Weekend Open Thread
[ guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
They remain strong and tenacious:
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in his address on Aug. 15 that Ukrainian forces had captured the entire Russian town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian troops had taken control of more than 80 settlements in Kursk Oblast during the ongoing operation, Zelensky added.
Ukraine is establishing a military administration in the town of Sudzha, according to Zelensky.
From the White House on the incursion:
US officials are assessing how the incursion might reshape the political and military dynamics of the war, as well as the implications for Washington’s long-shifting stance on how Ukraine can use American-supplied arms.
The stunning raid, catching both Russian and apparently Western leaders by surprise, highlights one of the riskiest dilemmas for the Western-backed defence of Ukraine: President Biden has consistently tried to empower Kyiv to push back Russia’s invasion without risking an American escalation with Moscow. As President Putin has always tried to portray the conflict as a war between Russia and the West, Mr Biden has sought to put clear limits on US policy to deflate that narrative and prevent a conflagration.
. . .
As for the use of US weapons, spokespeople from the White House, Pentagon and State Department won’t officially confirm whether they are being used, but it seems overwhelmingly clear that they are, given Ukraine’s reliance on US and Nato weapons systems. Vladislav Seleznyov, a former spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff, told Voice of America that US-provided HIMAR rocket launchers had been critical to the advance.
US approval for the use of its weapons by Ukraine in the Kursk incursion is certainly being implicitly given.
Russia depends on the will of others more than many people realize. A lot of Russia’s capability to sustain the war in Ukraine is not inherent and is, therefore, vulnerable. The Kremlin acquired some of its capabilities by force, manipulation, or by exploiting Western resources and sanctuaries.
Second news item
“Price gouging” is the focus of Vice President Kamala Harris’s economic agenda, her presidential campaign says. She’ll crack down on “excessive prices” and “excessive corporate profits,” particularly for groceries.
. . .
In a news release Wednesday, her campaign said the first 100 days of her presidency would include the “first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries — setting clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries.”
What are these “clear rules of the road” or the thresholds that determine when a price or profit level becomes “excessive”? The memo doesn’t say, and the campaign did not answer questions. . .
The report suggests the model Harris is referring to is a recent bill from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. And that is not a good thing:
It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is. It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would. The FTC would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk.
At best, this would lead to shortages, black markets and hoarding, among other distortions seen previous times countries tried to limit price growth by fiat. (There’s a reason narrower “price gouging” laws that exist in some U.S. states are rarely invoked.) At worst, it might accidentally raise prices.
Third news item
Protesters to be limited at Democratic National Convention:
A coalition of activist groups planning a massive protest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week are crying foul after Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration issued last-minute denials of requests to set up stages and sound systems for rallies in parks near the United Center.
In an emergency petition filed in U.S. District Court late Wednesday, the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention, which has a pending civil rights lawsuit against the city over protest preparations, called the move a bait-and-switch violation of their constitutional rights.
. . .
In their nine-page motion for an injection, however, the activist groups say the real motive for the last-minute, “made-up process” was to try and silence their protests against the Israeli military action in Gaza and other concerns. Activists have estimated that as many as 20,000 participants from across the country could be in Chicago for the event.
“The DNC has an interest in minimizing the exposure of Democratic officials to protests, particularly around the issues plaintiffs seeking to protest,” the motion stated. “The reason the city is denying … the opportunity to use stages and a sound system is because, at the behest of the DNC, they do not want the speeches heard.”
History at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago being what it is, this would seem to likely provoke protesters to show up at the convention in angry droves.
Fourth news item
Former President Trump’s legal team requested on Wednesday that the judge in his hush money case delay sentencing until after the November presidential election.
Why it matters: Trump’s sentencing for the 34 felony counts he was convicted of is scheduled on Sept. 18. The Republican presidential nominee’s lawyers said in a letter that proceeding with the date would constitute election interference.
“Setting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar,” attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the request to Judge Juan Merchan, who has overseen the case.
Fifth news item
I’m glad he’s sober now, but too bad he fibbed about the arrest, whether by allowing his campaign to do so or by his own omission:
When Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz first ran for Congress in 2006, his campaign repeatedly made false statements about the details of his 1995 arrest for drunk and reckless driving.
According to court and police records connected to the incident, Walz admitted in court that he had been drinking when he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone in Nebraska. Walz was then transported by a state trooper to a local hospital for a blood test, showing he had a blood alcohol level of .128, well above the state’s legal limit of 0.1 at the time.
But in 2006, his campaign repeatedly told the press that he had not been drinking that night, claiming that his failed field sobriety test was due to a misunderstanding related to hearing loss from his time in the National Guard. The campaign also claimed that Walz was allowed to drive himself to jail that night.
If the media considered that it was important to report on George W. Bush’s DUI, then it’s equally as important to report on Tim Walz’s as well.
Sixth news item
Why doesn’t Trump hold our military members in the highest regard?
Trump: When we gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom… It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor— it’s actually much better because everyone who gets the Congressional Medal, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many… pic.twitter.com/a766KxAC2e
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 16, 2024
Shameful.
Seventh news item
Trump: And as you know, the Supreme Court ruled recently on immunity, and I'm immune from all of this stuff, that they charged me with. pic.twitter.com/M72HqH6PKk
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 15, 2024
Eighth news item
Trump: Virtually 100% of the net job creation in the last year has gone to migrants In fact I've heard substantially more and actually beyond that number 100%. It’s a much higher number than that but the government has not caught up with that yet. pic.twitter.com/OhXChdai8n
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 15, 2024
Have a great weekend.
—Dana
Hello.
Dana (a3734e) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:58 amTime trusts these three to do a better job of running the country than Harris. Two of his three choices have endorsed Trump because they believe Trump will do a better job than Harris.
Time, how can you trust anyone who trusts The Loser?
I’m sure there is an explanation that doesn’t defy simple logic.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:03 amThe preferred America:
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:09 amAlso:
I’m sure it will get better under a Harris Administration. Much better..
Did Acyn cover this story?
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:11 amVirtually 100% of what Trump says is gibberish. In fact I’ve heard substantially more and actually beyond that number 100%. It’s a much higher number than that but mathematics has not caught up with that yet.
nk (c67735) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:17 am#5
It’s very unfair that the deep state does not count above 100% of the immigrants that come into our country. If they keep that up, we’re not going to have a country anymore.
Appalled (cc5904) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:37 amI chuckled at the conclusion of the WaPo opinion piece on Kamala Harris’s price gouging nonsense: If you don’t want to be called a communist than don’t propose an idea straight out of Marxism/Leninism. I didn’t bother to read the comments on the piece, but I’ll bet there are an awful lot of high strung progressives who are out of their mind with rage at the suggestion.
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:44 amGianfranco Torres-Navarro, the leader of “Los Killers”. . .
Good Lord, now even the bloodthirsty narco gangs have stupid Spanglish names?
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:46 amI can’t quite figure out the visual in the preview image of the last two Trump videos in this post. I get that he’s surrounded by groceries, and I assume he’s making the point that inflation has made it harder for Americans to enjoy the food items that they like, but why is there like six pounds of coffee on the table? Is that the average weekly consumption for an American family these days?
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:00 amLooks as though I am dominating the comments section at the moment. So be it.
A writer at The Spectator had a very interesting and provocative suggestion a couple of weeks ago when Ukraine began taking over Sudzha. He pointed out that Ukraine doesn’t really have the troop strength to hold the town once the Russians mobilize a force to re-take it, so he suggested that Ukraine evacuate every resident from the town, raze it completely, then retreat back to Ukraine. It would probably be a war crime, but his argument is that Ukraine needs to make it clear to Russia and especially its citizens that they too will suffer the horrors of war and their people will be impacted by it: if you destroy our cities, we will destroy yours. The author dismissed the idea that Russia will “escalate” the war in Ukraine, pointing out that Russia had already committed great atrocities, and short of using nuclear weapons there’s really not much more Russia can do to raise the level of their fiendishness. Anyway, it’s a very provocative idea.
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:06 amTrump provides a lot of impromptu audio to digest. Harris provides none. Guess which one says dumb things.
lloyd (778556) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:09 amI’ll repeat what I wrote in the old weekend thread:
We just got through a candidate in Biden about whom the truth was concealed and the bubble media went along with it. Instead of the lesson learned being that knowing the full truth about a candidate is a good thing for the country, what we’ve apparently learned is to not let the any truth get out at all. No interviews, no debates, no direct engagement with voters. This and the anointment/coronation without a single vote is very Soviet-esque. But it’s working… so thumbs up! It wouldn’t be working if people weren’t okay with it, and the fact that so many seem okay with it should frighten the hell out of us.
lloyd (778556) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:11 amKamala Harris Suggests Americans Struggling To Make Ends Meet Just Try Sleeping With Their Boss.
lloyd (778556) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:15 amI see the likelihood of Harris implementing price controls about the same as Trump’s promise to cut the cost of electricity by half in 12 months.
That is to say, highly unlikely.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:22 amHarris really brings out the incel energy in her detractors.
Time123 (a69ea6) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:32 amWhich highly unlikely event would you prefer to happen, Rip?
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:34 am@15 Time123 playing with his ad hominem toys again. Maybe your sense of humor will perk up after nap time.
lloyd (880ba6) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:37 am@2 Buduh, thank you for starting the open thread with some good old fashioned trolling via a bad faith question.
But I can answer it pretty easily.
Their endorsement of Trump speaks poorly of their character for a variety of reasons but doesn’t in and of itself make them so bad as to justify voting for Harris (who IMO will be a terrible president) to prevent their being president.
Time123 (a69ea6) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:40 amLloyd, please try to learn what ad hominem means. You keep using it incorrectly.
Time123 (a69ea6) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:41 amThe Save Democracy party doing its usual yoeman’s work saving democracy:
Democrats try to block Green Party from presidential ballot in Wisconsin, citing legal issues
lloyd (880ba6) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:41 amShocker: Hairy-Balz lying about debates
lloyd (880ba6) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:51 amHarris really brings out the incel energy in her detractors.
Respectfully, Time123, that’s a garbage comment and you are way better than that.
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:00 amlloyd, at 20:
> State law requires that those who nominate electors in October be state officers, which includes members of the Legislature, judges and others. They could also be candidates for the Legislature.
That’s a stupid law which is obviously intended to protect the two-party duopoly and i’d love to see it either repealed or struck down by the courts.
That said, if the law actually requires that, then the elections commission violated the law when they approved ballot access.
It used to be that I could anticipate conservatives arguing that we should “follow the letter of the law” and liberals arguing that we should “follow the spirit of the law”.
One of the bizarre things about the last nine years is how many conservatives seem to have concluded that we should not follow the letter of the law if the letter of the law is inconvenient for them, and how many liberals have decided that we should not follow the spirit of the law if following the spirit of the law is inconvenient for them.
Anyhow, while I think this law is *stupid* and should be either repealed, struck down by courts, or (as applied to presidential electors) overruled by Congress, i also don’t think it’s nefarious for the DNC to ask that the law be complied with.
aphrael (cbf740) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:31 am> If you don’t want to be called a communist than don’t propose an idea straight out of Marxism/Leninism
Price controls predate marxism/leninism by *thousands* of years.
Which isn’t to say that they’re good ideas, right? Being an ancient idea doesn’t mean something is a good idea.
But it does mean that it’s possible — even likely — to support them for reasons that aren’t rooted in marxist theory.
aphrael (cbf740) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:34 amPrice controls predate marxism/leninism by *thousands* of years.
Sure, I know. And I’m sure the author of the piece probably does too. Racism has also been around for thousands of years, yet when we want to speak of its ills we don’t dial back to the Romans enslaving conquered people from the Middle East and Africa, we make reference to the more modern Ku Klux Klan. We go with a frame of reference that most everybody can understand.
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:39 am@JVW, I think the ridicule of her for dating Willie Brown in the Earlie 90’s is overblown. I think using that to accuse her for sleeping with her boss to get ahead (as the link above does) or being “President Blow Job” is kind of sexist in an incel way. She was well credentialed before she dated him, she dated him for a while, he likely did help her career, after she dated him she won state wide office as AG and to the US senate. She’s been successful in her field for decades after dating him. Reducing her to someone that owes her success to sexual favors seems a bit sexist to me.
I do not think that all / most criticism of her is sexist or that any of the other criticism I’ve seen from her here would fall under ‘incel energy’.
I don’t think the informative posts you wrote about her in the past, and her relationship with Willie Brown was sexist. It was detailed and balanced from what I recall.
I’m interested discussing this further with you if you’re inclined as I value your opinion.
Time123 (a69ea6) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:45 amPrice controls predate Marxism, but in the modern era Price Controls are a stable policy of Marxism.
Time123 (a69ea6) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:46 amA three pound bag of Costco Espresso Blend. And my morning Mountain Thunder.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:55 amBuduh:
Your #29 is why I won’t put the block on you. Your link let me to this:
https://clayhiggins.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Preliminary-Investigative-Report-8.12.24.pdf
It is a fascinating document — a house member as self-appointed investigator is something I would expect in fiction, rather than reality. But he seems to be doing good work and his report is, if nothing else, an entertaining read.
I would not be surprised that the Secret Service is busily covering up their derelictions of duty regarding the Trump assassination attempt. Hpefully, more to come. I either want these guys cleared or dismissed.
Appalled (cc5904) — 8/16/2024 @ 11:32 amNoah Smith is right, “He never thought the leopards would eat HIS face,” the “he” being Russell Bentley aka the Donbas Cowboy, an American who joined the Russian terrorist military and was subsequently tortured and murdered for finally refusing to fight.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 11:32 amCalling President Nixon…….
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/16/2024 @ 11:36 amRip, is you message intended to imply that price controls are not a staple policy of Marxism?
Time123 (e56ee2) — 8/16/2024 @ 11:48 amI wonder if this news will affect how JVW will vote this November.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 11:52 amThere were 4 sniper teams, 3 USSS, 1 local, local team in AGR left post. Crooks shot by USSS sniper team 3 in head with KAC SR-25, potential a second shot on Crooks by local with AR15 into “body” of his AR. 9 or 10 shots on audio, having 3 signatures, different timing on supersonic crack and firing boom, but echoes and shots overlapping and how mics work it’s hard to tell.
Crooks body being released is completely normal, after blood test and autopsy, the family gets the body. It’s kind of obvious what killed him, lacking most of his head. Not sure why you’d need his body.
Evidence collections on scene takes as long as it takes, 5 minutes, 5 weeks, hose the blood off, rain, whatever. Not sure what the issue would be, or how you’d maintain it on a roof without building another building on top, and there’s not much that would stay on roof after body, backpack, casings, and rifle are removed.
I can’t understand why more details haven’t come out, Mike on youtube has by far the best analysis, but either there really isn’t anything more about Crooks, and the AARs should be done by now. Bad planning, bad execution, the USSS assigned a task and never bothered to follow up, the locals in the AGR sniper position left there post to tell the ground units about Crooks at exactly the worst time, bad luck? yeah, we know. Not sure why they haven’t released who and from where killed Crooks, you don’t need to give names.
After the White House was hit 7 times with rifle fire under Obama and the USSS didn’t even know about it for 4 days, Obama and congress recommended additional funding for more security staff since the number of protectees more than doubled after 9/11 but funding was actually cut. Under both Trump and Biden, funding was cut in congress until the current fiscal year, which is kind of too late, by 20 years. Pull security from the USSS and create a dedicated group under Homeland, and let the USSS do it’s law enforcement angle, or pull that and give it to the FBI.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/16/2024 @ 11:53 am@26 Time123, seriously it was a Babylon Bee link. It’s satire. You know, funny. Maybe it wasn’t as funny as the assassination joke you thought was a kneeslapper, but still….
lloyd (880ba6) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:06 pmMore LA District Attorney fun times
lloyd (880ba6) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:11 pmShe was well credentialed before she dated him, she dated him for a while, he likely did help her career, after she dated him she won state wide office as AG and to the US senate. She’s been successful in her field for decades after dating him. Reducing her to someone that owes her success to sexual favors seems a bit sexist to me.
I think you are way underestimating how important the Willie Brown relationship was to her career. She was a very junior prosecutor who had only passed the California bar on her second try, not exactly the next Perry Mason. As I pointed out five years ago, her dalliance with Speaker Brown launched her into appointed board positions that a 29-year-old otherwise would not have been considered, and it clearly provided her entry into the San Francisco political elite.
What is worse, the crazy insinuation that Ms. Harris is some sort of “role model” for young women with respect to how to succeed in a male-dominated climate, or some silly jokes and cutting remarks made at her expense? And given that Tim Walz gave life to the scurrilous lies about J.D. Vance, I have no problem with the gloves coming off and the true story of Ms. Harris’s ascent be told.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:13 pmThey are, but no one would accuse Nixon of being a Marxist.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:23 pmI wonder if this news will affect how JVW will vote this November.
I need to write up a blog post updating the interesting journey of Little Aloha Sweetie. She wrote a book (I haven’t yet purchased it because it doesn’t have many pictures) and had a long (I think maybe nearly two hours) interview on a podcast that I really like.
I agree with Noah Rothman on a lot of things, and I disagree with him on many other things. I agree with Tulsi Gabbard on a lot of things, and I disagree with her on many other things. With respect to her deportment towards Assad in Syria, I would probably prefer that she be a bit more critical of his actions. By the same token, though, I can’t join Mr. Rothman in what I am now coming to see as his 1990s style of Pax Americana, where we butt our heads into every single regional conflict no matter how far removed from legitimate American interests it is. I wish that the whole world would live under democracy, capitalism, and free trade, but I’m starting to doubt that this is possible, no matter how much we try to impose it.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:28 pmFun fact, Perry Mason is fictional, like Hannibal Lecter. Also, about 60% of folks don’t pass the bar on the first try, it varies between 20-50%, our host can comment on it’s difficulty in CA.
Another fun fact, I saw Willie Brown with Kamala Harris buying a couch on Fillmore on my first week living in SFO. I had zero clues about who he was until a few weeks later after watching the news, and her years later when she was running for AG.
Willie is pretty important in SFO, but LA is much more influential in state gov. Back in the day, the dotcom bros weren’t funding political campaigns like Hollywood, now the Paypal mafia has hundreds of billions between them.
Another fun fact, she’d be down 15 to a generic Republican, but she’s running against Trump, so she’s going to win by 5. Thanks MAGAtards.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:30 pmIn fact, there is evidence through the Nixon tapes tapes that Nixon imposed his wage and price controls to distract from his decision to remove the US from the gold standard, but they created inflationary pressures once they were lifted. In addition, Arthur Burns, then chairman of the Federal Reserve, was pressured by Nixon to implement an expansionary monetary policy to further secure his reelection, but created long-term economic problems for the next decade.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:39 pmDan McLaughlin fires a welcome shot across the bow of the most hardcore Trump supporters:
The stakes are high. OK, if Donald Trump wins in November and the GOP has a reasonable showing down-ballot, then Mr. Trump’s staunchest defenders will be able to claim victory for their man and his campaign. I won’t begrudge them that. But if Kamala Harris is elected, and if the GOP also loses seats in the House and Senate, then Donald Trump’s legacy is shredded. He then goes down in history as the guy who was lucky enough to defeat the single worst Presidential candidate in history, but whose personality was so toxic and whose leadership style was so unfocused and chaotic that he got beat by a couple of absolute dullards, neither of whom had any business coming anywhere near the Oval Office. Of course his most ardent fans will never acknowledge this, and the GOP will probably shrivel up and die an ignoble death.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:51 pm> Willie is pretty important in SFO, but LA is much more influential in state gov.
Yes and no.
For a whole variety of reasons, politicians from the bay are disproportionately powerful (compared with the population of their home region) in the California Democratic Party.
Yeah, we’ll shortly have two Senators from socal, but before Newsom appointed Padilla to replace Harris, there hadn’t been a Senator from socal since 1993 (and hadn’t been a *Democrat* Senator from socal since 1977).
Only two of the state constitutional officers (Weber and Lara) aren’t from the Bay Area.
It *is* true that political power *in the Assembly* moved to socal about twenty years ago, but even then — the current speaker is from a district that represents part of San Jose (he’s from San Benito County, though, and therefore not from the Bay Area).
Meanwhile, in the state Senate, the norcal dominance never really took hold in the same way, and there’ve been representatives from both the northand the south consistently over time.
Overall, power is shifting from north to south but the north’s power is still disproportionately big.
aphrael (cbf740) — 8/16/2024 @ 12:55 pmWillie is pretty important in SFO, but LA is much more influential in state gov. Back in the day, the dotcom bros weren’t funding political campaigns like Hollywood, now the Paypal mafia has hundreds of billions between them.
Uh, at one point in very recent memory the most important California politicians were Jerry Brown of Oakland by way of Sacramento, Barbara Boxer of Marin, Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco, Kamala Harris of San Francisco by way of Oakland and Berkeley, and Gavin Newsom of San Francisco. How can you say that Los Angeles is more influential in state government?
It is true that we’ll soon have two U.S. Senators from Los Angeles, and it was true that for a while Democrats tried to balance out the overwhelming Bay Area influence by electing Assembly Speakers and Senate Presidents from Southern California. But today we have Robert Rivas of Salinas as Speaker and Mike McGuire of Marin as Senate President, so this state continues to be dominated by the northern part.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:00 pmaphrael and I are on the same wavelength.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:01 pm*laugh* when you get basically the same response about CA politics from JVW and me — very different ends of the political spectrum — it’s probably a sign that you are missing something important. 🙂
aphrael (cbf740) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:02 pmIf people choose to vote for the communist/socialist to spite Trump and Trump supporters, I hope the full weight of what they vote for comes down on their shoulders… and their assets get redistributed accordingly
NJRob (5fdc89) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:04 pmBest case, Trump doesn’t give two craps about defense and the military, especially the people who have to sacrifice for it. Worst, well, his words, “suckers and losers”.
