that either didn’t work or helped only a little – and some that hurt – like ventilators, but it took almost a year to get them to stop using ventilators even though this was known almost right away but the doctors who understood couldn’t get them to listen.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/14/2024 @ 9:59 pmSomething really bad might happen in Israel – or it might not, Let us hope and pray things do not spiral out of coontrol
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:01 pmVance specifically saying Walz “stolen valor”
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:23 pmAgain, Eugene Stoner designed the Armalite AR-15, the military adoption as the M16 rifle, and the short version as M4 (and MK12, MK18…). They are the same gun, that the trigger has an extra option doesn’t make it different. Again again, the M16 is the military designation of the AR15.
The AR15 was a scaled down AR10 for the intermediate 5.56 cartridge, the AR10 being a 7.62X51 battle rifle.
Every piece of a current manufacture mil-spec AR from Smith and Wesson will work in a FN contract M4 and vice versa. The full auto trigger pack is restricted for civilians, but police can order a bone stock AR15 that’s fully automatic from about 30 companies.
An M4 is the military specification of the 14.5″. You too can buy one.
The fact that you can flip the giggle switch legally on a military/police issue doesn’t make them different. If you want to 3D print/machine the auto sear, you can, but I’d not want to go to jail to play soldier. You can buy a pre-86 rifle for $30-40k, in 86 all the difference was a $200 tax stamp and order one from the gun store, they weren’t even more expensive.
An AR from PSA is cheaper now than 40 years ago, better too.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/14/2024 @ 10:46 pmThere is a vested interest, a deeply and broadly vested interest, in calling the commercial versions of AR-15s “sporting rifles”.
Until a Uvalde happens and we see that in the hands of a psychopath inside a fifth grade classroom they are directional hand grenades. Claymore mines. Destructive devices that don’t hurt the wielder.
nk (aece4e) — 8/15/2024 @ 1:40 amIf you want an hour’s long nerd fest on the Armalite Rifle 15, have at it.
I have many, many, weapons of war. AR15’s, Mossberg 590A1, Garand, M16, Steyr Aug, Beretta M9, Sig M17, Glock 17-19, Sig P227, various 1911’s, CZ Bren, various CZ75s, some multitools, rocks, whistles, a bow, an arrow…some cars…
If you want to do some killing, there are lots of things used in war, most of them are also used not in war.
With the 2nd amendment, basically any firearm is/can be a militia (military) “weapon of war”. Sort of the point.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/15/2024 @ 2:03 amPlus, the friggin’ Trump campaign, Donald DaddyBonespur Trump, of the suckers and losers and “I like people who weren’t captured”, calling out any vet for anything is a bridge too far.
Trump is the world’s biggest loudmouthed pansy, felon, fraud, conman, philanderer, rapist, scumbag, isn’t fit for licking the bottom of the shoe of anyone, bum on the street, Trump’s lower.
Trump, should be someone’s prison wife today.
That there are people deluded enough to actually consider this glorified troll qualified to be dog catcher just shows that America might just deserve to lose it’s democracy to a low rent Mussolini.
Harris/Walz, hell yeah, RFKjr, sure, literally anyone other than the brain damaged MAGAtards…morons one and all. Vote moron for the lolz, It might kill America, but think of the cliqs.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/15/2024 @ 2:28 amSo, conflating automatic weapons with semi-auto weapons is fine? Suggesting that the law treats them the same is also fine? And a military veteran doing the conflating in a political debate is finer still?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/15/2024 @ 6:40 amPlus, the friggin’ Trump campaign, Donald DaddyBonespur Trump, of the suckers and losers and “I like people who weren’t captured”, calling out any vet for anything is a bridge too far.
I really cannot argue with this. While I find that my two choices are pretty limiting, there is a special circle of Hell for those who chose Trump to be the defender of Liberty.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/15/2024 @ 6:43 amCorrect me if I’m wrong, but haven’t you made that choice?
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/15/2024 @ 7:23 amCorrect me if I’m wrong, but haven’t you made that choice?
I flip-flop. Maybe vote for Trump, maybe vote for Cthulhu. Trump is a sub-optimum choice for Defender of the Realm.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/15/2024 @ 7:58 amMy ire is reserved for those who voted for Trump in the primaries in 2016 and this year.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/15/2024 @ 7:59 am