But if you can donate lots of money to his campaign, Presidential Medal of Freedom*.
Much better than the Medal of Honor. Recipients:
Elvis, Babe Ruth, Roger Staubach, Bob Cousy, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes…
Adelson at least donated money to some good causes, being good at sports or puckering for donnie two inch gets you a PMOF. You can feel lots of things for Bill Belichick, but he turned it down after 1/6. Presidents pass these things out like they’re (small) boxes of tic tacs.
And that’s why the PMOF is a pop culture award with no meaning, and the MOH is the ultimate tribute by a grateful nation.
*The Presidential Medal of Freedom is related to, but distinct from, the Medal of Freedom, an earlier award issued between 1945 and 1963 to honor US civilian contributions to World War II.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:05 pmHence, back in the day. Before the tech bubble came in the late 90’s, the tech crowd were nerds, now a small group of folks have more wealth than all but a few nations, and some of them are not as stoned as Musk, Peter Thiel has an outsized influence based on “only” having $15-$20 billion. Mainly because he chose to focus on using it to influence politics. It’s not like Steve Jobs, after returning to Apple, couldn’t have bankrolled every campaign himself, but he only became active later in life, and his wife is fairly active too, not to the extent of some, but more than her husband. Bezos’ ex-wife is the same.
Now is not then, then is not now, when Willie was mayor it was then, now Willie is 90. Now the Paypal mafia is throwing billions into politics, then they didn’t have billions, much less hundreds of billions.
From 1935 to now the Gov has been 3 from the Bay area, Jerry Brown and his dad, and Newsom. The central valley and real Northern California is under represented, none since 35, I didn’t look farther than that.
Feinstein, Boxer, and Pelosi made it a priority to gather power to the bay area, but again, that’s a relatively recent development, mainly after Pelosi became speaker in 07.
That’s how Harris was promoted, not by Willie, but by Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein getting behind her. Willie was pretty despised by most other pols, he’s closer to Trump-like than most others, maybe the Goodman’s in Vegas, love the Mayor’s office since it has virtually no power or responsibility but it’s a cool job, and they can play on TV.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:30 pm@43 JVW, I don’t recall much blame being heaped on go-along-get-along Republicans when McCain and Romney flamed out, not to the extent that glee was derived from their failure. This need to destroy Trumpism and dance on their grave started when “Nevertrump” was coined by Nevertrumpers themselves, which means it pre-dates 2016. The fact is most all Trump supporters voted for McCain, Dole, Romney and Bush 1 & 2 wing even after Democrats gained a Supermajority in 2009. The Republican Party was in a complete shambles and Trump wasn’t even part of it. The infighting and schism that followed years later is a Nevertrump self fulfilling prophecy. What we’ve learned is that as if 2016 party unity flies out the window when our preferred candidate doesn’t get nominated. This will be remembered when a go-along-get-along dullard gets nominated.
lloyd (880ba6) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:34 pm*as of 2016
lloyd (880ba6) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:35 pm*laugh* when you get basically the same response about CA politics from JVW and me — very different ends of the political spectrum — it’s probably a sign that you are missing something important. 🙂
I cannot deny the simple veracity of this statement.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:36 pm> What we’ve learned is that as if 2016 party unity flies out the window when our preferred candidate doesn’t get nominated.
Then I think you learned the wrong lesson. The issue isn’t that nevertrump’s preferred candidates weren’t nominated, the issue is that nevertrump thinks there is something unusually dangerous and bad about Trump and that *he personally* is unsupportable.
aphrael (cbf740) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:42 pmThere is a lot to discuss in your comment, lloyd. Let me take this bit by bit:
I don’t recall much blame being heaped on go-along-get-along Republicans when McCain and Romney flamed out, not to the extent that glee was derived from their failure.
Both of them graciously stepped aside and allowed another Republican to contend for the party’s nomination. Neither one of them insisted upon keeping a hold on the party.
The fact is most all Trump supporters voted for McCain, Dole, Romney and Bush 1 & 2 wing even after Democrats gained a Supermajority in 2009.
The fact is also that exit polls show that Donald Trump won 90% of the GOP vote in the 2016 election and 94% of the GOP vote in 2020. Compare that to how other losing candidates fared with their party: John McCain won 90% in 2008 and Mitt Romney won 93% of the vote four years later. I’ve made this comment several different times on other posts here, but the reason Donald Trump won in 2016 and lost in 2020 is because against Hillary! he won the independent vote by a 47% to 41% spread, and against Slow Joe he lost independents by a whopping 54% to 41%. Let’s be very frank here: Donald Trump didn’t lose because “NeverTrump” Republicans abandoned him; he lost because he became absolutely toxic to people outside of Trump’s own ideological bubble. And for as awful as Joe Biden has been and as awful as Kamala Harris is bound to be, Trump can’t win in November unless he finds a way to appeal to independents. And rehashing his grievances with Brian Kemp or questioning whether Kamala Harris is authentically black isn’t going to do it.
What we’ve learned is that as if 2016 party unity flies out the window when our preferred candidate doesn’t get nominated. This will be remembered when a go-along-get-along dullard gets nominated.
I would hold more truck with this argument if not for the fact that Trump fans openly said both in 2016 and again this year that they would not bother to vote for the GOP candidate unless it was Donald Trump. Maybe they were bluffing; we’ll never know, I suppose. But as I wrote above, I’m willing to bet that Donald Trump still gets well over 90% of the GOP vote this November, so again, the idea that he would lose because of NeverTrump abandonment just doesn’t hold water.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:51 pm#51
Imagine how much better your future would have looked if you and your tribe agreed that January 6 was an outrage, the election was not stolen, and Trump should have been convicted in the Senate and forbidden from running again.
Trump would be fuming in retirement, and the candidate would likely have been DeSantis, or someone with a similar populist message. The loyalty to Trump after January 2021 has been the GOP’s downfall. I wish it were different, but I simply don’t want what Trump and Vance have to offer in terms of policy, family corruption, and bombastic overbearing government. I don’t want Harris’s leftish nonsense either. I’ll choose it over Trump.
This is what your side has wrought. It’s going to be a bitter two years. It’s MAGAs fault. Not Mitt Romney’s. Not W’s. Not McCain’s. Yours.
Appalled (cc5904) — 8/16/2024 @ 1:56 pm@55 “I’ve made this comment several different times on other posts here, but the reason Donald Trump won in 2016 and lost in 2020 is because against Hillary! he won the independent vote by a 47% to 41% spread, and against Slow Joe he lost independents by a whopping 54% to 41%. “
I think Covid had something to do with it. To ignore that is to ignore the obvious. Trump won in 2016 and had to defend his victory against ridiculous attacks for four years, with Nevertrump cheering it on starting with Russian collusion nonsense. That some of the attacks eventually ended up being legit doesn’t erase that history. I believe the perfect call and Jan6 were a response to those ridiculous attacks and a response to the 2020 riots that got a pass, but no need to argue that for the millionth time.
The party pre-Trump gave lip service to all sorts of issues and never had the intention of achieving any of them. Trump judges gave us the Roe reversal. He also had border sanity instead of chaos. The establishment only wanted those as campaign issues. Trump actually getting them done was an annoyance. Good luck with restoring that ridiculousness back.
lloyd (6b6cdb) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:26 pmIt’s an election year, and the Democrats are opening up their convention this coming week under the looming threat of pro-Hamas protesters upstaging the coronation (and that’s what it was, given there was no alternative brought forward) of Kamala Harris. So it’s not surprising that the Biden Administration is again trying to force its peace proposal upon Israel. The details are as usual quite scant, but it appears to be a rehash of the three-phased plan they were talking about last May:
* Phase One where Hamas trades a few dozen hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli military withdraws from civilian areas of Gaza, and humanitarian aid is implausibly distributed to the suffering civilians rather than seized by Hamas profiteers.
* Phase Two in which Israeli forces fully withdraw from Gaza in return for Hamas giving up all remaining living hostages.
* Phase Three in which the remains of all dead hostages would be returned to Israel and reconstruction of Gaza would begin.
This leaves me with an awful lot of questions:
1. Why would Israel trade all of the Palestinian prisoners up front for only some of the hostages? What would happen if Hamas fails to live up to Phase Two and refuses to return male hostages, both military and civilan? Israel won’t necessarily be able to automatically re-imprison those Palestinians they released.
2. What if Israel determines that some of the dead hostages have been tortured or otherwise abused? Can Israel seek retribution on their captors? For that matter, even after the cease-fire does Israel retain the right to capture or kill anyone who they believe participated in the atrocities of October 7?
3. Who is funding the reconstruction of Gaza? Is it the Arab states, is it the U.S., is it Israel, or is it a combination of those groups? What obligation does the U.S. taxpayer, already $35 trillion in debt, have to rebuilding that benighted part of the world? Who is going to ensure that the money is not wasted via corruption or terrorism activities?
4. Who is going to be keeping the peace in Gaza while all of this goes on? Clearly Israel will not be supplying security troops, so will it be the U.S., Egypt, Hezbollah? What happens if rockets continue to be fired from Gaza into Israel? Is Israel just supposed to accept this as a necessary nuisance?
I can’t help but get the feeling that the Biden Administration is going to try and strong-arm Israel into this agreement, not so much to end the war and protect the interests of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, but in order to bolster Kamala Harris’s campaign by removing a major obstacle to Democrat Party unity. Biden, like Obama and Clinton before him, also no doubt wants this agreement as a way to try to claim some kind of successful legacy as a peacemaker, though this just invites Hezbollah and Iran to undermine his efforts (but I’ll bet they would wait until after Kamala Harris is successfully elected to do so).
I’m really interested in seeing how Israel responds to this. The worst-case scenario for the Biden Administration, I would think, is that Israel grudgingly assents, maybe with reservations, but that Hamas then scuttles the deal. That would puncture the progressive myth that the Palestinians are true partners in peace and would indicate that the Biden Administration wasted a lot of time and endangered hundreds or thousands of lives in going through this whole charade.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:27 pm@56 “This is what your side has wrought. It’s going to be a bitter two years. It’s MAGAs fault. Not Mitt Romney’s. Not W’s. Not McCain’s. Yours.”
No, it’s really yours Appalled. Just like gifting the supermajority to the Democrats in 2009 is your fault, and W’s and McCain’s. It took Trumpers to pull your behind out of that ditch you dug yourself. The leftist policies of Hairy-Balz will win because you voted for it, and it’s a very strange mindset that blames someone else for that. But, that kind of warped mentality is totally on-brand for Nevertrump.
lloyd (6b6cdb) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:35 pmThe party pre-Trump gave lip service to all sorts of issues and never had the intention of achieving any of them. Trump judges gave us the Roe reversal.
Samuel Alito is the intellectual backbone behind the Roe reversal, and we have George W. Bush to thank for him. He wrote the decision that even John Roberts was willing to join, and the final decision was not all that different from the draft of his that was leaked a couple of months earlier. Mitch McConnell stood up and blocked Merrick Garland from being considered for the Court, so we have him to thank for Neil Gorsuch. Susan Collins stood up and voted for Brett Kavanaugh after he was smeared by Democrats. It was said that George W. Bush was calling wavering Republican Senators at the last minute to vouch for Kavanaugh’s integrity, while Trump simply never developed that sort of relationship with them. McConnell pushed through Amy Coney Barrett, over the howls of protest from Democrats and their media enablers.
Look, I get that Donald Trump had the good sense to heed the advice of the Federalist Society and nominate those three jurists. I give him lots of credit for that. And I give him lots of credit for staying with Kavanaugh when the ridiculous charges came to light. I’m sure the President felt some kinship with him as someone who is also wrongly accused. But the idea that Trump himself moved heaven and earth to get these nominees confirmed grossly overstates the influence he had with the important Senators. Again, the real heroes are people like McConnell, Collins, Joe Manchin (who voted to confirm Kavanaugh), and other unnamed staffers.
JVW (d59129) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:40 pmOne of the better-known historical examples of price controls is Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices. (301 AD)
Jim Miller (770dd2) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:44 pmRemember when Republicans could claim “character counts”?
Jim Miller (770dd2) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:48 pmSamuel Alito is the intellectual backbone behind the Roe reversal, and we have George W. Bush to thank for him. He wrote the decision that even John Roberts was willing to join, and the final decision was not all that different from the draft of his that was leaked a couple of months earlier.
Roberts voted to uphold the the Mississippi fifteen-week limit on abortions but not to overrule Roe v. Wade. It was not a 6-3 decision, it was a 5-1-3 decision. No Court packing needed. Just Kamala to appoint Thomas’s and Alito’s replacements, and Roberts’s and Sotomayor’s for good measure.
And the bribery and presidential immunity decisions they handed down on their way to Harlan Crow’s yacht make that just fine with me. When push comes to shove, the political hack oozes out.
nk (c127b8) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:55 pmWhy should Israel trade any Palestinian prisoners? Historically, Israel has been on the short end of every deal-hundreds of terrorists for a single prisoner, or worse their corpse. Israel needs to draw the line sometime. Most of hostages are probably dead.
Yes, just as they did after the Munich Olympic massacre. Hunt them down like dogs.
It shouldn’t be the US, and the Arab governments have said “not our problem,” both as it relates to reconstruction and “postwar” security (the war will never really end.) The Arabs (and the Palestinian Authority) don’t want to be seen riding into Gaza on the back of an Israeli tank.
Netanyahu should have been thinking of these questions and developing their own plans six months ago. Postwar planning for the occupation of Germany began in 1943. Now, it looks like Israel will need to occupy Gaza for the next 50 years.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/16/2024 @ 2:56 pm@60 “Samuel Alito is the intellectual backbone behind the Roe reversal, and we have George W. Bush to thank for him”
No JVW, sorry, Bush does not get credit. If you remember, he wanted Harriet Miers and a revolt by right wingers ditched that and gave us Alito. Miers would not have written that opinion and though she may not have been a Souter level disaster she would have been a disappointment on many decisions.
lloyd (8ea8ee) — 8/16/2024 @ 3:00 pmI endorse #56
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/16/2024 @ 3:08 pmRemember when you focused on Kari Lake’s hairstyle?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/16/2024 @ 3:13 pmIf you remember, he wanted Harriet Miers and a revolt by right wingers ditched that and gave us Alito.
We’ll hang on: I thought that in the pre-Trump days the GOP just followed the lead of assorted RINOs. Now you’re telling me that authentic conservatives did indeed hold some sway over the party’s agenda?
Your point about that nomination is well-taken, though. Not GWB’s best moment.
JVW (642dd6) — 8/16/2024 @ 3:18 pmRemember when you focused on Kari Lake’s hairstyle?
Exactly the same as “You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”
nk (121a32) — 8/16/2024 @ 3:43 pmThat you call voter preferences a tribe says where your mindset is.
I preferred DeSantis. It’s been said on here dozens of times. But because I’m not part of “your tribe” I am automatically placed in a group you dislike. It’s absurd. You will vote for socialism. If you do, I hope you get it good and hard.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/16/2024 @ 3:54 pm> But because I’m not part of “your tribe” I am automatically placed in a group you dislike. It’s absurd. You will vote for socialism. If you do, I hope you get it good and hard.
“If you vote in a way I do not like, I hope you get it good and hard.”
That’s such a terrible sentiment to express and honestly is an example of the root causes of our political dysfunction.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/16/2024 @ 4:34 pmBut because I’m not part of “your tribe” I am automatically placed in a group you dislike. It’s absurd. You will vote for socialism. If you do, I hope you get it good and hard.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/16/2024 @ 3:54 pm
That’s like me saying if you vote for Trump then you are voting for the termination of the Constitution (as he called for in his infamous tweet), and I hope you get it good and hard.
Voting for a candidate does not mean you like everything about that candidate.
norcal (4c24f5) — 8/16/2024 @ 4:56 pmKamala isn’t even pretending to be anything but a hard left commie. You know what you are voting for with her.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/16/2024 @ 5:09 pmKamala isn’t even pretending to be anything but a hard left commie. You know what you are voting for with her.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/16/2024 @ 5:09 pm
Hard left commie? Hyperbole.
Do you really see the election as the white hats versus the black hats, or is there any room for nuance and mitigating factors?
Can you make an honest list of the pros and cons of each candidate, or is it just a Manichean outlook?
norcal (4c24f5) — 8/16/2024 @ 5:16 pmHere is one for the honest list:
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/16/2024 @ 5:20 pmHard left commie.
Runs in the family.
No. Trump is not a white hat. He’s vulgar, crude and ugly. He just happens to be the only one standing in the way.
If NeverTrump had just supported DeSantis and called out the leftist lawfare things could’ve turned out differently. But so many just wanted to “get Trump” they didn’t care what they were supporting. Just like those supporting the commies.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/16/2024 @ 5:30 pmNeverTrump folks number less than Trump supporters.
norcal (4c24f5) — 8/16/2024 @ 5:38 pmHence why they needed to compromise if they wanted an alternative to Trump, but they refused to do so.
So now they are going to support the commie. Does that make any sense?
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/16/2024 @ 6:14 pmI also endorse 56.
Dana (55538d) — 8/16/2024 @ 6:25 pmAfter a Trump defeat, I’m ready for the “we could’ve had DeSantis instead” nonsense from all the folks who didn’t vote for DeSantis in the primary and wouldn’t have voted for DeSantis in the general. Bring it on LOL.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/16/2024 @ 6:59 pmSince DeSantis quit the Republican primary campaign after the Iowa caucuses (and endorsed Trump), nobody was able to vote for him in the remaining primaries.
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:06 pmOh Rip, you missed your chance.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:08 pmSee post 81.
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:08 pm👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 But I would say it’s gonna be a bitter four years.
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:24 pmThe “Pipe Bomber” probably endorses 56.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:25 pmWhat preparations have you made to totally divest from any monetary gains, investment or otherwise, under a potential Trump Administration?
It is the only sane thing to do.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:28 pmIt’s the fault of a plurality of the GOP in 2016 and majorities in 2020 and 2024 for picking a uniquely and tremendously heinous human being as their Standard Bearer. As a NeverTrumper who urged Republicans to pick someone else, I take no blame for that.
Also, Trump is mentally worse today than he was four years ago. He can’t focus on a particular policy issue without reverting to his usual litany of bullsh-t and grievance.
Also, the choice this time around isn’t Heinous versus Communist, because describing the latter as that is fearmongering hyperbole. Harris is a liberal Democrat, left of a somewhat less liberal Biden, and probably a little left of Obama. America hasn’t become Venezuela in the 12 years under their administrations, and won’t do so under Harris-Walz.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:47 pm@87 Nevertrump wanted someone else. And, if the someone else had been DeSantis they still would’ve demanded someone else.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:56 pmAlso, Trump is mentally worse today than he was four years ago. He can’t focus on a particular policy issue without reverting to his usual litany of bullsh-t and grievance.
Yeah, I agree with this. If Donald Trump’s mind is not deteriorating with age then he needs to snap out of this Senior ADHD and start focusing directly and solely on the awful Biden/Harris record of the past 3 1/2 years. He has a strong argument to make there, but he’s only going to undermine it with his flights of fancy regarding the 2020 election, or how he was mistreated while in office, or whether or not various Republicans are loyal enough to him. Every day he runs with his nonsense is a wasted day that brings him closer to losing the election.
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:57 pmYou’re making sh-t up. If I had the chance, I’d have voted for DeSantis.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 7:59 pmHarris is a liberal Democrat, left of a somewhat less liberal Biden, and probably a little left of Obama. America hasn’t become Venezuela in the 12 years under their administrations, and won’t do so under Harris-Walz.
No, it won’t become Venezuela in four years, but we are on the verge of turning into a larger Canada with better Mexican food, which I think would be a Democrat dream. Government-run health care with heavy regulations on free enterprise, impossible Green goals written into law, heavy government subsidies on anything that progressives deem as socially desirable, restrictions on “hate speech” however nebulously defined, and a crazy obsession with past injustices to the point of inventing them in order to have something to feel guilty about: these are the items that we could see brought here under a Harris/Walz Administration. At the very least, we will move a lot closer to this left-wing utopia, perhaps so far that we won’t be able to find our way back.
JVW (03ae6d) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:03 pmJVW, it would be better if there were a GOP majority in the Senate (right now, it’s 50-48 GOP with the two toss-ups in MT and OH) to shut down her more left-wing appointees and nominees, and to more easily shut down her brainless price caps proposal and other liberal nuttery. If not, there’s still cloture.
I won’t like a Harris administration, for more reasons than I can count, but it’s delusional fantasyland to suggest she’ll be the next Hugo Chavez.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:11 pmJVW makes a good point here.
Quick survey, how many nevertrumpers here will vote for Trump if he makes the necessary adjustments JVW recommends?
Paul? Time? nk? Clink? Dana? etc…
For those who reside I states that have an electoral college skirt to hide behind, would you change your tune to try and encourage your neverTrump brethren, who reside in states that matter, to get out the vote for Trump?
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:13 pm…reside in…
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:16 pmHow is that possible with all the Trump endorsements these candidates made????
Surely they don’t know as much about elections as you do.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:18 pm@90 LOL… you and who else? Nevertrump was never going to go for DeSantis.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:21 pmTroll.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:25 pmI’ll take that as a “No.”
Sorry about painting you in a corner like that.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:27 pmLike I said, you’re making sh-t up. NeverTrump ≠ NeverDeSantis.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:27 pmDeSantis stills falls within the window of non-batsh-t Republican candidates, and he was never an election denier.
There’s no corner and no paint. You’re simply a troll.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:28 pmFrom a jerkface lying liar from Liarsville:
Probably a crock. I am certain that Aycn or Rip will find this interesting enough to double check.
I have no opinion. I am just posting stuff.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:30 pm@99 We should believe you instead of our lying eyes. Got it.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:31 pmThe “Electoral College Skirt” really smarts…
Haha!
I am ok with “Troll” as I always think of you as my Chum.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:33 pmI’ve already laid out Trump’s categorical unfitness. There’s no assurance that if Trump adopts more traditional Republican issues today that he won’t change them on an egotistical whim on the next.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:33 pmI doubt your lying eyes go to places like The Dispatch. You made the claim that NeverTrumpers would never support DeSantis. Back it up.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:35 pmThanks for confirming your troll status.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:36 pm@105 “Back it up.”
He dropped out.
Done.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:39 pmi am surprises it isn’t in one of your “so noted” binders.
You take a lot of notes when your debate skills drop off a cliff.
Back to the question if you want to take an actual position. If Trump makes the adjustments JVW recommends, will you help to defeat Kamala?
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:40 pm…surprised…
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:41 pmThanks, lloyd, you got nuthin’, which I already knew.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:42 pmAsked and answered, troll. Blue is a pretty color.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:43 pmIt should be pointed out that “excess profits” are straight out of Marx.
So, maybe NJRob is correct, calling her a Communist.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:57 pmWas your answer in the comment that did not lay out Harris’s categorical unfitness?
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 8:58 pmNot now, Kevin! Paul is about to explain away the possibility that with no assurance that if Kamala adopts more traditional Democrat issues today that she won’t change them after he is done playing the sucker.
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:02 pmNixon imposed price controls in 1971 to try to contain the inflation that the Johnson-Nixon “Guns AND butter” Vietnam War spending caused. What happened was that they bottled it up some, only to see it explode on Ford and Carter.
Sometimes it caused shortages, but one popular way of getting around the price controls was to increase a package size (and increase the price) then a couple months later reduce both, but not to the same levels as before. They even did that with comic books.
In the end though, the instabilities that were there before the controls grew and when the controls came off the transients were fierce. It’s a recipe for stagflation.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:07 pmBlue is a pretty color.
When the colors were Red for Democrats and Blue for the GOP, boy did the Democrats holler. Not only did “red” imply they were Reds, but more people have blue as their favorite color. And that matters.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:09 pmWhat Harris and Warren propose is very similar to the disastrous and unconstitutional) National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. I’ve said before that Harris is a left-wing post-liberal and this is a major indicator of that.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:23 pmAnother fun fact, she’d be down 15 to a generic Republican, but she’s running against Trump, so she’s going to win by 5. Thanks MAGAtards.
She’d be down 10 to Ted Cruz, mainly because he’s got tons more class than Trump.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:25 pmI’m working on a “Principled Conservative Argument for Electing Donald Trump.” The main point is that the way to destroy MAGA is to give it power. Defeating Trump at the polls just drags everything out.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:27 pmItem 6 I have been pondering a response. Other then showing trump the movie hacksaw ridge anything else I would post seems inadequate. Talk about stolen valor j.d. The exception is c.m.h.winners awarding their own medal of honor to the school teachers at sandy hook school.
asset (a80d64) — 8/16/2024 @ 9:29 pmWas Nixon a communist? Jonah…
Not only do they not work, they won’t get passed.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:17 pmBlue, as in, the color of the hyperlinks.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/16/2024 @ 10:18 pmAnyone who disagrees with the right is a communist and anyone who disagrees with democrats both moderates and left is a Nazi! Thats what makes it fun.
asset (a80d64) — 8/17/2024 @ 2:34 amI don’t think Harris is an idealogue. She’s not pushing price controls because of some socialist obsession. She’s pushing it because the politics demands a response to inflation. She must deliver SOMETHING and this is one that low-information voters will nod along to….just like Trump pushing tariffs. Who believes higher tariffs will lead to MORE exports?
There’s no magic answer to inflation. The closest is the fed threading the issue with interest rate increases as it has done. You can reduce money circulating about by cutting spending, but in an election year who’s gonna run on that? It’s not like Republicans are preaching fiscal austerity….well except when it comes to Ukraine….which is not exactly driving inflation.
Let’s just accept that this will be the season of dumb….and that the election will hinge on vibes and likability. For those who want nuanced discussions of policy while we have narrow margins in Congress and toxic partisanship are whistling past the graveyard. We’re stuck with Trump riffing and improvising at his pep rallies and Harris vigorously waving and smiling. This is what populism and tribalism have wrought. Own it.
AJ_Liberty (3f389f) — 8/17/2024 @ 3:23 amThis is the non-ideologue kinda stuff I think we all should agree is simple political lies that are approved by neverTrump:
I, for one, am relieved that candidates lying for votes is now back in favor.
AJ +1
BuDuh (3299b7) — 8/17/2024 @ 3:32 am“The main point is that the way to destroy MAGA is to give it power. Defeating Trump at the polls just drags everything out.”
I think it needs more work. MAGA wants to hear and adore their dear leader. They want vindication. They do actually want retribution. They want to show that they were right and NeverTrump was wrong. It’s personal….and you want to feed it.
You may be right that we won’t get to see extreme policy and rhetoric fail unless they actually win. We won’t have military shooting illegal immigrants or military incurions into Mexico unless Trump wins. We won’t see broad tariffs and we won’t get the next round of isolationism without Trump being triumphant.
The problem is that none of that will dissuade Trump loyalists and will stop the rise of whoever Trump will annoint. Trump becoming a winner doesn’t hasten anything. He needs to lose to a black woman who is a mediocre candidate. This will be the final salvo for persuadable Republicans that if they want conservative judges and sane regulatory policy, they need a better candidate….someone with some cross appeal.
The root problem is that the conservative media culture must see an economic incentive to move on. Trump gives them ratings….and there is no loss of people willing to sell their souls to promote Trump and populism. I agree that it’s an open question about how to crack that nut and get average people to want normal again. An elected Trump doing awful things might just spur the next round of circle the waggons. I think Trump losing forces some much needed introspection.
AJ_Liberty (3f389f) — 8/17/2024 @ 3:42 amToo much discussion about hosing a pile of dog sh!t off America’s sidewalk. Let’s just hook up that hose and if by the time we’ve done that some have scooped it up and taken it home they’re welcome to it.
nk (5c2bd1) — 8/17/2024 @ 4:41 amHonestly, AJ has a point. This is a lot like the argument for Trump vs Hillary, that she needs to lose to a complete clown to send the popular message.
Unfortunately I do think Kamala will be a terrible president beyond what we currently expect, so it’s hard for me to abide that cost. I am heartened that Trump is finally wearing out his welcome, and the thing I always thought: he’s boring, is finally accepted.
Nevertrumpers really let the country down by not compromising on Desantis. They’ve learned only how to hurt conservatism.
Dustin (602f37) — 8/17/2024 @ 6:35 amWhat’s boring are the superficial takes. We’re talking about the future of this country and it’s boiled down to glee at a candidate getting his comeuppance at the hands of a
socialist defund the police ticket“black woman” and dancing on the grave of his supporters, without whose votes you will never win anything. Ever. Behind the “complete clown” is sound immigration, economic and regulatory policy and the best judicial appointments we’ve had in decades. But, these are things many here like to jabber on and on about, but recoil at actually following through and doing it. See Roe.What exactly is the party we want to return to? I think most here are afraid to answer. McCain lost, and lost bad. Romney lost, and lost bad. Bush left us with a Great recession, an endless WMD war and a Democrat supermajority. But, this time it will be different. The do-nothing-win-nothing wing will resurrect itself from the ashes of Trumpism and crow about being right. Heaven help us. With this crowd, a Republican loss is the easiest prediction to make. Being right once will be their only accomplishment, but it’s what matters to them most. We’ll return to doing nothing and winning nothing, and that’s exactly what folks here want.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/17/2024 @ 7:13 amFrom time to time, I dip into Carl Sandburg’s biography of Lincoln (the 1954 edition that combined his earlier books on Lincoln).
Recently I ran across a little story that tells us much about the man. On Febrauary 13, 1861, Lincoln had been declared president (by John C. Breckenridge!). He promptly began his trip from Illinois to DC, stopping frequently for celebrations as he went.
At one stop, this happened:
Jim Miller (4fb862) — 8/17/2024 @ 7:38 amThat quote is from page 200 in my copy.
Jim Miller (4fb862) — 8/17/2024 @ 7:50 am“Nevertrumpers really let the country down by not compromising on Desantis.”
Which poll showed DeSantis close or beating Trump in a head-to-head primary matchup? You continue to misdiagnose the problem in the GOP. Too many here look at a man who watched stoically as cops were dragged unconscious down the steps of the Capitol, pepper sprayed, crushed in doorways, and pummeled with batons…doing nothing when a mere Tweet could have ended it all….and conclude that THAT is the man who should get another chance at leadership. These people will support him even when he ducked all of the debates with his GOP opposition and rambles on about nonsense because he quickly loses interest in talking about policy. Soooo, no, the problem isn’t with people who categorically rejected Trump….most of which who would have supported DeSantis….but the 2/3 of the party who are untroubled by nominating a likely felon because he’s such a “winner”.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/17/2024 @ 8:05 am“What exactly is the party we want to return to?”
Any candidate who could beat Joe Biden in 2020 and a head of the party who could have held the Senate in 2020. I reject the absurd notion that ONLY Trump could beat a weak Hillary Clinton in 2016…and so only Trump could have cut taxes and appointed 3 conservative justices. This is nonsense.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/17/2024 @ 8:09 am@132 Unfortunately AJ, the internet remembers.
Let me ask you, all. Do you think DeSantis is a good person? Because he does not strike me as a good person. He strikes me as a thug and a gangster.
The kind of person whose idea of Environmental Protection would be: “That’s a nice tree you have there. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to it.” (Yeah, I stole it from The Wizard of Id.)
nk (6ed565) — 7/13/2023 @ 7:52 pm
I agree with your assessment, nk, and have previously described him here using similar terms. I remember him being an ass toward high school kids wearing masks during the pandemic who were standing behind him. Really berated one especially for wearing a mask and yet he knew nothing about the kid’s health or his family’s health. A real prick.
Dana (560c99) — 7/13/2023 @ 8:26 pm
Dana, that was an indelible moment. And I’ve not seen anything since to counter the impression. Could you imagine Reagan bullying those kids or using illegal immigrants as stunt props or ratcheting up the rhetoric against gays and trans? Even DeSantis’ attempt at humor by suggesting placing a prison next door to Disney is weirdly dark.
I’m sure that some here will bully similarly….saying that if you want to get rid of Trump, then DeSantis is the only plausible option. That the bulk of the party will simply not prefer happy warriors like Scott or Haley….and definitely not unrepentant traitors like Christie or Hutchinson. But likability is a thing. It’s a big thing for the general election.
AJ_Liberty (5f9353) — 7/14/2023 @ 3:53 am
I’m sure there’s more material in the archives. Just not enough time to comb through it all. But, yeah looks like DeSantis had a chance with your crowd. /s
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/17/2024 @ 8:23 amI think we all probably have that relative or friend who, no matter what the circumstances, daily unhappiness and complaining is their goal the moment they get out of bed. That’s what Nevertrump is to the party.
lloyd (21ec6e) — 8/17/2024 @ 8:31 amIf poor DeSantis had by the most unfortunate of karma defeated Trump in the primaries, he would have been forced to commit seppuku for betraying his liege lord.
DeSantis was never a genuine candidate in that fake primary the only purpose of which was to keep Trump in the news and give him a scorecard of Primo Carnera “victories”.
Just a straw man for Trump to knock down, as he is straw man now.
nk (a9b8eb) — 8/17/2024 @ 8:56 amGreat piece on a high school grad’s decision to walk all 2,193 miles of the Appalachian.
A good friend of mine walked the El Camino, which is 1,700 miles shorter, much more populated and has places to stay and eat. The AT is lonelier quest, but still sounds amazing.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:03 amI don’t even know why I’m responding to this nonsense.
I know that Trump’s sustenance is unconditional love and that no distortion of reality or the laws pf nature is outside the reach of his supporters.
nk (a9b8eb) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:04 amYes, the internet remembers, lloyd, you not to much…
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:08 amThe only candidates I categorically would have not voted for were Trump and Ramaswamy. I wasn’t a fan of DeSantis because of his Ukraine policy and his willingness to punish Disney for what amounted to its speech. He also failed to connect with people on the campaign trail. He seemed a bit uncomfortable and awkward which I felt would make it difficult to win over moderates. I feared he could not win whereas Haley struck a better balance. I could vote for DeSantis.
But all of this is mostly wish-casting and twisting of why DeSantis failed and lasted one primary before giving up, bending the knee, and attacking Trump’s opposition. The reality is that 2/3 of the GOP favored Trump over DeSantis. They may agree with DeSantis, but Trump entertains them more.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:15 am@134, awesome lloyd, I stand by that quote…however…it doesn’t say I wouldn’t vote for DeSantis against Biden. It says why I feared DeSantis couldn’t win and Haley had a better shot. I still believe that.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:20 amExactly. Nevertrumpers refused to compromise, in order to beat Trump. They weren’t ‘never trump’ so much as they are ‘never a functional conservative party that empowers the whole party.’
Therefore all that’s left is what’s left.
Because you know damn well how much better off the GOP would be right this second had Desantis gotten the support needed, and was your candidate today. Everyone knows, except the far left and Trump’s most loyal.
We know what we should have done. All we’re arguing about is how the people responsible aren’t responsible because they claim what they did was inevitable yet again. That’s kinda easy to reject since it’s a choice.
And the reason I keep bringing this up, for 12 years now, is because we do need to work this out by 2028.
Dustin (602f37) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:40 amUnless you want a Kamala vs Don Jr election, which is what I’ll be saying ‘I told you so’ about.
Dustin (602f37) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:40 amThat’s a work of fiction. Blame-shifting fiction.
It wasn’t NeverTrumpers who cratered DeSantis’ chances, there ain’t enough of us. A year ago today, Trump and his Mini Me (Vivek) were at 62%. Game over. DeSantis was at 18%, down from the upper 30s after months of negative attacks by Trump, with scarcely any counter-attacks by DeSantis, and those numbers carried into Iowa, the basket where he put most of his political eggs. On 8/17/2023, Nikki and Christie, representing the actual NeverTrump wing, were 6% combined.
No, the blame for who let our country down are the Trumpers, no one else, for refusing to compromise by switching to DeSantis. They’re the only ones who could’ve turned the tables.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:53 amLeftists contunue to show how much they support democracy by throwing their political opponents off the ballot.
NJRob (538ed4) — 8/17/2024 @ 9:53 amBut Richard Nixon, who also loved him some sweet, sweet price controls, wasn’t a communist, nor was FDR.
Richard Nixon did not talk about “excess profits” or attempt to regulated corporate income. FDR did, and he may not have been a Communist but Harry Hopkins, who designed FDR’s early economic programs, has been accused of being a Soviet agent several times. The NiRA was pretty far towards a Soviet-style command economy.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:02 amI don’t think Harris is an idealogue. She’s not pushing price controls because of some socialist obsession.
She walks like a duck and talks like a duck and never does anything unducklike. This is one of those “you or my own two eyes” things.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:04 am@144 It’s one thing to contend DeSantis had no chance. It’s quite another to guarantee it through lack of support.
Trump’s surge a year ago began with his first politically motivated indictment, cheered on by Nevertrump. DeSantis had no bloody shirt to wave.
And, that of course will be another by product of this election. Not only validating leftist socialist defund the police nonsense, but also validating leveraging the justice system against political opponents by the party in power. This is all owned by Nevertrump.
lloyd (f46deb) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:08 amFoolish Germany, for no longer financially supporting the victim of this century’s biggest terrorist, but also for demolishing their last nuclear plant, thus keeping themselves more dependent on imported oil and gas.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:19 amIn a traditional Republican world, lloyd, where traditional conservatives were a factor, maybe even a plurality, an indictment of Trump would’ve ended his campaign and political career, but no, that’s not where this stank of a party is.
This is all on you Trumpists for supporting him despite the 4 indictments, despite the coup attempt, despite his Big Lies, despite the tens of thousands of other lies, despite his complete lack of character, despite his mental derangement.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:23 amInteresting that the VFW shose to make this statement.
(No direct link, since it is part of ongoing live coverage, and I haven’t found a way to link to items within the stream. FWIW, this may get you there, at least for a while.)
Jim Miller (4fb862) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:26 amOK, you can still find the story by scrolling down — at least for a while.
Jim Miller (4fb862) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:28 amA stank skank party SWATs one of their own, for the “crime” of disloyalty to their Cult Leader.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:29 amHere’s the full statement, direct from the VFW.
Jim Miller (4fb862) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:31 am@150 Reagan would be appalled by the GOP starting circa 2016, but not in the way you think.. A traditional Republican world disappeared before Trump sent his first mean tweet, and it’s on Nevertrump.
But yeah, once DeSantis nosedived due to lack of support we should’ve taken our cues from politically driven indictments by the Gascon of NYC and Biden’s DOJ who took a break from monitoring school board meetings. That is so traditionally Republican LOL.
lloyd (f46deb) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:42 amSince Trump has said that he’s “”entitled” to continue his personal attacks on Harris and that he has re-hired
Corey Lewandowski (whose motto as his 2016 campaign manager was “Let Trump be Trump”), it’s unlikely that Trump will change his campaign approach.
It would be like asking a leopard to change its spots.
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:45 amRIP-
Legendary actress Gena Rowlands (94).
60s fashion icon Peggy Moffitt (86).
Original Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall (98).
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/17/2024 @ 11:00 amRep. Clay Higgins’ self-appointed investigation into the Crooks crime scene reminds me of when Rep. Dan Burton shot a watermelon to prove something about Vince Foster’s suicide.
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/17/2024 @ 11:23 amA good friend of mine walked the El Camino, which is 1,700 miles shorter, much more populated and has places to stay and eat.
Are you referring to the Camino de Santiago? Because even though it is a shorter route, pilgrims are encouraged to undertake it without carrying much more than a blanket and a water container (they are not supposed to carry money), and while wearing a traditional tunic and sandals. They also rely upon the hospitality of residents along the path who help feed and shelter them in the evenings. Not that too many people do this, but for the true pilgrims it is every bit as challenging as carrying a loaded backpack through the Appalachians.
JVW (36cc73) — 8/17/2024 @ 11:26 amThat’s the one. My friend took the traditional route, around 500 miles, and the hard part was trying to do around 20 miles a day, and some of those days were hot, pushing 100 degrees.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 11:45 am@144, once again Dustin will ignore these points and come back in a week and say the same thing. Excuse me if I find this trollish. It’s a shame.
lloyd: “but also validating leveraging the justice system against political opponents by the party in power”
Do you genuinely believe that Trump did nothing wrong with regards to J6 or obstructing the return of the classified documents? Did you support his impeachment or was that just another tedious exercise in partisanship excuse-making? Character is destiny. Candidates don’t need to be saints, but they shouldn’t be as twisted as Trump. Deflecting this to DeSantis avoids any responsibility that the 2/3 of the GOP bears for preferring Trump. If you continue nominating low-character candidates, you will continue to lose. Trump earned three of his indictments…the fourth is weaker but still the fruit of a life-time of cheating in his personal and professional life and trying to cover it up. Maybe it was over-charged, but does anyone really believe he didn’t do exactly what he was charged with?
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/17/2024 @ 11:58 am“ Remember when Republicans could claim “character counts”?”
In 1992.
And 2008.
How’s that work out?
SaveFarris (acf845) — 8/17/2024 @ 12:05 pmPart of the reason that the Trump party exists is that traditional conservative politicians made a lot of promises to change things they couldn’t functionally change or very much needed to not change or conflicted with one another significantly or where the results of actual changes would have been very unpopular, but they had convinced people that these changes were possible and necessary and desirable and so a lot of voters got really mad about the changes not getting made and are in rebellion now. I don’t see a lot of evidence that traditional conservative politicians intend to change their methods though.
@Paul@159 My parents did the El Camino after my dad retired in his mid-sixties. He thought it was really interesting and really liked it. It was a bit much for my mom though.
Nic (120c94) — 8/17/2024 @ 12:07 pmIf past is prologue, the next administration will have a million Americans die in a pandemic while cities burn, white nationalist will be publicly supported, intelligence and military secrets will be openly revealed to our enemies in the oval office, nothing will change on the border.
But I’m supposed memory hole that and it was all in a different reality, these are not the droids you are looking for.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/17/2024 @ 12:20 pmbut also for demolishing their last nuclear plant, thus keeping themselves more dependent on imported oil and gas.
The still have lots of coal. Nothing is too much to protect Germany from the threats of earthquakes and tidal waves, the last of which … checking notes … was never.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 12:51 pmNo, the blame for who let our country down are the Trumpers, no one else, for refusing to compromise by switching to DeSantis.
Not to mention DeSantis, who took all of Trump’s attacks without responding. A c.u.c.k. in Trumpian parlance.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 12:55 pmThis is what MAGA wrought…a Republican who publicly withdrew his support for Trump was SWATted.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 12:58 pm@166 And Trump was an inch from getting his head blown off and an innocent firefighter is dead. That’s what Nevertrump wrought. Same evidence, same logic.
lloyd (1a6142) — 8/17/2024 @ 1:18 pmThe biggest non-political story this week, and it’s out of this world:
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/17/2024 @ 1:21 pmNeverTrump had nothing to do with a crazy incel wanting to go out in a blaze of glory.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 1:25 pmIt’s not a coincidence that a “traitor” was SWATted after going on television to publicly reject Trump.
@169 Yes Paul, just like the “bloodbath” lie you fell for and repeated.
lloyd (c79ade) — 8/17/2024 @ 1:36 pmExcept it wasn’t a lie. You’re delusional.
Here’s another MAGA bully, trying to legally force the GA SecState to lie in order to settle a lawsuit, even though the plaintiff is the liar.
You’re all f-cking bullies.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 1:40 pmThe SS has deployed new security measures to allow Donald Trump to continue his outdoor rallies:
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/17/2024 @ 1:41 pmSorry for the formatting errors. The italicized text are my additional comments.
Rip Murdock (dbc1a6) — 8/17/2024 @ 1:43 pmElon sent one of his Cybertrucks to Russian Chechen terrorist Kadyrov, with machine gun mount. Why he’s on the side of a war criminal, perhaps he can explain.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 2:22 pmMaybe he wants to have Kadyrov for dinner in Venezuela.
nk (ec614a) — 8/17/2024 @ 2:53 pmThe WSJ has two interesting long reads: one on Ukraine’s invasion of Russia and another on the shoestring operation and motley crew of Ukrainian special forces soldiers and civilian divers to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline.
The most embarrassing thing about the Nord Stream story is how the CIA tried to stop it and later ratted out the participants to the German government.
Rip Murdock (5ff868) — 8/17/2024 @ 4:03 pmElon sent one of his Cybertrucks to Russian Chechen terrorist Kadyrov, with machine gun mount.
Really, Paul Montagu? Elon Musk wrote up the sales slip and personally drove the truck onto the loading dock to be sent to Kadyrov? Did he include a warm personal note thanking him for the order?
Or could it possibly be that of the 11,500 or so CyberTrucks sold since the start of the year, one of them was bought by a third-party and then given to Kadyrov? Nah, that’s not a sexy enough story, and it deprives us of the chance to cast Elon Musk as a super-villain. So let’s just assume the worst because that is a heck of a lot more fun.
JVW (05f2a6) — 8/17/2024 @ 4:34 pmJust for fun, Ukraine should hold a vote in Kursk for annexation to Ukraine.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 4:45 pmThe most embarrassing thing about the Nord Stream story is how the CIA tried to stop it and later ratted out the participants to the German government.
Biden plays both sides against the middle.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 4:53 pmit deprives us of the chance to cast Elon Musk as a super-villain
He HAS referred to himself as Hugo Drax.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 4:54 pmIt was a gift from Musk to the terrorist.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 5:11 pmWell, if it’s posted on X it must be true.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 5:12 pm@181 LOL
lloyd (c79ade) — 8/17/2024 @ 5:25 pmThe crazy is at full tilt at Trump’s rally…
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 5:33 pmAll the boys tell him that.
nk (a0a023) — 8/17/2024 @ 5:36 pmFat Elvis is not better looking than Kamala.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 5:49 pm@186 Paul, how much thought did you need to put into that fact check? Were you struggling with it for awhile?
lloyd (c79ade) — 8/17/2024 @ 6:05 pmI’ll just say, lloyd, that your trolling isn’t as good as BuDuh’s, but he’s been at it longer.
BTW, and maybe this is the creepy part of X because I never mentioned the Appalachian Trail anywhere before today, but here is a proud dad celebrating his daughter’s complete thru-hike, starting on 4/3 and finishing today, crossing all 2,197 miles in 137 days.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 6:11 pmthe creepy part of X
I have to stop and consider that phrase for a moment.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 7:05 pmIt was a gift from Musk to the terrorist.
Jeeze, Paul, Kadyrov says he got it from Musk and that’s good enough for you? Do you also believe everything you hear from Vladimir Putin, Nicolas Maduro, Kim Jong Un, and Ali Khamenei?
JVW (66b3ed) — 8/17/2024 @ 7:06 pmWhy would Kadyrov lie? He has his own little fiefdom.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/17/2024 @ 8:29 pm@145 your wrong again. I am a lefty and the squad are leftys. I still may vote green party’s Jill Stein. It is a corporate establishment democrat party operative in wisconsin filing to get green party kicked off the ballot. As they did in 2020. Know your different enemies please.
asset (cee974) — 8/17/2024 @ 8:51 pmWhy would Kadyrov lie? He has his own little fiefdom.
Why would Putin or those other fellas lie?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/17/2024 @ 10:10 pmRIP legendary French actor Alain Delon (88):
All of the films mentioned above are worth seeing.
Rip Murdock (5ff868) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:38 amSketchy lunatic writes a story:
I have no stake in this.
Just posting interesting stuff.
I do know that Ben Sasse was the nevertrumpers’ darling. I assume Paul can inform everyone as to whether or not Sasse ever told a lie.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 7:17 amOne of the stories about Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and Clyde) is that he wrote to Henry Ford that he made a fine car.
Teslas cannot be exported to Russia because of the sanctions. This vehicle was stolen from some legal shipment in a nearby country and smuggled in. The Chechens have always been doing that. And much worse things too.
Kadyrov was being a smart-ass little punk-ass gangster, like Clyde Barrow.
nk (d6cc75) — 8/18/2024 @ 7:17 amSasse’s initial response here, for any non-staked trolls who are just posting interesting stuff.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/18/2024 @ 8:56 amThanks for the link. Paul. The detailed comments that follow Sasse’s “response” certainly make things even more interesting.
Wow!
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:12 amBuDuh,
CTH has been NeverDeSantis from the beginning as he knew DeSantis was the only one with the ability to beat Trump. He’s written several garbage hit pieces that didn’t hold up. Surprised they weren’t picked up by the Times.
NJRob (979698) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:16 amI see. Thank NJRob.
But does that make the timeline he laid out and the implications not curious at all?
If the 20 million dollar cast of characters were replaced with Newsom, Walz, Klobuchar, and some rando commie from Minnesota, and Newsom got 20 million to ultimately funnel into a superpac in trade for Klobuchar to head up the UC system, you would shrug it off?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:40 amOne thing CTH got right, dead on, smack on target, no question about it.
It’s the way DeSantis operates. That is what he is good at. Insider wheeling and dealing, bribery, and extortion. That’s how he got to where he is.
He is a thug and a gangster who not only knows how to kiss the hand that he cannot cut off but also how to grease the palm that slips money into his pocket.
I’ll just leave it at that.
nk (dfd954) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:09 amIt’s curious and potentially concerning. We know graft in DC is ever present and the “pay-to-play” game has gone on forever. I’d like to see a proper investigation, but I don’t trust the way Sundance phrases things.
NJRob (979698) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:22 amNk proves my point.
NJRob (979698) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:23 am#201 I don’t know a lot about Klobuchar, but I know enough so I don’t think she should be punished by being forced to “head up the UC system”.
That might even run into the Constitutional prohibition of “cruel and unusual”.
Jim Miller (826b5d) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:33 amI agree.
Life is better with him in the blocking script.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:35 amIt’s tough carrying water for a sexual-abusing coup-attempting serial-lying fraud and felon, but that is the job Vance chose.
First, him claiming that the recent polls are “fake”, despite 538 ranking NYT/Siena and ABC/WaPo 1st and 2nd, respectively. A few weeks ago, the RCP Electoral Map showed Trump winning 321-214, and today the margin has narrowed to 276-262, and Vance isn’t helping, IMO.
Next, his silence about Ukraine’s Kursk incursion, instead lying about “US taxpayers subsidizing their [NATO’s] defense”. I agree with Vance that China should be a higher priority (but a top priority, not the top priority, not when the largest European land invasion since WW2 is ongoing) but, ever since Obama, this “pivot to Asia” has never happened.
The only China policy that Trump has really talked about since the pandemic is his failed tariffs idea and, more recently, signaling that the US wouldn’t defend Taiwan if China invaded unless Taiwan pays the US for the cost of their defense. The free flow of Taiwan-made semiconductors, free of ChiCom control, is an American national security interest. Trumpist brainlessness.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:37 amAll right, maybe I won’t leave it at that.
Say what you want about Trump, and you know I do, DeSantis could never get the nomination the way Trump did in 2016, by appealing to the people in a competitive primary race. And even now, it’s Trump’s popular appeal that herded the establishment GOP into his corral making him the only realistic contender from the start.
DeSantis could never do that. What he could do is freeze out potential opponents from the party machinery and donor money by wheeling and dealing on the inside, crippling them before they even thought of challenging him.
And do it very well too. In Florida. Nationally? I doan theenk so.
nk (43bdc1) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:44 am“ Remember when Republicans could claim “character counts”?”
In 1992.
And 2008.
How’s that work out? — SaveFarris @162
I think this says a lot about where the GOP electorate is at these days.
You’re not trying if you’re not cheating, stealing, and lying. I know that’s what we are supposed to be instilling in our young people: winning is everything and you must win at all costs /sarc.
What we end up is a President who refuses to concede an election based on no discernible evidence…that then leads his team to implement a fake elector scheme because the other side must have cheated. So, We MUST cheat because the other side clearly cheated. It’s ethically risible.
Then NeverTrump is pilloried because we have the audacity to call it out. I understand why the MAGA are always so angry at this site. I would be too if I had to make excuses for Trump and the GOP base for 9 years. Frankly, it must be exhausting.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:45 amRegarding Kamala’s proposed economic plan, most of the attention has been paid to her awful price-control scheme (which has been well documented), but her ideas on real estate are just as bad. Reason…
By offering tax credits for purchases and price caps on rentals, Kamala emphasizing the wrong side of the ledger, because her proposals serve to increase demand in a market where supply is inelastic, which is inflationary and only causes prices to further increase.
IMO, the more serious issue regarding affordability is the supply side, as in, there are too many barriers to increasing the housing supply to meet current demand, and this is the fault of (1) thousands of municipalities that restrict new supply with excessive regulations and zoning restrictions and (2) the cost of materials, which have effectively doubled since the pandemic, which is also a supply issue. One of my clients finished a nice large concrete-tilt warehouse in 2022 at a cost of $95 per square foot, and he said that the replacement cost today is around $200 per square foot.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:29 amMore Reason…
Cybertruck is only sold in the US, just started offering in Canada in the last few weeks. I’m fairly sure it was purchased in the US and someone shipped it out, probably via Europe, since it’s not illegal to ship to Europe, just illegal to drive it on the road.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:35 amYou never call out the left for doing just that. Instead, like the puppet French, you only call out one side and claim to be speaking the truth.
NJRob (979698) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:38 amThe WSJ on Kama’s real-estate plan. 2006-8 on steroids.
Here Comes Kamala’s Mortgage Forgiveness
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:40 amThe only China policy that Trump has really talked about since the pandemic is his failed tariffs idea
This is hilarious as you backed the guy who tripled them.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:44 amHarris also promises to build 3 million new homes by 2029, but is extremely vague on how exactly she plans to do it.
I doubt she’s ever built a house. It’s not easy.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:46 amFacts Matter:
Biden kept most of Trump’s tariffs, adding $18B to it, so 20%. $18B is how much less than $80B? Trump’s current “plan” is to add nearly $600B in new taxes, since tariffs are taxes paid by the consumption side, i.e. us, and the impact is greater on those that can least afford the new taxes.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:55 amAppreciate your comments at 202 and 208, nk.
Dana (28c7c4) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:58 amWhich guy? Tariff revenues skyrocketed under your boy Trump.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:00 pmI don’t remember anyone complaining about higher prices under Trump. At least until poor choices at the State level were made in reactionary panic to Covid.
That said, using your definition of “skyrocketed” as a baseline, what term would you use for the prices consumers face under Biden’s “moderate” tutelage?
BuDuh (dc0135) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:11 pmLike I said, NeverTrump was NeverDeSantis too. If the commie wins, we know why.
NJRob (979698) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:13 pmPer the link, the graph from the St. Louis Fed well illustrates the skyrocketing, and Biden is no better for continuing the tariffs.
Paul Montagu (79612f) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:17 pmBut let’s not worry about Harris’s plans. Even if she imposes national rent control. Even if she sets up millions of new homeowners with underwater mortgages they can’t afford, diluting the value of Fannie Mae securities once again. Even if she empowers the FTC to regulate company’s profits and bans volume discounts. Even if she offers students free college.
All those things can be undone by a later Republican administration, just like Obamacare, farm subsidies, food stamps, AFDC and Medicaid were gutted by Trump.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:44 pmAfter all, Trump losing will put an end to him. Just like it did in 2020.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:46 pmOr, maybe let Trump try his best and fail, so the disillusioned can move on.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:47 pmNJRob: “You never call out the left for doing just that.”
The Left hasn’t concocted a scheme to steal electoral votes based on no evidence or successful court challenge. When they do, I will shout loudly. Until then, Trump and his supporters are the only ones who blatantly tried to steal an election and continue to brazenly lie about it. Even now Trump whines about the legitimacy of Harris being nominated, falsely claiming that it is against the Constitution. He counts on dumb people not knowing better and smart people not doing anything about it. You can assign your grouping as you see fit.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:53 pmHow did that work out after his massive failure of a first term? The GOP turned a page all right, good and hard.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 12:53 pm@226 “How did that work out after his massive failure of a first term?”
What didn’t you like about his first term, Klink? Lower inflation? Lower interest rates? Lower gas prices? Home affordability? Border sanity? Judicial picks? Regulation restraints? The fact that he lost re-election? No wars? Oh yeah, Covid, which was his fault right? More died of Covid under Biden… because Trump? Operation Warp Speed? Be specific. What is better under Biden? Anything?? Face it, you loved Covid because without it Trump wins. All the deaths are collateral damage.
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 1:17 pmAJ,
thank you for proving my point. You will ignore what the left does or say they will do. Communism doesn’t matter to you. So you can drop the charade.
NJRob (979698) — 8/18/2024 @ 1:41 pmThe left has fought any form of voter verification, fought against removing dead voters or people who moved from the rolls, fought any form of checks on voter tallies. Fought to permit illegals to register to vote through motor voter. And they are trying an end around the Constitution with their bypassing the electoral college. But that means nothing to you.
Carry on pushing for the Communist. It’s important.
NJRob (979698) — 8/18/2024 @ 1:52 pmHow did that work out after his massive failure of a first term? The GOP turned a page all right, good and hard.
So, why did losing not end him? That’s your plan again.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:05 pmWhat Desantis wants would be absolutely a problem for me in many segments of my life if he were able to get it done, Trump wouldn’t interfere in my life nearly as much. However, Trump would be much worse for the political system of the country. If it were head to head and I had to vote for one or the other, I would vote Desantis, because while I see him as a danger to some of the people of the country (and a worse choice for me personally), I don’t think he’s a danger to the country itself.
Nic (120c94) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:07 pmAnd, really, you have no answer for how Harris’s terrible policies will be undone. All I see is a handwave.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:08 pmThen the plan is try to elect Trump for all time, just lose by a little bit every time, until either he’s dead or killed the constitution, that’ll teach the MAGAtards. Just one more term will show them the error of their ways.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:19 pm“Communism doesn’t matter to you. So you can drop the charade.”
I suppose I will view your posts as a weird sort of performance art
“how Harris’s terrible policies will be undone”
But how do these horrible policies get done. Kevin handwaves….filibuster be gone! However, if filibuster be gone, then the second they lose power, everything is undone….and we get 2A reciprocity carry laws. Nothing Harris wants will cause the Democrat Party to detonate everything. It’s just unconvincing.
“why did losing not end him?”
Too many on the right are in a cult-like state. They don’t care that Trump likely broke laws and lowered norms. Paraphrasing Christie: they just don’t care. A lot of decent people in his administration got some good things done. Now 40 of 43 of them won’t support him. Turning this around, if Trump was so good and effective, why don’t most of the people in his cabinet and close advisors NOT support him? That incongruence is likely from gross misinformation. Just read some of the wild claims in these comment sections…
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:33 pmAnd you equally assume her policies will be enacted in toto with a hand wave. An unlikely event.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:39 pm@10
Absolutely 100% on-board with this.
Each time, go deeper in the country.
whembly (477db6) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:47 pm@15
She’s a commie.
Commies don’t deserve decency.
Not sorry.
whembly (477db6) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:49 pmWhat didn’t you like about his first term, Klink?
Lower inflation? Well, other than inflation going up…until a thing happened, maybe you heard about it.
Lower interest rates? Great, until a thing happened, tariffs and supply chain issues drove costs through the roof, remember when car prices went up to 10% over sticker on crap box? Massive government subsidies and supply chain issues caused the fed to start to raise rates to curb inflation. Remember when that started. Or, memory hole.
Lower gas prices? Other than gas prices going up, until a thing happened and no one left the house and prices crashed.
Home affordability? Except the housing price inflation crisis, until a thing happened that drove costs off a cliff.
Border sanity? Except for the record illegal immigration, until a thing happened and people stopped moving on a global scale.
Judicial picks? Some were good, Trump had no interest, but fine.
Regulation restraints? Except for the fact that Trump actually massively increased the regulative state. What do you think Tariffs are?
The fact that he lost re-election? Yeah, people had recent experience, and he lost to Biden.
No wars? Does Afghanistan not ring a bell? Does Syria not ring a bell? Does Iraq not ring a bell? Does Ukraine not ring a bell? Does Yemen not ring a bell? Does almost tweet storming us into a nuclear exchange with North Korea not ring a bell? Does threatening to withdraw the US from NATO and paving the way for his buddy to do deeds? No wars, that’s just f_cking stupid.
Oh yeah, Covid, which was his fault right? So he’s responsible for all the things you conveniently memory hole, but not the thing that happened, nope.
More died of Covid under Biden… because Trump? Hmm, why does death rate drop off a cliff in Feb of 2021? Nope, no memory hole.
Operation Warp Speed? Excellent, who was put in charge of that. Trump not interfering with other people’s work is the one redeeming quality of his Covid response.
What is better under Biden? Anything? Well, the economy has been booming, the inflationary pressure caused by, ahem, stuff, has been brought down. Stalemate has allowed pretty moderate effective governance to occur.
You see, memory holing the Trump years allows for lots of things. Covid was wonderful under Trump, just perfect, that you seem to be willing to just gloss over his response is telling. The one crisis that happened and he completely beefed it. That and the constant chaos, never happened, it was great, all of the things he didn’t care about and stayed out of, great. All the things he was involved in, terrible. But sure, let’s let him have 4 more years and hope he stays busy tweeting and not acting, and hope for another crisis doesn’t happen, awesome plan. We’ll just get this one last Trump term under us and we can move on.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:50 pmIt’s hilarious that people who don’t know the meaning of words just throw them out there.
Typical of Nazis.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 2:59 pm:
Links to the images referenced in above post are available in the original article. Additional images are available here and here.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/18/2024 @ 3:01 pmSorry for the formatting.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/18/2024 @ 3:01 pm@119
Win or lose, “MAGA” has perceived today will die with Trump.
Either he loses and goes to jail.
Or, he wins and is lamed ducked, enjoys the pomp and circumstances of being POTUS, then “retires” afterwards.
No one will be able to cobble together “MAGA” the way Trump has, not even JD Vance, DeSantis or even the Trump sons.
whembly (477db6) — 8/18/2024 @ 3:04 pm@132
Polls are meaningless that far out… but DeSantis was the conventional wisdom top pick until Trump was indicted.
Trump’s indictment sparked an anger among his base and some GOP voters, that I’ve never expected.
DeSantis really didn’t have a chance, unless there was a concerted effort to pit DeSantis (and no one else) vs. Trump. But, the primary voters couldn’t get their sh!t together and coordinate. (I realize DeSantis officially came in late, that was is 1st blunder).
whembly (477db6) — 8/18/2024 @ 3:07 pm@239
Nope.
She’s a communist.
I’m using the term as a pejorative, purposely.
I don’t think she can instill central planning, or some bastard version of communism like USSR/Venezuala/CCP/NK… but, she has principles whereby she’ll use the power of government to enact communistic principles (or try too) with a cheering media and Democrat party at her back.
So, in short, she’s a commie and deserves no quarter.
whembly (477db6) — 8/18/2024 @ 3:15 pmIt took three defeats to get rid of William Jennings Bryan.
But he was much younger than the Loser, whose declining mental health should be obvious to any open-minded person, by now.
So I think two will do it.
It will take longer to clean up the damage he has caused to the world, the nation, and the Republican Party. Some parts of the damage can never repaired, for example the COVID deaths he caused, indirectly, and his failure to act effectively against fentanyl. (In that, Biden shares a large part of the blame.)
Jim Miller (05ebe2) — 8/18/2024 @ 3:24 pmI am older than most of you, and began criticizing Communists for their lies by the time I was about 10 years old, so, for about 70 years — so far.
And I have tried to base my criticisms on facts. So, I’ve read Solzhentisyn’s Gulag trilogy (in translation), Conquest’s The Great Terror, Ponchaud’s, Cambodia: Year Zero, and, more recently, Applebaum’s Gulag. And a number of other books.
(Applebaum’s is the most accessible of those I mentioned, if you are looking for a place to start.)
Jim Miller (05ebe2) — 8/18/2024 @ 4:13 pmIs there a positive connotation in American politics?
Absolutely no quarter? By any means necessary?
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/18/2024 @ 4:35 pmRip Murdock (06ef2d) — 8/18/2024 @ 4:36 pm
So Jim, do you think Harris is a “commie”? Or even as left as Trudeau or Macron?
I don’t think the people calling her a “commie” actually have any inkling of what it is. It’s trolling, for the LOLZ.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 4:40 pmLet’s try No. 148 again:
Since DeSantis quit the Republican presidential race after the Iowa caucuses and before the primaries even began, the voters are not to blame.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/18/2024 @ 4:41 pmKamala isn’t a Communist. It should be enough to point out factually that she’s a radical Leftist. And, for all the talk about Overton Windows, she is definitely outside it. She compared ICE to the KKK. She backed a bail fund that has helped to release rapists and murderers. She had a more leftist voting record in the Senate than self-identified socialist Bernie Sanders. What she did with border security is a clue to what she would do with the presidency.
And, for good measure, she is personally repellent and can’t even get along with her staff:
Anyone voting for this is a civic disaster. Depending on stalemate doesn’t alter the nefarious intent she harbors toward this country and no one with her toxic mindset should be anywhere near the highest office in the land. All the hand wringing about Trump is ridiculous in comparison.
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 4:46 pm@249 “Or even as left as Trudeau or Macron?”
Klink, if it were proven definitively that she was more Leftist than both, it wouldn’t matter to you or any of the other Nevertrumptards. So, why troll with asinine questions like this? We have commenters here who we’re saying just last month that Kamala would be a bridge too far, the same commenters now making the case for her. So, why pretend these stupid questions matter?
Would Kamala allow the most radical anti-Semite leftists and Communists take power in order to stop Republicans, like Macron did? Yes. Would you cheer it on? Yes. Would Kamala suspend basic freedoms including speech just for lockdowns, like Trudeau did? Yes. Would you cheer it on? Yes. Kamala isn’t a last resort to stop Trump. It’s your first resort.
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 4:59 pmIf we want to judge this field by tweeted comments and personal scumbaggery, she’s awful, unfortunately her opponent is worse.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:04 pmNo, she’d not let MAGA get involved.
Again, she’s terrible, but since it’s Trump vs anyone, anyone wins. Trump isn’t America’s Hitler as his running mate claimed. Maximus J Mussolini maybe.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:11 pmA candidate is supposed to run to the center after getting the nomination, but it doesn’t appear Kamala has done that. She didn’t do it with her selection of Walz, and she didn’t do it with her price controls, big government agenda revealed this past week. Referring to ICE as the KKK didn’t help, either. Let’s face it–she and Biden have been atrocious on the border.
I am not tribal, and live in Nevada, a swing state. My vote is up for grabs, but Kamala needs to give me something besides smiles and
socialismneighborliness.Even Trump was smart enough to get to the middle on abortion.
I was leaning Kamala, but now I’m thinking more about voting for the Libertarian candidate.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:11 pmSince October 7, 2023, has Trump made any statement of support for Israel against Hamas?
nk (1e7062) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:13 pm@254 So, she’s not a Communist, and anyone suggesting that is an idiot, but it’s Trump vs anyone so even though she’s not a Communist you’d vote for one if that was the option. Klink, you never disappoint.
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:15 pmThe New York Post still has nude pictures of Communist Yugoslavian-born Melania on its site. (NSFW, no link for you, you can Google it.)
Is there a copy of Trump’s birth certificate anywhere that you know? I read that he was born in Jamaica.
nk (1e7062) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:18 pm#249 Good question, Colonel. My tentative answer is that Harris reminds me of Nancy Pelosi, who in turn reminds me of some of the old machine politcians.
I amy have been fooling myself, but I thought I could predict 80-90 percent of what Pelosi would do just from reading the novel, The Last Hurrah, and Mike Royko’s biography of Richard J. Daley, Boss.
In both Pelosi and Harris, I see an emphasis on identity politics usually found in political machines, an indifference to corruption — as long as it didn’t hurt the party — and not much ideology. One thing common to both books is that party leaders were often tolerant of, for example, a ward leader selling insurance to the city — but intolerant of him harrassing his secretary, which would be a firing offense.
(BTW I think most commenters here would find The Last Hurrah great fun, and might even learn something from it.)
Jim Miller (05ebe2) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:43 pmMy apoligies for the typos.
Jim Miller (05ebe2) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:44 pmThen the plan is try to elect Trump for all time,
So, you prove your argument by your postulates. Not interesting at all.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:47 pmI remember when nk used to pretend to be moderate and admitted that Kamala was too radical. Those were good times.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:52 pmBut how do these horrible policies get done. Kevin handwaves….filibuster be gone! However, if filibuster be gone, then the second they lose power, everything is undone
Really? Just like Obamacare is gone I guess. Once the People have an entitlement it becomes very hard to undo it, particularly as they have intentional destroyed the status quo ante. Obamacare was not repealed because it would have harmed millions, mostly those who were harmed by having their existing private policies nuked going in.
Name an entitlement that was revoked later. There may be one, but I can’t think of it now.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:54 pmThat’s my view too. She’s a democrat, we’ve had those before, we survived just fine. We’ve had one Trump, and he literally tried to overthrow the government.
Harris will talk as a populist lefty, but govern within the Overton window. The other one is just batpoo crazy. I can’t tell if he doesn’t know what truth is, he’d have to just run into one occasionally by shear volume of crap coming out of his mouth, but doesn’t, so pathological minimally.
When he has to leave, if he were to win, no one in there right mind can guarantee that he won’t attempt to remain. When he loses to Harris, by millions and millions of votes, can anyone actually say that he won’t incite an uprising by his “followers”? You know, after his fake elector conspiracy failed, and he loosed the dogs.
Harris won’t be able to get all the dems to go along with these silly platitudes, much less the republicans. And, she’s not likely to order her cronies to do it regardless.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:57 pmToo many on the right are in a cult-like state. They don’t care that Trump likely broke laws and lowered norms. Paraphrasing Christie: they just don’t care.
1) MAGA and Trump are not identical. The issues that drive MAGA are mostly unrelated to Donald Trump. Even if he were to retire from politics, those issues would remain.
2) Since you believe that only slack-jawed buumpkins see these things as issues, you are unlikely to understand why “Trump” has legs.
So, you call it cult-worship. It’s not. It’s just that fly-over country wants you to treat them with more respect. Not that you will.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 5:59 pmHarris will talk as a populist lefty, but govern within the Overton window.
Self-delusion is not a good look.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:00 pmThe Cult of the Anti-Trump. They will accept the sun going nova, so long as it leaves Trump hurt.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:01 pmSo you’re saying the sun going nova has an upside, cool!!
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:06 pmI remember when nk used to pretend to be moderate and admitted that Kamala was too radical. Those were good times.
I have made no secret that I voted Biden-Harris in 2020 and encouraged others to do so too, but it’s still a tossup whether even Trump can make me vote for Kamala twice.
As I grow older I incline more towards “When in doubt, do nothing”. I may just leave the choice up to my fellow citizens.
nk (1e7062) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:09 pmVery brave. How well do you think your cloaked vote for the eventual winner will prevail?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:10 pmIf there is a catbird seat that Trump is seating in, it is that Kamala is not only a woman but a woman of color at that.
Is the country ready to vote for a dusky lady for President?
I think that will play a bigger role than socialist or Israel or Ukraine or even Democrat or Republican.
We’ll see.
nk (1e7062) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:16 pmHow well do you think your cloaked vote for the eventual winner will prevail?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:10 pm
Both candidates are full of bad ideas and bad rhetoric. It’s really hard to say who is worse.
I’m warming up to nk’s “When in doubt, do nothing.”
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:28 pmTrump’s already got the overtly white nationalist vote. I always wonder how much of “polite” society is really so polite behind the curtain.
Trump was always going to lose the popular vote by millions, he’s never been close, but the EC will come down to 200k people, but he has to win GA, NC, AR, and NV. Trump has to peel off one of MI, WI, or PA. Today, he’s got zero shot at that by what people say to a pollster, but if it’s 270 to 268, what chaos will happen? If she loses Nebraska’s 2nd District it could be 269 all, so it might be decided by a few hundred or thousand votes. If she wins AZ, it’s over, or any of the other sunbelt states.
Does MI, WI, or PA have enough prejudice in the closet to flip what people tell a pollster vs what they do in the privacy of their head?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:44 pmAnd, BTW, giving the finger to MAGA will not play any part in my motivation.
There are many things about them that repel me, but if Trump can manipulate them any half-way competent leader can undermine them, fragment them, and marginalize them.
Like the song says, they are a sometime thing.
nk (1e7062) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:47 pmThe world was a better place when a Republican was President Than it is now under a Democrat. I am voting for the Republican nominee and against the Democrat nominee. Both nominees are hardly the best people for the job; that is just the truth. I’m voting for more of what we had under a Republican admin.
That means that the media will, once again, do its job of scrutinizing every little thing the POTUS does, and all the checks and balances will be fully in play.
felipe (022ca8) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:50 pmPaul’s version is “When in doubt, hide behind an electoral college skirt while professing that you own the moral high ground.”
Is this similar, or do you live in a state that can help with the decision of pro-open border vs security for our beleaguered citizens?
BuDuh (dc0135) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:56 pmThat means that the media will, once again, do its job of scrutinizing every little thing the POTUS does, and all the checks and balances will be fully in play.
felipe (022ca8) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:50 pm
That’s a very solid point, felipe, and I would add that the media tends to scrutinize more robustly when the President is a Republican.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:56 pmNow that the Six Gerbils gave him immunity, scrutiny of Trump will be time wasted when you could be watching a Wes Craven movie.
nk (1e7062) — 8/18/2024 @ 7:03 pmIs this similar, or do you live in a state that can help with the decision of pro-open border vs security for our beleaguered citizens?
BuDuh (dc0135) — 8/18/2024 @ 6:56 pm
No. I live in Nevada. I agree that Trump is better on immigration, even though he often discusses the issue in ways that are counterproductive, and turn people off rather than obtain their support.
Harris is better on Ukraine.
I’m not sure which issue is more important or tractable.
Both candidates are horrible overall. I blame primary voters for choosing Biden (and, by extension, Harris) and Trump in the first place. There were better candidates in the 2020 Democratic primary, and in the 2024 Republican primary.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 7:07 pm@273 “Does MI, WI, or PA have enough prejudice in the closet to flip what people tell a pollster vs what they do in the privacy of their head?”
Who can know, Klink? How many voters are secretly anti-Semite and think “Death to America”? Kamala’s supporters would be seriously bummed if rejecting Shapiro was all for naught.
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 7:14 pm“So, you call it cult-worship. It’s not. It’s just that fly-over country wants you to treat them with more respect. Not that you will.”
Sigh. Trump is a conman. Whether it’s Trump University, the Trump charity, hawking sneakers and Bibles, Trump action figures, or just getting granny to dump her money at a casino. Politics is just one more grift in a long line of grifts. He pulled people’s insecurities, prejudices, anger, and hatred and he marketed it. Add some glitz with his daughter and wife and you too can be with a “winner”. His “concern” for flyover country goes as far as it serves his interests and amusement. He’s as comfortable in a church service and at a bingo as E. Jean Carroll was pinned in a dressing room.
Trump cared so much about immigration that he waited until the midterm to start building a wall, then lost the House. There was never going to be a wall but what a powerful image and marketing tool the language made. So he put up some new fences and immigration was solved…except it wasn’t. Because like much of what Trump builds, it’s not real…or lasting. He didn’t solve anything….and post Covid with the economy coming back to life, well so did the economic pull for illegals. He cares so much about immigration that he personally killed the Senate bill that might have started addressing the problem. We all know Trump comes first.
Sure, he stokes culture war issues because he knows how to press buttons. Does he solve anything or just make us hate each other more? Does he market that resentment? Does he love to play the race card? He appeals to the worse in us and you applaud him for it. He gets that simple reality that we like to blame our ills on “the other”, people who don’t look like us. That’s why he made sure to send the signal that Muslims were not welcome, sh*t-hole countries and all….even the ones who were helping us in the war against terror. He turned his back in Syria, Afghanistan, and soon Ukraine and S. Korea if given the chance. He sells isolationism as if the premier economy and military can or should just bunker itself in. A leader shouldn’t play on people’s fear and anger, yet that’s Trump’s calling card. He willingly gives good people someone to hate…including NeverTrump.
Yes, Trump delivered on judges but it’s not like he created the vacancies, had the skill that McConnell demonstrated, or the knowledge of who to pick or why. Like the tax plan that Paul Ryan crafted, he stayed the hell out of the way. He knew that like slot machine players needing to occasionally win, that judges was an arena where he couldn’t negotiate….and it created more cultural friction that he could continue to weaponize. Win-win. Now he comfortably heads to the middle on the abortion question because Trump comes first….always.
He sells that he’s patriot. MAGA and all, but behind the scenes, it’s clear what he thinks about servicemen giving their last: suckers. That’s his true view on all the people who buy his Bibles, contort their political careers, and defend the indefensible: you’re suckers. He won’t break Kayfabe to break the secret, because you don’t kill the golden goose. He wants worshippers and lemmings to storm the Capitol. He cares so much that Ashli Babbitt needed to be sacrificed while he spins yet another yarn for his inaction.
No, I understand Donald Trump perfectly well. I saw the scam for what it was and is. I doubt it will be a soft landing….you should take a pillow.
AJ_Liberty (43ba27) — 8/18/2024 @ 7:46 pmWell, I shall repeat, Trump has all the white nationalists sewn up. Hangin’ with Nick Fuentes, Ye, Adin Ross, and Elon Musk, like it’s cool.
I know, I know, they don’t speak for Trump, they just say the thing and give him the monies, he doesn’t actually believe the things they say, he’s just playin’ for the votes.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 8:01 pmTrump cared so much about immigration that he waited until the midterm to start building a wall, then lost the House.
AJ_Liberty (43ba27) — 8/18/2024 @ 7:46 pm
I recall wondering at the time why he waited so long to push the wall. I mean, it was the issue he was known for more than anything, and the time to move on the big issue is right out of the gate.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 8:03 pmTrump made America great again, for a few months or something. Then the Gina virus came. This time, he’s serious, he’s really going to do the thing…that he’s claiming he did. All you have to do is ignore the reality that actually happened, don’t believe the things you see and the things you hear. Let the almighty* inform you what you should have seen and heard.
*Ya’ know.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 8:14 pm@283 This is part where people who didn’t want Trump to do something criticize Trump for not doing that something, and then want to be taken seriously. You folks wanted Trump to build the wall? LOL When Trump applied the law at the border and ended up on the cover of Time with a photoshopped crying toddler, you called out the lying media did you? LOL
Wasn’t Trump’s first two years spent fighting bogus Russia collusion nonsense that you all cheered?
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 8:33 pmWasn’t Trump’s first two years spent fighting bogus Russia collusion nonsense that you all cheered?
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 8:33 pm
I wasn’t cheering it, and Trump should have been able to work on more than one thing at a time.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 8:56 pmWhere is the libertarian candidate on this issue?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:02 pmNo, because it wasn’t bogus. The Mueller and Senate Intelligence Committee reports have been out for years. You should read them for once.
Paul Montagu (3181aa) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:11 pmDude, don’t remind people of the whole begging for Russian support bit.
It’s like reminding people that he’s on the hook for $500M in fraud and sexualt assualt judgements.
Oops, don’t inject any disinfectant.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:15 pmWhere is the libertarian candidate on this issue?
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:02 pm
He is probably against aid to Ukraine, but:
1) I am not a single-issue voter
and
2) The Libertarian has no chance of winning.
It’s a protest vote against the awful ideas and rhetoric of Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
You raise a good point, however. Maybe I’ll just do a write-in candidate. RFK, West, and Stein are all cranks.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:22 pmSo it is a moral high ground vote in favor of the eventual winner.
You could have said that. Paul says it all the time, unless he is bragging about a forever internet that proves he loves DeSantis, although the EC Skirt gets in the way.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:27 pmSo it is a moral high ground vote in favor of the eventual winner.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:27 pm
I’m not sure the ground needs to be all that high to reject these two pathetic candidates.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:34 pmPaul, I’ll bet Trump swatted that nobody on X while also personally delivering that cybertruck to Russia.
lloyd (5ae9db) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:41 pmWow, the trolls are out in force tonite.
Paul Montagu (3181aa) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:55 pmDump compares veep harris to jefrey epstein. I believe both he and bubba have more in common with epstein. Hilary may have more in common with ghislane maxwell.
asset (c5dbad) — 8/18/2024 @ 9:58 pmNevada is a swing state? If so, you are voting for the eventual winner no matter what method you choose to throw your vote in the trash.
Not everyone is a cunning as Paul. He isn’t responsible for anything because he likes living with liberals.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:07 pmFull moon.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:32 pmBut that doesn’t stop you on other days, Rip.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:35 pmHarris is better on Ukraine.
For now. Biden was better on Afghanistan until he wasn’t.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:41 pmI was leaning Kamala, but now I’m thinking more about voting for the Libertarian candidate.
As a former LP member, I ask “Why bother?” Posers all.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:43 pmPosers all.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/18/2024 @ 10:43 pm
Yet still not as objectionable as Donnie and Kammie.
norcal (0554e0) — 8/18/2024 @ 11:05 pmlloyd: “This is part where people who didn’t want Trump to do something criticize Trump for not doing that something, and then want to be taken seriously.”
This is sociopathic. Trump had the House and Senate and the principle message he ran on was building a wall. He didn’t even attempt to get funding or move forward on the initiative. And lloyd’s response is because somehow I stopped him. But it’s not a cult.
Then it’s because he was so busy obstructing the Mueller investigation that he just couldn’t get around to, you know, pushing the one initiative that supposedly set him apart from the field. Right. If I stopped him and then he loses the House in the midterms, then how was he able to get his money for fixing the wall? Ehhh, because like any grift, the grifter must give the griftee a taste….and then sell it. Now lloyd never really wanted a wall, he’ll take whatever Donald will give him and think it’s the greatest ever.
Look, this is a pointless conversation….because it’s not really a conversation….it’s therapy. We have a felon nominee because it’s what we deserve at this point in our history. I hope we survive it….
AJ_Liberty (43ba27) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:34 amVerifiably false.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-administration-requests-18-billion-border-wall-n835166
SaveFarris (79ab12) — 8/19/2024 @ 5:58 am@247
If you are a Democrat, yes many has positive or not-negative connotations of communism.
Tell you what.
I’m just as motivated to stop her as Patrick Frey is in stopping Trump.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:23 am@275
You’re making too much sense felipe… not sure how others would react to this.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:29 am@283
Now ya’ll are either misinformed or just grasping for something…
It was a signature plank and early in Trump administration he tried to get Congress to pass something… but, couldn’t. Congress wasn’t able to push it through. It wasn’t until midterm-ish that they went about other creative means to get it going (namely moving existing allocated funds). He also face legal challenges in almost everything he did.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:33 am@288
You mean… that there was no there there with respect to Trump’s campaign? That same one?
It was “bogus” in the sense that the investigation didn’t find anything illegal to bring down Trump/his campaign. But, the whole investigation casted a pall that overshadowed the administration that had direct impact while Trump was in office.
Ya’ll can argue till your face is blue, but that investigation was only perpetuated for as long as it did for political reasons, not for any good faith investigation.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:39 amwhembly, Trump had both houses of Congress, and he had a wall deal. The Dems wanted a DACA provision Trump said the hell with it and killed it. The only real legislation he passed was tax cuts, which added well over a trillion to our national debt.
Paul Montagu (13411b) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:40 am@308
To my memory, it was GOP on Congress who didn’t want DACA. If any blame were to be place, it’d be the Paul Ryan’s GOP caucus. I distinctly was worried that Trump was going to give away the store to Democrats to get his wall.
The Democrats had ZERO interest in letting Trump get any “win”… so, they put in poison pill galore in their demands.
That was the genesis of Trump wanting the GOP to remove the filibuster in the first place because he wanted that wall in the first place.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:48 amhttps://www.nationalreview.com/news/biden-committed-impeachable-conduct-to-further-family-influence-peddling-scheme-house-republicans-allege-in-final-report/
https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024.08.19-Report-of-the-Impeachment-Inquiry-of-Joseph-R.-Biden-Jr.-President-of-the-United-States.pdf
Congress should impeach Biden for this… but, they won’t because “he’s not running for re-election”, nor do they want to take “any oxygen” from Harris’ flailing campaign.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:05 amSo the GOP controlled congress house is not impeaching him because they want to help Harris? Whembly that doesn’t make any sense.
Time123 (2b379c) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:12 am@311
What the GOP does or have done doesn’t always make sense.
I’m reading the report… it’s pretty damning. (still reading… it’s 291 pages!)
There’s way more hard evidence in Biden’s than in Trump’s 1st impeachment.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:21 amHere’s the bullet points of the findings…
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:25 amLet me be more clear. It’s unbelievable that the GOP would have evidence to justify an impeachment and not impeach because doing so would harm the Harris campaign. If the evidence is truly compelling and they’re withholding it for political considerations it’s not because they think it will help Harris.
Time123 (ae7b06) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:27 amI’m familiar with the details behind these assertions. It’s inclusion here diminishes the credibility of other assertions.
Time123 (aa5934) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:29 am@314
The time to impeach would be after the election.
There are political realities you cannot avoid. And Biden is no longer the opponent.
This isn’t like a court room, where there are rules that gives the “defendent” ample protection. Impeachment is political, and the election in less than 90 days is a factor.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:33 amThat means that the media will, once again, do its job of scrutinizing every little thing the POTUS does, and all the checks and balances will be fully in play.
That’s a major point in my thinking, too. If you look at the MSM’s coverage of the new Lightbringer you can also see how little Harris does will be critically reported.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:35 am@315
Care to elaborate?
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:36 amOne of which is that the House Republicans don’t have the votes to impeach.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:37 amDenial is a terrible thing. The Mueller and SIC reports found that Putin conducted an unprecedented cyber-propaganda attack on America in 2016. Mueller issued 34 indictments and got seven convictions, and Mueller had plentiful evidence that Trump obstructed justice, multiple times over.
In plain English, Mueller and the SIC found evidence of Trump people colluding with Putin people to help Trump win, but not enough to issue indictments. You’ve been shown the links and the simple English more than once, so I won’t waste more of my relitigating.
Paul Montagu (13411b) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:39 am@320 Paul Montagu (13411b) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:39 am
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:41 amAre there any bones left when you flog that horse?
@319
Yup… the political realities can’t be ignored. That’s not the same as “it SHOULD be done”.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:42 amAI Fakery:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:42 amRIP legendary talk show host Phil Donahue (88).
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:48 amWith apologies to Tennyson: “Tis better to impeached and lost than never to have impeached at all.”
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:52 amIs that the Oversight Committee with the dirty pictures of Hunter Biden and hookers?
nk (2a5004) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:52 amThe only thing you’re likely to get out of a report from a committee with Marjorie Ringworm on it is … ringworm.
nk (2a5004) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:58 amYou’re the one who replied, thus again confirming your sad state of denial.
Paul Montagu (4d2ab3) — 8/19/2024 @ 9:04 amComer is the Inspector Clouseau of the House, except Comer never actually catches anybody.
Paul Montagu (4d2ab3) — 8/19/2024 @ 9:08 amYou go to the hillbillies with the elegy you have not the one you wish you had or might have if you were not a Trump gerbil.
nk (2a5004) — 8/19/2024 @ 9:15 amPartisans gonna partisan.
Believed bunk from Adam Schiff hook, line and sinker, but ignore obvious evidence against Biden…
NJRob (953df9) — 8/19/2024 @ 9:22 amDenial is a terrible thing.
Exaggeration is no better. The Russian campaign affected very little. The editorial page of the LA Times had more effect. Comey’s letter regarding Hillary’s email activities had FAR more effect, as did her collapse on camera.
As far as shifting the election, Russian activity had no measurable effect. As far as putting the blame on someone besides Hillary Clinton, it is maybe useful, just as the Watergate break-in is now beleived instrumental in Nixon’s 49-state victory.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 9:26 amThank God.
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/19/2024 @ 9:58 amAs someone who was living in Chicago in 1968*, I should tell you that the convention that year was not a great success for the Democratic Party. There are enough similarities this year to that 1968 convention year, so that this convention, too, might not be good for the Democrats.
(*I left before the convention started, since I thought it nearly certain that there would be trouble. But I was sharing an apartment with a local reporter, who told me about some of the incidents, later. For example, he was driving in a beat-up old car, which was attacked by both the Chicago police, who beat on it, and demonstrators, who three rocks at the car. I don’t recall which was first, but one attack followed immediately after the other.)
Jim Miller (e228fa) — 8/19/2024 @ 10:05 amthrew, not “three”
Jim Miller (e228fa) — 8/19/2024 @ 10:06 amInquisitor: Confess that you had carnal contact with witches!
nk (b2722e) — 8/19/2024 @ 10:12 amAccused: What do you mean by carnal contact?
Inquisitor: That you engaged in lewd acts.
Accused: Certainly.
Inquisitor: How many times?
Accused: Let me think … 1, 2, 3, … does anal count?
I thought Democrats wanted Ukraine to win??
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 10:48 amJVW, I spent some time re-reading your original post and thinking about the points that you made.
Here’s where we agree
Kamala Harris is a lousy person with bad policy preferences, an awful governing philosophy and she’s likely to be a below average president at best. Her relationship with Willie Brown likely helped her career.
Here’s where we disagree
While her relationship helped her career, it came towards the beginning and didn’t result in her holding positions she was unqualified for. From everything I’ve been able to find she didn’t do it poorly and went on from there to significant accomplishments of her own. As such crediting all of her accomplishments over the 20 years that followed as being derived from that relationship is unjustified. There are plenty of examples of personal relationships helping someone’s career but after a certain point they’re standing on the own two feet, 20 years iw well past that point.
Further, from what I’ve been able to find the relationship lasted for some time (around a year), was public, and appears to have been an actual and public relationship. It doesn’t appear to have just been him trading money/influence for sexual gratification. Reducing her to president blowjob or willie brown’s side piece is an insulting misrepresentation. I like insulting politicians in funny and clever ways. Coach Covid is a funny insult at Walz. It highlights his poor covid policies and reduces his status from ‘governor’ to ‘coach’. It’s evokes a funny caricature.
Mocking women as being primarily a vehicle for men’s sexual gratification, mocking women for owing their accomplishments to their sex appeal, mocking women for being gifted their status and success by a man, because they gratified him sexually is a old and tired trope. It’s application here isn’t new and a 20 year old relationship doesn’t make it especially justified here. If you spend time in other RW online spaces like Instapundit or PJ media you come across plenty of comments along those lines with plenty of other Incel anger and tropes thrown in. I don’t think your post mocked her in the ways I’m describing. But the Babylon Bee post I was responding to did. The subtext that made it funny was the idea that Harris had slept her way to success.
Thoughts?
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 11:01 am@338, well presented Time
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/19/2024 @ 11:20 am#338
I just thought the Bee piece wasn’t funny.
Appalled (bb3555) — 8/19/2024 @ 11:33 am@338 But Trump’s infidelity is fair game? Or even criminal because of a Quickbook data entry error?
No. Woman who advanced their careers via their ‘relationship’ as opposed to their own merits should NOT be off the table, especially if the context is if that woman would’ve been as successful had she simply achieved her success in good faith.
Bringing in the “incel anger and tropes” truly undermines your arguments as you’re completely ignoring the actual arguments made.
That Kamala Harris had largely gained success in her career simply because of who her paramour was in California politics.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 11:43 am#341
whembly,
I think even you would agree that Trump inherited his position in life. (Y’know, get a billion dollars from Daddy Fred and all that). Y’all gain nothing by pushing that “sleepin her way to the top” line on Kamela. At best/worst, she only slept her way into middle management. The rest, she did herself.
And if that offends you — then have fun defending why Trump gets to start on top, and nobody else.
Appalled (bb3555) — 8/19/2024 @ 11:57 amYou too can teach your daughter’s to express communist ideology and sleep her way to the top. Then when people call it out, the “right people” will tut tut and say it’s offensive.
NJRob (953df9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:14 pm@338
Hey 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….
Time123 (69e26d) — 8/13/2024 @ 11:35 am
lloyd (30c2f9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:14 pm#343
You prefer droit du seigneur?
Appalled (bb3555) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:21 pmThe rest she did by virtue of being a black/Indian woman, whichever was more useful at the time, and spouting far leftist ideology. She was picked. She didn’t earn anything and her middling intellect proves such.
NJRob (953df9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:21 pmMy favorite film used a make belive storyline about primae noctis so it’s got more going for it than whatever silliness you’re spouting.
NJRob (953df9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:24 pmbelieve*
NJRob (953df9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:24 pmhttps://www.c-span.org/video/?537819-1/march-democratic-national-convention-rally&live
Enjoy!
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:25 pm#346
When in doubt, play the race card. Always successful in electoral politics…
Appalled (bb3555) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:27 pmRight, but the details about why it isn’t funny matter. It’s not funny because it doesn’t poke fun at some hidden part of her background or highlight a novel aspect of the situation in a jarring way or present an honest caricature of her (like your coach covid joke did). It just accused her of sleeping her way to the top. Which is sadly a common ‘joke’ made at women in politics / the public eye.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:33 pmKamala Harris Inspires Little Girls That If They Work Really Hard, Someday They Can Be Passed Over For A Less Qualified Person Who Slept With The Boss.
lloyd (30c2f9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:35 pmTime123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 11:01 am
Agreed. While her relationship with Brown was unseemly, lots of people have questionable relationships. Newt Gingrich’s behavior was worse and only God knows why Hillary stuck by her man.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:39 pmI very much doubt that Kamala Harris has ever though as warmly toward incels as she does now.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:42 pmIf you don’t want to engage with the argument I presented you’re free not to. But accusing me of ignoring the actual arguments when I specifically discussed them in my comment is annoying at the least.
Regarding your whining that Trump is being treated unfairly because ppl highlight his infidelity, criminality, and sexual predation.
Trump is the leader of the party that used to champion Christian values. He’s credibly accused of assaulting multiple women, cheated on is wife with a porn start while she was pregnant, committed petty criminal acts to cover it up, was caught on camera bragging that his fame enabled him to get away with grouping women, has repeatedly broken his marriage vows for his entire life and was found liable for massive civil judgement over his lies about one of the victims of his sexual assault.
Harris dated a man twice her age who was separated from his wife when she was about 29 years old and he helped her career out at that time.
I suppose if you’re very focused on sexual morality there are aspects of that which may be offensive and may cause you question her character at that time. But you’re not such a person. I conclude this because of your outrage to Trump being a steaming pile of garbage in this area.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:45 pm@351 Time123, maybe best to take your own advice:
“Don’t be such a snowflake”
lloyd (30c2f9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:46 pmI think Hillary stuck by Bill because she’s ruthlessly ambitious. YMMV
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:46 pm#352
I gotta tell you, these are so bad. They say a lot of good comedy comes from anger. MAGA seems intent on proving that idea wrong.
Here’s a 19th century guide on insult humor that might be useful to the Bee and maybe to you:
https://instruction2.mtsac.edu/french/cinema1/movies/Cyranos%20monologue.htm
Appalled (bb3555) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:51 pm@352 wasn’t as bad, but would have been funnier if they’d changed “slept with” to “dated”. It’s a more honest criticism as well as being less sexist. I assume the writers of the Bee know this and are targeting their humor at ppl who like the extra sexism.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:51 pmTime123, your original take was a “garbage comment” as JVW correctly noted. Good that you’ve since cleaned it up a bit.
lloyd (30c2f9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:52 pm@352, I like that play and love that monologlogue. Very topical.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:53 pm@359 Man walks into a feminist library and asks where the Humor section is. Librarian responds tersely “There is no Humor section!!!”
lloyd (30c2f9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:55 pmWe agree. My original comment was flawed in that I didn’t make it clear that of the ppl that comment here regularly I was talking about you and whembly and not others. I should have been mindful of JVW’s post and been more clear.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:55 pm@362, congrats on finding another version of the lightbulb joke.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:56 pm@313, am i correct that the committee released the report, but isn’t recommending impeachment? Seems weak sauce.
They’re talking about stronger legislation on influence peddling. That would be great and I hope they follow through with it.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:58 pm@363 Always keeping your ad hominem toys near and dear.
lloyd (30c2f9) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:59 pmI agree; very well presented.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:02 pm@342
Dude… there’s a difference between being born with a silver spoon vs. ya know, “climbing” your way through your career.
The former had no control what family he was born into, but the latter absolutely took advantage of her paramour’s political influence.
You’re grasping at straws here and doing a bunch of hand waving.
But, please do vote for the commie because you don’t like Trump. That’s fine.
We simply disagree which politician would be better, or which would do the least amount damage.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:06 pm#368
I’d love to see the Trump campaign put that argument out there. It would at least be creative. Maybe an adjudicated rapist should stay clear of it, though.
Appalled (bb3555) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:15 pmI think any conversation that causes someone to consider sex as it relates to this election works to Trump’s detriment.
Time123 (dc733c) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:21 pmShould be “most” not “any”.
Time123 (dc733c) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:23 pmWalz Told Students Communism Is When ‘Everyone Is The Same And Everyone Shares’
lloyd (30c2f9) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:25 pmJ. Michael Luttig makes the argument succinctly:
Here’s the link to his full statement, which comes at the end.
Prediction: The trolls and Trumpistas will not try to answer his argument, rationally.
Jim Miller (e228fa) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:26 pm@355
If you actually did address them somewhere else, I missed it.
Because your position amounts to “but Trump did/is ‘x’ “.
I’m not whining. I’m merely pointing out that if you think all of those are fair game to ding Trump… then, don’t get your panties in a bunch if the same is pointed out on Harris’ history.
Irrelevant to me.
I’m not voting for him to be my spiritual leader.
Nor am I voting for him to be any moral leader.
I’m voting for him because he’s not a Marxist inspired democrat.
For as much as we give the GOP primary voters for largely F’ing up again, that lead to Trump’s re-nomination… it’s a total indictment against Democrat voters who can’t seem to help themselves to run towards the progressive nutballs in their party.
Awful human being.
Still believe Harris would be an even worse President.
Correct.
It’s something to ding Harris. But if you want to whiteknight for her, be my guess. I suspect you’re sensitive to this because you’re worried that stuff like this might drag her down enough to allow Trump to win a squeaker… so, it seems like you’re reflectively defensive, not because you truly don’t think it’s wrong to point it out, you’re simply spinning arguments to make Harris a little more palatable than the alternative.
Tell me if I’m wrong.
I suppose if you’re very focused on sexual morality there are aspects of that which may be offensive and may cause you question her character at that time. But you’re not such a person. I conclude this because of your outrage to Trump being a steaming pile of garbage in this area.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 12:45 pm
…and HERE again, you are missing the point or steadfastly ignoring the arguments.
The point isn’t about “sexual morality”. If it were, I wouldn’t even be voting for Trump.
It’s about her ability to be the President of the United States.
The Office of the Presidency is such a powerful office, that she could do lasting damage that may take the rest of our lives to unwind.
So, when I look back at her political career. She didn’t seem to earn her way into the political game. She’s beholden to a radical leftist ideologue who need help to get her “foot in” the door.
And then, during her tenure at various political stops, she’s been an absolute leftist radical who abused her office in various ways.
Her path to the Whitehouse is hers to lose. I don’t think Trump will recover once Judge Merchan sentences Trump to jail.
So we’re going to face a President who has historically, verifiably shown to be a radical leftist who abused her office’s powers. Not only that, be Marxist/Communistic principles is leaking through her thought process everytime she talks.
So, I would appreciate you got off your horse and actually read what I’m trying to say.
If you want to consider my arguments as a pile of poo… we really don’t have much to discuss much further, don’t we??
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:28 pmWhy debates are important:
After three weeks of counting, Harris was declared the winner by 74,157 votes out of 9.6 million cast.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:40 pmThis publication is a lefty rage, but does hard hitting reporting at times:
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:57 pmhttps://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/08/kamala-harris-prosecutor-california-san-francisco/
Speaking of 400,000 dollars, Here’s a question for Californians: I was struck by Harris claiming she only wants to raise income taxes for people making more than 400K. In the past, I was charmed by the number of federal tax plans from Democrats that set that level at 200K — which just happened to be above how much members of the House of Representatives were paid. (And still are, with a couple of exceptions, assuming the Google’s AI got it right.)
But it occurred to me that many California public officials might be better paid, though few earn more than 400K. That would explain why she chose that number.
So, roughly how many California public officials earn more than 400K, or just under 400K?
Jim Miller (e228fa) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:58 pmWhembly, Here’s what I previously said about the arguments about relationship with Brown.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:59 pmI agree with much of what you said about Harris. But Trump tried to steal the presidency through lies, fraud and criminal acts. I can’t get past that.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:01 pmNope. I don’t think anything written here has much impact on the election. I found this specific topic interesting and wanted to discuss it with JVW so I wrote the comment I did. Would love to hear his thoughts.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:03 pm@378 Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 1:59 pm
The subtext is wrong.
She slept her way to access the political game.
We don’t know, absent help from her paramour if she would’ve succeeded on her own.
That’s strike one.
Strike two, three, and so on are her abuses in office.
Because she’s a commie, she absolute be ruthlessly mocked for being “gifted” with start she had in politics.
She should be ruthlessly mocked for your various word salad of the day.
In politics, everything is on the table.
Politics is a bloodless war. A bare-knuckle fight at times.
Mockery is the weapon of choice in war.
…and Harris/Waltz deserves their fair share of it.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:08 pmYou and Comer got the same problem, believing that allegations = evidence.
Paul Montagu (65d5d6) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:29 pmKamala harris is not a communist just because you disagree with her. While trump is not a nazi he is closer to it then kamala is to stalin. Hey I get it name calling is more fun for me too!
asset (a42dc8) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:38 pmSpeculation. Putin never stopped his propaganda effort, with good reason.
Paul Montagu (65d5d6) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:41 pmhttps://hotair.com/generalissimo/2024/08/19/comrade-kamalas-kryptonite-n3793344
Here’s multiple clips of the Communist Kamala saying exactly what she will do. Enjoy voting for communism.
NJRob (9befb0) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:45 pmBut Trump tried to steal the presidency through lies, fraud and criminal acts. I can’t get past that.
Time123 (316585) — 8/19/2024 @ 2:01 pm
As much as I would like to punish Trump for doing that, I can’t bring myself to vote for Harris and Walz. They are further left than any Democratic tandem to ever run for POTUS/VPOTUS.
Instead of running toward the center, Kamala put out some ridiculous, anti-market, anti-capitalist economic proposals last week. Plus, she and Biden have been horrible on immigration. Yes, the Democrats were willing to sign off on an election year immigration bill which Trump subsequently torpedoed.
Why didn’t Biden/Harris do anything until this year? Because they didn’t want immigration enforcement until their stance became an election year liability. If Harris wins she will go back to the same stance.
She actually compared ICE to the KKK. That’s like Trump at Reykjavik dissing American intelligence.
Trump is a thug, so I rule him out.
Harris is more left than any major party candidate in U.S. history, so I can’t support her, either.
Kevin makes a good point–once progressive policy is enacted, it doesn’t go away. Obamacare is exhibit A. As Reagan said, the closest thing to eternal life on this earth is a government program.
Trump and Harris are just different flavors of sh!t sandwiches.
norcal (afeaa8) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:21 pmWith Kamala’s ill-conceived proposals on price-gouging and real estate tax credits, add her proposal to raise the corporate tax to 28% and it should be easy for Republicans to say that she’s anti-business and doesn’t have the first clue about how an American economy works. She has no idea how to preside over the world’s largest economy in world history.
Paul Montagu (63f1a2) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:36 pmAnd voting for a candidate who cannot win is just pretending that you aren’t actually taking a bite of one of those sh!t sandwiches.
Bon appétit!
BuDuh (c4f858) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:37 pmPrediction: The trolls and Trumpistas will not try to answer his argument, rationally.
Nice othering.
But really, Luttig statement assumes facts not in evidence — that Harris gives a rat’s ass about the Rule of Law.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:41 pmAnd Trump’s attempt to return to mercantilism with his massive taxes on imports shows he does.
I know the problems under a Trump admin, and congress willing to go along, and his willingness to bypass them with executive orders that just get implemented and then delaying in court.
Harris won’t be able to get the dems on board, much less the Republicans. So the risk of Trump is exponentially higher.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:42 pmhttps://www.c-span.org/video/?537638-1/democratic-national-convention-day-1&live
Convention time!
I hope they promise everything you guys want.
BuDuh (c4f858) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:49 pmIt has been a while since I have heard a McRib commercial. The opening montage could well be one with a few different words.
BuDuh (c4f858) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:57 pmDisclaimer before I go into this — I voted for Cooley in 2010 because of my impression of Harris’s performance as DA of San Francisco. But looking into the things in the calmatters article —
1. she didn’t seek the death penalty for a cop killer. this was inarguably the correct call for a DA in SF; finding a death qualified jury in SF is hard, and finding one that isn’t biased is going to be even harder.
2. she relied on the testimony of a witness who couldn’t have seen what she claimed to have seen – that’s awful, and it’s one of the reasons i have a hard time taking seriously the people who think she’s far left. a left-wing prosecutor would not have done this.
3. she prosecuted a mentally ill woman who was shot by police (for threatening the police). that’s awful, not something a left-wing prosecutor would have done. it’s also stunningly normal and the kind of thing i regularly see conservatives supporting, so i don’t understand why it’s a problem for conservatives. i think stuff like this should not happen across the board, just like i think that a person who shoots a police officer serving a no-knock warrant (and breaking into their house) has committed no crime whatsoever — but conservatives complaining about this instance strike me as hypocrites given how often they support other cases of this kind of prosecutorial decision.
4. harris prosecuted corinthian for preying on students. good.
5. implementation of the distribution of settlement money sucked — not sure this was harris’s fault.
6. harris defended the death penalty in court despite being personally opposed to it — that seems like the normal expectation of an AG who personally disapproves of the death penalty, right?
7. harris didn’t defend prop 8 in court — neither did her predecessor. should an AG defend (against constitutional claims) a law they think is unconstitutional? isn’t defending the constitutionality of something you think is constitutional a violation of the oath of office?
8. harris argued that we couldn’t let prisoners out because we depend on their labor. that’s *evil*, IMO. (with any luck an initiative aimed at stopping this will pass; it’s on the ballot in november).
9. harris appealed when a court dismissed a case where a county prosecutor faked a confession (rather than overturning the conviction and calling for a new trial). this was bad behavior but it seems really wierd to me for a conservative to argue for dismissal rather than retrial. So of the 9, i see four bad things (including one that’s outright evil), and this is a big part of why i would never vote for her in a primary. but all four of these things are inconsistent with being truly left-wing, and two of them are things conservatives often approve of in other circumstances, so i find the complaints about them to be suspicious and convenient.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:59 pmJim Miller, at 377:
https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/ReportBuilders/TopListNoSplit.aspx?year=2023&TopType=1&ChartType=1&TopN=10&DataSet=1&PopCategory=0&EntityTypeIDs=4,1,2,3,5,6,9,8,7,10,11
I think this is more about not pissing off working techies and high-end actors than it is about CA government officials
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:01 pmAnd voting for a candidate who cannot win is just pretending that you aren’t actually taking a bite of one of those sh!t sandwiches.
Bon appétit!
BuDuh (c4f858) — 8/19/2024 @ 3:37 pm
With any luck, I’ll get Covid again, and lose my sense of smell.
norcal (afeaa8) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:03 pm> The time to impeach would be after the election.
Why?
If Biden has committed impeachable offenses, what possible benefit is there to the Republic of waiting until after the election to remove him?
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:04 pmNorCal, I disagree with your conclusion but I can’t find fault with your points. It’s a respectable analysis
Time123 (d03559) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:07 pmJim Miller — 384 employees of state departments, a little bit more than 1000 employess of counties, 633 employees of cities, 1 employee of the superior court, 25 employees of CSU
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:08 pmRIP @1:40
for some added context here, at the time conservative activists in California were really worked up about the issue of public officials retiring from one state job and then collecting retirement income while working a different state job. So Cooley ran afoul of something that the people who would ordinarily have been his strongest allies were *already* pissed off about.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:14 pmNorCal, I disagree with your conclusion but I can’t find fault with your points. It’s a respectable analysis
Time123 (d03559) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:07 pm
Thank you, Time. That is my current take, but I could change my mind again before the election. I have forsworn tribalism. I am a swing voter in a swing state, and the choice isn’t easy.
If my vote were the only thing standing between the Republicans controlling Congress and the Presidency, I would vote for Kamala. The inverse is also true.
The reason I’m in this difficult position is because Americans have made such poor choices in the primaries, going back to 2016.
norcal (afeaa8) — 8/19/2024 @ 4:28 pm##98 aphrael – Many thanks,for both the info, and the site link. And for your thoughts about techies, which seem plausible to me.
Jim Miller (5013d4) — 8/19/2024 @ 5:27 pmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiD_lGRkSmU
BuDuh (c4f858) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:00 pmBut Trump tried to steal the presidency through lies, fraud and criminal acts. I can’t get past that.
I’m upset about that. I’m upset that he tried and that he was bad at it, too (proving incompetence and/or poor judgement).
But I’m also aware of that Harris and the left-wing of her party stand for, that she spouts rhetoric from Marx and has sided with every single nitwit idea that that fringe has expressed. I am also of the opinion that she showed no interest in the Rule of Law as CA’s AG, grossly overstepping her constitutional authority.
So, given the choice of two jackasses, I’ll pick the jackass on my side rather than theirs.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:14 pm@383
It’s not just because I disagree with her… she espouses Marxist/Communistic principles.
Ergo… she’s a commie.
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:16 pm7. harris didn’t defend prop 8 in court — neither did her predecessor. should an AG defend (against constitutional claims) a law they think is unconstitutional? isn’t defending the constitutionality of something you think is constitutional a violation of the oath of office?
She was the attorney for the People of California and she refused to defend her client in court. That was the violation of her oath, and of the normal canons as well. She should have, at least, appointed someone else to do the defending. She did not and the appeal failed in the Supreme Court in what amounted to a default judgement. Only the State AG or an appointee had standing.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:18 pmaphrael,
Please explain why you think her adding “microstamping” to the required features for semi-auto handguns (thereby barring all such handguns from being added or renewed to the allowed list) was anoything other that a gross abuse.
Note that the current AG is now refusing to defend her actions.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:21 pmIt’s not just because I disagree with her… she espouses Marxist/Communistic principles.
Most recently suggesting that the State should regulate how businesses set prices and outlawing “excess profits” (Marx called them “superprofits” but he meant the same thing).
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:23 pm@408
AND she’s willing to use state power to go after politically disfavored groups…
Namely David Daleiden who exposed abortion facilities illegally selling baby parts:
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-attorney-general-seizes-planned-parenthood-videos-20160405-story.html
…who’s still fighting this in the court systems.
OR when she tried to force a full public disclosure of who donated to groups she’s politically against:
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:31 pmhttps://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-afp-kamala-harris-20141211-story.html
Is this Trumpism/MAGA as being espoused today by Trump/Vance?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:45 pmMicrostamping is a technology patented by a company unwilling to licence it for the purpose being proposed. On top of that it’s extremely difficult to implement, and incredibly simple to “delete” in about 2 minutes and a file.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/19/2024 @ 6:50 pm@404 Calling someone a commie with that wide a generality is like saying if you support social security or medicare your red!. What is a democrat or a republican now?
asset (07d62d) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:11 pmhttps://justthenews.com/politics-policy/polling/majority-antisemitic-incidents-were-done-far-leftists-not-muslims-combat
Leftists don’t care. NeverTrump hardest hit so they’ll screech about white supremacists or something.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:20 pm@411
Mebbe she should stop saying “price controls”:
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/yes-harris-is-proposing-price-controls/
…or, the government to “take” patents:
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/is-this-even-legal-critics-slam-kamala-harris-over-vow-to-snatch-patents-after-resurfaced-vid-goes-viral/
Those are commie principles…
whembly (477db6) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:21 pmIt’s weird that the link you have that claims far leftists did some things, links to a site that specifically doesn’t say that.
Link
I’m sure it was just an oopsie that what they claimed it said didn’t have anything like that in it, right? No one would just make it up.
What they actually said. Of course, in another reality…
Notice no mention of left/right.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:35 pmThose Marxists that proposed price controls.
Nixon
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/19/2024 @ 8:48 pmTruman
FDR
Ahem, Donald Trump
Under the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, the federal government (under certain circumstances) can tell patent holders that used federal funds while developing their products to take certain actions:
See also 37 CFR 404.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/19/2024 @ 10:29 pmAOC sells out. Asset hardest hit.
lurker (c23034) — 8/19/2024 @ 11:17 pm@417 AOC, the squad and the left are slowly taking over the democratic party. They opposed the dump biden movement so the establishment couldn’t blame them in their desperation. this is about 2028/2032 not 2024. Supporting hamas cost bowman and cory bush. Summer lee, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tliab and Ayanna Pressley made it thru and hamas support will fade away. We play the long game with our youngsters coming up in the future. The future belongs to us.
asset (07d62d) — 8/20/2024 @ 2:10 am@Klink, that’s not weird. It’s normal for the information he provides to be disconnected, if not contradictory, to what’s being claimed. I assume he only reads the headlines/description on facebook before copying them over.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:07 amSteve Kerr on leadership
AJ_Liberty (9c2710) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:18 amhttps://www.google.com/search?q=steve+kerr+on+leadershi%5B&rlz=1C1VFKB_enUS632US632&oq=steve+kerr+on+leadershi%5B&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yCAgCEAAYFhgeMggIAxAAGBYYHjIICAQQABgWGB4yDQgFEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgGEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgHEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgIEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyCggJEAAYgAQYogTSAQk4ODExajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:868b6ad4,vid:EffXlS9VCP4,st:0
409. Is this Trumpism/MAGA as being espoused today by Trump/Vance?
OH, WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE GIVE DONNIE A COOKIE?
It is the fleshed-out con, but not by any means a manifesto, because the indispensable element is unconditional love of Trump to make it all real.
nk (6ba7fa) — 8/20/2024 @ 5:37 amAhh,
NJRob (a89b5c) — 8/20/2024 @ 5:38 ampretending antisemitism doesn’t exist on the left. Boy we never saw that one coming.
Thank you for the search parameters, AJ
Here he is being a leader when it comes to his economic partners’ human rights abuses:
https://www.newsweek.com/steve-kerr-pivots-americans-mowing-each-other-down-when-asked-about-human-rights-abuses-china-1464645
Solid guy!
BuDuh (4214e4) — 8/20/2024 @ 5:50 am@420 Interesting to see what impresses AJ.
lloyd (7a41d9) — 8/20/2024 @ 6:40 amNeighbor: Mrs. Trump, I hear your son was a good boy today and hasn’t gotten into any mischief.
nk (8b6cb1) — 8/20/2024 @ 6:48 amMary Anne: How do you know that?
Neighbor: It’s in all the papers.
Weird.
BuDuh (c4f858) — 8/20/2024 @ 7:14 amThat’d be the candidate that didn’t receive a single vote in the primary, correct? I’d think an avatar of Democracy Defender would be one that didn’t ignore election results, but hey, let’s run with that!
Also, let’s just ignore her support for Vaccine Mandates, Student Loan Forgiveness, and throwing Trump off the ballot. All anti-Democracy, anti-Constitution initiatives she supported that SCOTUS has thrown out during her time in office.
SaveFarris (79ab12) — 8/20/2024 @ 7:55 amThat’d be the candidate that didn’t receive a single vote in the primary, correct?
Yeah, I read that Nadelschwanz had a brand new tag — that Kamala was not the legitimate nominee of the Democratic Party.
If I were Trump, I would stop campaigning, declare that I had won by default, and on November 6 sue to be declared the winner in all 51 states.
nk (608895) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:22 amhttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/protests-chicago-democratic-national-convention-palestine-israel-settler-colonist.html
Chait correctly calls out the virulent racism on the left. It’s no surprise that the leftist media and their fellow travelers gloss over this racism for it advances their agenda. They need their objects of hate in order to feel superior.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:23 amThose Marxists that proposed price controls.
Nixon
Truman
FDR
Only FDR went so far as to want to regulate profits with his wildly unconstitutional National Industrial Recovery Act.
The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) was a US labor law and consumer law passed by the 73rd US Congress to authorize the president to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery….
The National Industrial Recovery Act is widely considered a policy failure, both in the 1930s and by historians today. Disputes over the reasons for this failure continue. Among the suggested causes are that the act promoted economically harmful monopolies, lacked critical support from the business community, and that it was poorly administered….
NIRA, as implemented by the NRA, became notorious for generating large numbers of regulations. By March 1934 the “NRA was engaged chiefly in drawing up these industrial codes for all industries to adopt.” The agency approved 557 basic and 189 supplemental industry codes in two years. Between 4,000 and 5,000 business practices were prohibited, some 3,000 administrative orders running to over 10,000 pages promulgated, and thousands of opinions and guides from national, regional, and local code boards interpreted and enforced the Act.
The premiere symbol of the NIRA was the Blue Eagle.
By the end of 1934, large and small business owners and most of the public had turned against the NRA…
The Supreme Court eventually overturned this portion of the Act, although FDR threatened to pack the Court in response.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:46 amIt’s not price controls (bad as they are) that I object to, it’s the idea of regulating businesses profits and pricing decisions, and questioning practices like volume discounts.
That Harris’s defenders disingenuously call these usurpations “price controls” is a reflection of their own realization of the Marxist nature of her actual proposal.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:50 amor, the government to “take” patents:
Intellectual property cannot exist in a marketplace without government. Whether a copyright, a trademark or a patent, if government doesn’t defend it, there is no way to monetize the property. These things are creations of government — grants of a monopoly for a limited time.
As such, the government can exact a carrying charge. With patents the government has sovereign rights and can appropriate them and use them, with due compensation (determined later).
Imagine a guy who patents a new weapon design during WW2, then tries to hold up the government’s use of the design. The government would just take the damn thing and use it — don’t you know there’s a War on? — and after the war would let the courts decide what he was owed.
It happened. See also the laser.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:58 amWhat really bothers me about this campaign is how terrible the proponents of either candidate are. Just when I think that I might be able to get behind one of them, their supporters throw an extra helping of jackass onto the fire.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:01 amPresidential primaries didn’t have influence until the early 1950s, so they are a relatively recent phenomenon. For most of American history, political bosses picked candidates or convention delegates. And even then candidates could swope in and receive the nomination, such as Hubert Humphrey, who didn’t run in any primary in 1968 (where only 38% of the delegates were selected through primaries).
Whether Harris ran in the primaries or not, it is immaterial to her legitimacy as the Democratic candidate, since she has a majority of the convention delegates behind her. There are plenty of more substantive reasons to oppose her.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:07 amDemocrat darling Gov. Andy Bashear wishes for a member of JD Vance’s family to become pregnant due to rape.
“Make him go through this.”
What a disgusting, monstrous comment and tells you alot about the mindset of some of the Democrats.
whembly (477db6) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:25 amStory from my last post:
whembly (477db6) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:34 amhttps://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/08/20/andy-beshear-hopes-somebody-rapes-jd-vances-female-relatives-n3793398
Beshear did not say a word about Vance’s female relatives. Here’s a more detailed story. https://www.abc3340.com/news/nation-world/kentucky-governor-slammed-for-jd-vance-rape-comment-what-a-disgusting-person-andy-beshear-democratic-national-convention-dnc-politics-2024-election-abortion-reproductive-rights
“Female relatives” is from Vance’s own mind, and there’s a nasty hillbilly joke there that I will not make.
nk (182c39) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:38 am@434:
I think that the smoke-filled room worked much better then most politics was local and there was substantial diversity of views in that room. Once the focus became more national, given influences like radio and TV networks, and local political leaders had to toe more party lines, the idea of local elections choosing delegates made more sense. That way grass-roots local issues had more clout.
It may not matter any more as the factions have become national now, too.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:44 amBeshear did not say a word about Vance’s female relatives.
The implication is there.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:46 am#436 & #437
Sounds like JD (and maybe whembly) is searching for reasons to be outraged. They never ever get tired of it. Now, the independents they might want to attract is a different matter…
Appalled (098dde) — 8/20/2024 @ 9:52 am@440 “bloodbath”
lloyd (832310) — 8/20/2024 @ 10:08 am@440
Not sorry.
When the other side engages in ridiculous hyperbole… “Trump TRIED to STEEEAAL an election!” or “J6 was an IsUrReCtIoN!” or “he’ll put CHAINS back on you!” or ” is a Hitler/Nazi/White Supremacist!!”…
…and so on.
No… these people don’t deserve any benefit of doubt. And it’s easy to understand that Bashear’s position is coming from malice.
whembly (477db6) — 8/20/2024 @ 10:28 amAh whembly. So it’s OK that your claim is a lie, because it could be true if only you wish hard enough.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 10:41 amSo Trump enacted “price controls” already, even ran on them in 16.
I shall reiterate 409, is this not what Trumpism/MAGA is claiming to be?
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 10:43 am@443
Please explain this statement then:
“Make him go through this.”
How would someone “go through this” if no one in his family was raped?
What, exactly is the lie?
whembly (477db6) — 8/20/2024 @ 10:45 amwhembly, expecting the commenters here like Klink to be objective and consistent with their outrage/nuance is a fool’s errand.
lloyd (832310) — 8/20/2024 @ 11:02 am@446
Hey… I’m willing to be wrong here…
Both Klink and nk seems to be some sort of Bashear-whisperer…it’s either:
A) Vance should have to “go through” rape or Vance’s wife or his daughter?
..or..
B) Bashear meant something else.
I’ll wait patiently…
whembly (477db6) — 8/20/2024 @ 11:11 amYou might want to put some bleach on that.
BuDuh (c4f858) — 8/20/2024 @ 11:13 am#442
What people deserve and what the campaign ought to serve up are two different things. I used to get on dana when she would report the latest MAGA outrage from a second or third tier Republican. Yes, whatever was said was likely mendacious or horrible, but it’s just not that big a splash in the stew of toxic rhetoric of today’s politics.
Y’all like to reduce nevertrump emnity to a bad reaction to mean tweets. What you do here is much the same, is the same old MAGA whining and playing the victim, and reminds independents why they tire of your current candidate and his boy wonder.
Appalled (098dde) — 8/20/2024 @ 11:21 amIt’s difficult for the two sides to speak civilly when it comes to abortion. Vance has advocated for rethinking about certain exceptions, including rape. Polls would suggest that that is a minority opinion, though it is a legitimate point. It’s also fair to point out women going through the trauma of rape or incest are a bearing a weight that JD Vance will never have to bear since he can’t get pregnant. It’s also fair to suggest that loved ones of women pregnant from rape or incest are also invested in their coping. Questioning Vance about whether his opinion might change if someone he knew was raped or a victim of incest seems rhetorically permissible. Objective readers can decide whether Beshear went over the line. It’s an emotional issue. I support the exceptions.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/20/2024 @ 11:37 amSuggested Vance response to Beshear: “Being aborted is painful. Make him go through this.”
lloyd (832310) — 8/20/2024 @ 11:56 amJust a reminder that someone tried to assassinate Trump and the left has used language repeatedly rooting that act on. No surprise to see the dismissive attitude towards hateful speech coming from the left. It’s par for the course.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/20/2024 @ 12:31 pmWhiny snowflakes.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 12:36 pmI agree, that is where most political vetting took place. Now primary voters must be the vetters.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/20/2024 @ 12:47 pm> She was the attorney for the People of California and she refused to defend her client in court.
Imagine that the voters of New Mexico passed a ballot initiative banning private possession of handguns, a district court overturned it on the grounds that it’s a clear violation of the second amendment, and raul torrez refused to appeal.
Would that be a violation of his oath of office? Would you denounce him for failing to appeal?
aphrael (8c9441) — 8/20/2024 @ 12:53 pm> Please explain why you think her adding “microstamping” to the required features for semi-auto handguns (thereby barring all such handguns from being added or renewed to the allowed list) was anoything other that a gross abuse.
I am not aware that I have ever expressed an opinion on this subject. Can you please point me to where I have or retract your claim?
aphrael (8c9441) — 8/20/2024 @ 12:54 pm#451
If vance was asked the question, he could reply “I hear abortion is painful. I doubt Governor Beshear has had any experience with that, or he wouldn’t be talking about it today.”
Or he could take the old George Will line: “Speaking as a former fetus…”
Whembly is right when he says mockery is a potent tool. It sure beats whining…
Appalled (098dde) — 8/20/2024 @ 12:57 pm> So, given the choice of two jackasses, I’ll pick the jackass on my side rather than theirs.
You would rather give power back to a man who openly tried to steal an election than give power to someone whose policies you dislike.
The *political outcome* is more important to you than the *legitimacy of the process*.
aphrael (8c9441) — 8/20/2024 @ 1:07 pmHere’s the actual quote:
“
I didn’t watch it so I can’t speak to the tone. But it reads like outrage at Vance’s previous statement, which was likely performative, as much of the outrage at Beshear seems to be.
As in most things everyone seems to be trying to represent everything that was said in bad faith for rhetorical points.
Time123 (ef0d7a) — 8/20/2024 @ 1:22 pmI gave you the J. the D is for Disadvantaged Vance statement that Beshear was responding to at 437:
Any no-class mushmouth white trash slob who minimizes rape as “somehow inconvenient” or a “problem to the society” should be advised to do something else with his mother’s couch such as sticking it up his ass.
nk (182c39) — 8/20/2024 @ 2:39 pmYeah, yeah, I know, he got sand in his butt crack taking selfies in Iraq, but he is still a phony-baloney, fake grievance-mongering, crapweasel with his lips firmly pressed to Donnie Two Inch’s nether parts.
nk (182c39) — 8/20/2024 @ 2:46 pmBut, but, but, Andy was mean to him. Poor, precious boy.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 2:50 pmMan the Kamala supporters are out in force today. Gotta support those leftist policies that continue to bankrupt the nation and lead to our collapse.
So many have been indoctrinated to hate the West.
NJRob (dbec01) — 8/20/2024 @ 2:59 pmMan the surrendermunky’s are out in force today, whining about people pointing out their silly hypocrisy and poking fun at them.
Why is it so hard to understand that they just want their pure love of a stable (like for horses) jeanus who only wants to pal around his buddies from Russia and Gina, to shine. He loves the west, West Moscow, West Beijing, West Palm Beach, all the wests.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 3:05 pmSo Trump enacted “price controls” already, even ran on them in 16.
Perhaps you did not understand. Harris is not proposing price controls. She is proposing profit controls. Oppsong “excess profits” is a key element of Marxist dogma.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 3:58 pm@462
I’ve noticed you didn’t respond to my question.
I’ll take it as a retreat on your part.
whembly (477db6) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:01 pmWhembly, I’m bored so I’ll answer the your question. Bashear’s statement makes not sense if taken literally. He said JD Vance should go through ‘this’ where this is pregnancy as a result of rape with no option to terminate the pregnancy through abortion. “This” is impossible as Vance can’t get pregnant. Therefore it’s necessary to deduce Bashear’s intent from context and previous statement. Likely possibilities include
A. He’s saying that JD Vance’s previous statements on this subject are callous and he needs to display more empathy and understanding to what the victims of such crime have to go through. He used inflammatory language because he’s an A-hole or bad at public speaking.
B1. he’s calling for women in Vance’s life to be impregnated via rape in a true threat.
B2. He’s calling for women in Vance’s life to be impregnated via rape as an insult.
C. He’s pretending to be outraged at callous statements Vance made several years ago and is using inflammatory language to get a reaction and draw more attention to Vance’s previous statements.
I think it’s C. How about you?
Time123 (67127c) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:19 pmMaybe you should look up what makes “price”. COGS+Margin=Price, no matter how you try to twist it, COGS is fixed as long as the supply isn’t affected by some inflationary pressure, so if’n you’re controlling the price, what’s the thing that gets squeezed?
This really isn’t that hard. Trump’s Tariffs raise COGS, Trump has implemented price controls, hmm, what is left? So unless you’re going to address the massively inflationary impact of tariffs, without some sort of forced minimum wage increase, then margins are going to be hit, hard.
I guess it doesn’t matter when Trump has done the bad thing, if the other person may also do the bad thing.
Trump=gooder
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:31 pmI should also add that if “C” is correct it’s reasonable for Bashear to foresee that some women in Vance’s life could feel as if they’re being personally attacked. He should have found a way to make his point that didn’t have that possibility. His failure to do was also callous.
To quote r/Amithea$$hole “ESH”
Time123 (67127c) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:31 pmKlink, two policies that accomplish the same thing are not themselves the same. Tarif’s are bad economic policy but they’re not the same as price controls. Which is worse will depend on the details.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:34 pmC. He’s pretending to be outraged at callous statements Vance made several years ago and is using inflammatory language to get a reaction and draw more attention to Vance’s previous statements.
I don’t think Beshear is pretending to be outraged, and I would not call Vance’s statement merely “callous”.
I think Vance was pandering to mouth-breathers by trivializing a tragic event, and Beshear called him on it in a way that allowed the slicker to pretend to be outraged.
nk (35106d) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:40 pmAz rethugs ask supreme court to stop 40,000+ voters from voting. Many were born on Navajo reservation and don’t have birth certificates. rethugs don’t think native americans are citizens anyway. I was born 75 years ago on oklahoma indian reservation be fore birth certificats were needed. I have voted in the same precinct since since I could vote so for the time being grandfathered in and can vote unless rethugliKKKans change the law again.
asset (20beec) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:40 pm@471, I think the way you describe ppl who disagree with you makes it hard to take you seriously on this.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/20/2024 @ 4:46 pmIf the area of disagreement is whether a woman who is raped can become pregnant from it if she does not really want to, then I think “mouth-breather” is being polite.
nk (a10ce3) — 8/20/2024 @ 5:01 pmTrump implemented price controls. Trump also implemented and proposes massive new tariffs.
He didn’t do one bad thing or the other, he’s did both and is promising to double down.
Trumpism argues that America is made up of two cohesive groups: real, hard-working Americans on the one hand (primarily concentrated in rural areas), and the rootless cosmopolitans and coastal elites of both parties who dominate and exploit their labor on the other. A liberal political order (whether governed by Democrats or Republicans) tends toward two distinct classes, one of which owns and controls pretty much everything and occupies the commanding heights of Wall Street, Hollywood, and Washington (the oppressors); while the other is endlessly alienated from the fruits of its labor (the oppressed). In addition, Trumpism sees the Deep State, its laws and its mechanisms of enforcement, as a tool that the oppressor class (the elites) uses to keep the regime of oppression in place.
Trumpism recognizes that the businessmen, politicians, lawyers, and intellectuals who keep this system of oppression in place are often unaware that they are the oppressors. What the ruling elites think of as progress, however, has only established new conditions of oppression. (Trade agreements are enacted in the name of prosperity but harm the working class; environmental regulations promise health and safety but destroy jobs; liberals claim to value tolerance but instead seek to eradicate free speech with their codes of political correctness, etc.) Indeed, even the hard-working or blue collar class may not grasp the depths of their oppression. This is because they still think in terms of traditional liberal categories (e.g., they imagine that people can improve their lot through trade unions, or through the electoral process, or by embracing political correctness). False consciousness thus obscures the systematic oppression and domination of the real Americans by the elites, but the system is totally rigged. Ignorance of reality is called, in Trumpian terminology, believing the fake news. False consciousness is overcome only when one develops a new revolutionary consciousness through alternative media (the work of the vanguards), which unmasks the cultural mechanisms of oppression.
Trumpism says that the oppressed class or real Americans can improve their material conditions only through social upheaval. The ruling elites of both major parties must be toppled in order to usher in a new golden age, which will also be a return to a lost golden age. The battle to defeat the oppressors is referred to as draining the swamp. There is currently an ideological civil war raging within American society. (Folks, I’m gonna tell you, these next four months are gonna be a veritable war like we have not seen—Rush Limbaugh.) This ideological war might soon become an actual war, at which point there can be no compromise and all will be forced to choose a side. The real Americans must be heavily armed, standing by to forcibly storm the legislatures in states with democratically elected but irredeemably corrupt liberal governors. Indeed, the revolution might already be upon us. As a result of the stolen election, Trump should perhaps declare a limited form of Martial Law, and temporarily suspend the Constitution and civilian control of these federal elections (Michael Flynn). All those who have stabbed the president in back—the class traitors who are Republicans in Name Only—must be punished for their betrayal and for their crimes against the people.
Once the vanguards who speak for the oppressed class secure full control of government (and root out the last holdovers of the Deep State once and for all), the nation will achieve a new dawn of unprecedented prosperity and military might. Taxes will be cut, federal budgets raised, and the national debt eliminated—all at the same time. Racial tensions will dissipate because MAGA loves the black people, while monuments to the Confederacy will also be protected from the Marxist mobs. Corruption and rent-seeking will recede as the swamp is drained. Money will flow into the president’s private business empire from the foreign diplomats and lobbyists who book rooms at his hotels. This is not corrupt. It is smart. Socialist Obamacare will be repealed and replaced, and there will be a new healthcare policy that provides, as the president has said, insurance for all. Millions of illegal immigrants will be deported. Immigrants from Muslim lands will be banned and religious liberty will be protected. A colossal physical wall will be built across the southern border without any expense to the American people. Traditional values and virtues will be restored. People will understand that whether or not the president paid hush money to a porn star on the eve of his election is a private matter of no public consequence. The ruling party will win repeated landslide elections because of its overwhelming popularity with the people. Only millions of fraudulent votes can ever defeat the party of the people. In Trumpism, all of the internal contradictions of history will be resolved. America will be great again and again.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 5:26 pm@467
Watch the MSNBC interview.
It’s both B1/B2.
whembly (477db6) — 8/20/2024 @ 5:53 pmYes, watch the interview.
It’s pretty obvious that you didn’t.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 5:57 pm@474 How about a 10 year old girl raped by her step mothers boy friend?
asset (6e0fcc) — 8/20/2024 @ 6:18 pm@476, guess there’s not much point in taking you seriously anymore.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/20/2024 @ 6:22 pmDon’t mind me, Time123. My problem is that the times when I should not comment coincide with the times when I don’t know that I should not comment.
Those guys, Vance and Beshear both, words are their tools. They know a lot of words, they know the best words, and they know how to use them to get people to vote for them. Getting mixed up in their back and forths is like stepping into the ring at a professional wrestling match.
nk (7020ac) — 8/20/2024 @ 6:41 pmMaybe you should look up what makes “price”. COGS+Margin=Price, no matter how you try to twist it, COGS is fixed as long as the supply isn’t affected by some inflationary pressure, so if’n you’re controlling the price, what’s the thing that gets squeezed?
Well, you can control prices by simply fixing them to current prices, as Nixon did.
OR you can take over the management of each company and mandate their business practices so that they are “Fair” and don’t “gouge” consumers by some standard that the bureaucracy develops. Which is what Harris is proposing, (and what FDR did in 1933) although she doesn’t spell it all out.
Clearly you don’t see the differences between these two alternatives, but most people do.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 7:02 pmPlease show me where she is proposing this. As far as I can find, there is zero indication of “how”. Not to mention the fact that it is a metaphorical impossibility that her caucus would go along with it.
Remember all of the corporate Republicans, they’re dems now.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 7:06 pmWhile it does bother me that some will believe anything (e.g. Walz the Manchurian candidate) to support their cult leader, it also bothers me that some will close their eyes to what the opposition to that cult leader is saying they will do.
There is nothing in Kamala Harris’s history that suggests that she is not a hard left ideologue, but I see folks (like Klink) put the blinders on rather willfully.
Which is why I call some of the opponents to Trump part of another cult, equally unwilling to see the obvious.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 7:08 pmShe’s not Trump. Trump is evil, unconcerned about whether America is a free country or not as long as he can get his. Lie, cheat, steal, and that was happening before, during, and after being president.
He’s an actual criminal, and there is no disputing it, we all know it.
We all know he’d sell out the US to Putin for a couple of rubles. We all know he cheated on every wife, a lot. We all know he’s been and continues to be a racist/classist. We all know he doesn’t know enough to understand the impact of the things he says and does as the leader of the free world. He doesn’t care, as long as he gets his.
Harris is a lefty who wouldn’t be an option as vice president, except for Trump. Harris will be president because of Trump and the MAGAturds. The GOP had a chance to flush that turd after 2020, but doubled down on stupid.
Stupid is as stupid does, the GOP has doomed conservatism, not because of Biden and Harris, but because of Trump. Trump is a reactionary, Trumpism’s core beliefs are closer to Marxism than the dems. Trump wants to the government to be involved in all aspects of your life, your bedroom and the boardroom, mandating what can be said, what can be done, what can be private. He’s all for freedom, as long as agrees 100% with what he wants you to believe. History and reality are malleable based on how dear leader feelz today.
So, yeah, Harris is not Trump so Harris will be president, thanks Trump.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 7:26 pm@479
You don’t like it when hyperbole rules the debate… don’t you?
Might want to think back why I’m pushing back Democrat framings, that you & others seem to accept at face value when it comes to all-things-Trump. Like “he tried to STEAL an election!” or “what he did is tantamount to insurrection!” or the likes.
This is what happens when you frame your position by positing the worst possible translation in order to buttress your preconceived bias.
It really makes debating other folks of differing opinions… doesn’t it?
whembly (c10de5) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:07 pm@Time123
See post @484 ^^^^
“Trump is evil…MAGAturds…”
-Klink
Hyperbole to the nth degree this one.
whembly (c10de5) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:09 pmThe lefty trolls are becoming ever strident in that their Moby ways aren’t working anymore
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:15 pmTrump did try to steal an election, he did attempt to foment an insurrection. So it’s OK to lie about what Andy said because in another reality he may have said it.
Vote Trump, because on Earth 1105, Trump didn’t do these things and Vance didn’t disparage entire swaths of the public. Over there Beshear spoke crassly.
We just happen to live on Earth 616, on this Earth, Trump did those things and the other guy just called Vance out for exactly what he said.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:16 pmIt’s interesting that you guys never actually argue that Trump isn’t evil, that he didn’t do the things.
Interesting.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:18 pmDepending on how hard-core a Catholic JD Vance is, it might not matter if a woman in his family got pregnant through rape or incest. And he’s a convert, and they tend to be very hard-core (and mostly ignorant of theology 😛 ). Women’s suffering almost never matters in the Church (often men’s doesn’t much either) so it doesn’t really matter if the woman/girl might be suicidal from carrying the pregnancy or physically harmed by it, she would just need to endure.
Really they should spend less time asking him about abortion and ask him about the Pill instead and really see how hard-core Catholic he is.
Nic (120c94) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:39 pmAnd he’s a convert, and they tend to be very hard-core
Nic (120c94) — 8/20/2024 @ 8:39 pm
The same is true in the Mormon church. My dad converted to Mormonism. He offered to pay my sister’s college tuition, but only if she attended BYU.
norcal (ea6d38) — 8/20/2024 @ 10:24 pmThere is nothing in Kamala Harris’s history that suggests that she is not a hard left ideologue, but I see folks (like Klink) put the blinders on rather willfully.
Which is why I call some of the opponents to Trump part of another cult, equally unwilling to see the obvious.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/20/2024 @ 7:08 pm
Kevin, I believe it was upthread that aphrael gave some examples where, as a prosecutor, Kamala was not a hard left ideologue. Did you miss them?
norcal (ea6d38) — 8/20/2024 @ 10:26 pmKamala harris is not trump. That is enough for those who will vote for her and she is not a senile old fool like biden. If she can get minority men back that biden lost she will win. The rest only those who weren’t going to vote for her anyway care about it. By the way I still might vote green as trump win hurts the democrat establishment and helps the left.
asset (6e0fcc) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:07 am@489
It’s not worth arguing that against a true believer.
whembly (477db6) — 8/21/2024 @ 6:33 amPlease show me where she is proposing this. As far as I can find, there is zero indication of “how”. Not to mention the fact that it is a metaphorical impossibility that her caucus would go along with it.
WaPo (free link)
How does one implement this without getting into internal corporate governance? Do they have to apply to some bureau to raise prices, like insurance companies or utilities? She doesn’t say, but it is not something that can be done externally — each company has it’s own pricing and market considerations.
By attacking “excessive corporate profits” (again, a term from Das Kapital) she indicates rather strong and intrusive federal controls.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:27 amWhat also surprise me about ALL of these arguments is that the most important argument is one that involves the plenary powers of the Presidency: foreign affairs and being Commander-in-Chief.
It is one that may cause me to vote for Harris, despite all my many misgivings, in a way that the J6 argument does not.
Biden Approved Secret Nuclear Strategy Refocusing on Chinese Threat
While I think that in matters of this sort Harris would be in over her head, I also think she would know that and listen to the many advisers who were not. Donald Trump would also be in over his head, but listening to advisers is not his métier. His response to North Korea and NATO, and the resignation of General Mattis, tell me that his judgement here is lacking and I don’t think we can afford that.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:36 amWhat makes you think she wouldn’t be on China’s side?
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:39 amhttps://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/21/nonfarm-payroll-growth-revised-down-by-818000-labor-department-says.html
30% less than originally reported. The adjustments are always negative. Why is that?
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:41 amKevin, I believe it was upthread that aphrael gave some examples where, as a prosecutor, Kamala was not a hard left ideologue. Did you miss them?
I am aware that she was to the right of the San Francisco electorate, at least as far as criminal prosecutions. Yet she remained far to the left of the rest of the state, opposes capital punishment, and had mixed attitudes towards actual prosecutions.
But her list misses a number of things that show her true post-liberal-left stripes:
As AG of the state she banned many guns from sale for dishonest reasons, warped initiative petition drives by crafting distorted petition summaries to artificially attract or repel signatures, refused to defend the votes of the state’s citizens or allow anyone else to defend them and demanded that many right-of-center political action committees provide her with a list of donors, who she then doxxed.
Someone who professes to support the Rule of Law should find all of these things a problem.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:47 amWhat makes you think she wouldn’t be on China’s side?
What makes you think she would be? Or that Trump would not be? Trump took China’s side early on in the pandemic.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:49 am> or allow anyone else to defend them
the official proponents of prop 8 appealed the case. the ninth circuit referred the question to the california supreme court, asking if california law allowed that. the california supreme court said *yes*, under california law, if the state doesn’t appeal an adverse court decision against an initiative, the official proponents are allowed to.
the US supreme court (in a decision i complained about at the time) upended california initiative law by saying that *notwithstanding this part of california law*, federal constitutional law does not allow initiative sponsors to appeal on behalf of the state in this fashion.
the claim that she didn’t *allow* anyone else to appeal is inconsistent with the history of the case.
aphrael (998887) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:54 am> Yet she remained far to the left of the rest of the state,
Refusing to release prisoners on the grounds that prisons economically depend on the forced labor of those prisoners is “far to the left of the rest of the state”?
Really?
aphrael (998887) — 8/21/2024 @ 8:56 amRefusing to release prisoners on the grounds that prisons economically depend on the forced labor of those prisoners is “far to the left of the rest of the state”?
Yes, it is. First, it is a repugnant reason, not a GOP reason. Second, she fails to make the common GOP argument (keeping criminals in prison reduces crime) because that is MORE repugnant to the left.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:03 amthe claim that she didn’t *allow* anyone else to appeal is inconsistent with the history of the case.
She had to power to appoint someone to defend it. She could have appointed the initiative proponents. She did not and in the US Supreme Court case she filed an amicus brief arguing — despite the CA state court’s rulings — that the proponents had no standing.
So, not only did she not support the state’s citizens, she also did not support the state’s Supreme Court.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:12 amIn any event aphrael, neither of these things make her out to be a champion of the Rule of Law. Little does.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:13 am> > Refusing to release prisoners on the grounds that prisons economically depend on the forced labor of those prisoners is “far to the left of the rest of the state”?
> Yes, it is. First, it is a repugnant reason, not a GOP reason. Second, she fails to make the common GOP argument (keeping criminals in prison reduces crime) because that is MORE repugnant to the left.
Hahahahahahahaha
you’re basically saying “not what the GOP would say” === “left wing”, and in so doing, you’re showing that you don’t actually know what the left wing thinks.
The leftist position on prisons is that they are (a) an unreasonable and oppressive imposition on personal liberty, and (b) used by either [racist/capitalist] authorities to keep people down and prevent resistance to an immoral political and economic system.
There isn’t a leftist alive who would support keeping people in prison so that the state could profit off of their labor — in the leftist viewpoint, that is something that the immoral capitalist system would do, and the fact that the system produces this outcome is a sign of its immorality and evil.
> neither of these things make her out to be a champion of the Rule of Law
i’m not claiming they do. i’m claiming that positions like this show her to not be a product of *the left*, because they are absolutely inconsistent with the leftist worldview.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:25 am@506 Kamala’s voting record in the Senate was to the left of Bernie. She’s a product of the Left.
lloyd (05f4ac) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:33 amyou’re basically saying “not what the GOP would say” === “left wing”, and in so doing, you’re showing that you don’t actually know what the left wing thinks.
No, I’m saying that it was a apolitical exception. You say it wasn’t of the Left, but it wasn’t of the Right, either. So, really, it has no bearing on her leanings OTHER THAN showing her to be authoritarian.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:35 amHe says without a hint of irony.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:36 amAnd yet you endorse his reelection.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:38 amBoth the Left and the Right have views of liberty. That they often conflict, usually over the involvement of the State, does not mean that something they BOTH agree is anti-liberty leans one way or the other.
But consider this: She did not take the Right-wing view here — that criminals should be locked up to protect the public — as that would have been worse than stating an apolitical heresy.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:40 amAnd yet you endorse his reelection.
Way to not read what I wrote.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:40 amKevin M:
I said:
> Refusing to release prisoners on the grounds that prisons economically depend on the forced labor of those prisoners is “far to the left of the rest of the state”?
You said:
> Yes, it is.
You *absolutely* asserted that this is a left wing position. Maybe that’s not what you meant to say, but it *is* what you said.
All I can figure is that you think anything not right-wing is definitionally left wing, and that you do not currently have the ability to understand what is or is not a left-wing viewpoint.
If you’d like to retract your egregious mischaracterization of left-wing thought and start over, we can do that.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:41 amIt’s not just what you wrote at 8:36 am, but all of your other posts on this thread. Cumulatively, they endorse Trump’s reelection.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:43 amYou *absolutely* asserted that this is a left wing position.
It puts the interests of the State over the interests of individuals, and Statism is a feature of the Left.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:45 amIt’s not just what you wrote at 8:36 am, but all of your other posts on this thread. Cumulatively, they endorse Trump’s reelection.
You must have missed this bit then, or chose to cherry-pick regardless:
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:46 am> It puts the interests of the State over the interests of individuals, and Statism is a feature of the Left.
OK. You’d rather engage with your internal caricature of the left than actually try to understand how leftists see the world.
That’s not the impression I’ve had of you over the decades we’ve been talking, but I guess it’s true now.
But I’ll reiterate: imprisoning people so that the state can profit off of their forced labor is absolutely anathema to American leftist thought. If you believe that it’s a leftist position, that indicates a complete failure to understand the leftist worldview.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:50 amNot quite. Congress has a lot to say in both areas.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:53 amCongress has just failed to exercise its authority in both areas.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:55 amNonresponsive and deflection. You made the assertion about her position. I’m asking why you made it.
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:56 amYou’re basically saying you think I’m lying when I say I believe Trump tried to steal the election so it’s ok for you to lie about what Bashear intended.
I’m not lying about my conclusion that Trump tried to steal the election. I believe he did. There is a lot of evidence that he tried to steal the election, and some of us have spent some time learning about that. Last time I presented the information you hand waved it away as ‘opinion’ and said it was impossible to know for sure so all views were equally valid and indicated that you didn’t want to talk about it in detail. That’s your prerogative. But why should I take you seriously when your position is that your lies are justified by something I didn’t do?
Time123 (bd0139) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:56 amNo it isn’t. That’s the actual end result of all Socialist/Communist thought. From each according to their ability…
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:09 amHe wrote what Bashear intended. You’re the one trying to muddy the waters because your default position is to defend leftists. That’s your choice. But to pretend he didn’t intend the vile remark is to lie.
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:11 amNJ Rob,
https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm
Civilian labor force participation ran between 62 and 63.3 percent from 2021 to 2020. Covid reduced it to 60%. It’s came back up to 62-63 in 2022 and has been hovering in that range ever since.
BLS also tracks the adjustments between surveys over time
https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesnaicsrev.htm
This shows that the adjustments at usually down, and have been so during Trump’s presidency as well.
Would need to spend more time then I care to take loading the data into excel to say for sure if there’s been a change in the mean error, but if anyone wants to do that analysis I’d be interested in reading it.
Economics is interesting.
Time123 (bd0139) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:19 am@ 523, Rob did you listen to his interview?
Time123 (bd0139) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:20 am> No it isn’t. That’s the actual end result of all Socialist/Communist thought. From each according to their ability…
You realize that you are speaking to a leftist who has an enormous number of friends who are *further to the left than I am*, and that you’re basically asserting that i’m lying when I describe my beliefs and those of my community, right?
You are operating from prejudice and bigotry rather than seeking understanding.
It’s sort of the equivalent of what it would be like if I asserted that because conservatives believe in an ordered society, it therefore follows that they want everyone to adopt the Indian caste system and have it enforced by law.
It’s utter nonsense hidden under the veneer of thought.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:24 amThat you cannot admit he took the vile shot says a lot about your position.
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:25 amNo aphrael. I’m arguing about the end result in reality. Leftism isn’t a Star Trek utopia. It’s prisons and gulags for those who aren’t favored or dare to step out of line.
That’s reality.
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:26 amAphrael,
you were the one saying that if Trump was elected all your “rights” would be taken away. right?
NJRob (99dae0) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:27 am@521 Time123 (bd0139) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:56 am
Lying is too strong of a word I would say.
Melodramatic…overreacting… yes.
Out and out lying… no.
Basher overreaction seems to come out of malice towards Vance’s positions and in context, pulled in the rest of his family. I’m flummox you felt you needed to defend him. There’s no good way to spin his remarks.
You’re asking me to give him grace when he offers none.
As a refresher… no, I don’t think its accurate to say that Trump tried to “steal” an election, and it’s an overreaction to describe it as so.
There were a lot of shenanigans in 2020, but at the end of the day, Trump lost, not because he didn’t have any legit claims to challenge the election. He lost because there was no way on god’s green earth that ANY challenge could be sustained in a way that would overturn the election, as its impossible to conduct audits that can assure that there were no hinky business. The only recourse is to throw out the election if an audit couldn’t be done, and that’s not happening, ever, in a presidential election.
No one can make a claim that 2020 election was either on the up & up or if the shenanigans had any impact.
If you were upset that he didn’t just graciously accept defeat, which historically caused acrimonious transfer of power, yes I’m right there with you. But, working the system to challenge the election within the bounds of how you’re allowed to do so isn’t the same as “stealing” an election. To me, stealing an election is akin to stuffing the ballots, or buying votes, or the likes.
whembly (477db6) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:29 am> you were the one saying that if Trump was elected all your “rights” would be taken away. right?
I doubt it. That’s not the kind of rhetoric I usually use when objecting to Trump.
I might have said that Trump’s appointments to the Supreme Court resulted in the only *removal* of a protected right that’s happened in my lifetime, though.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:40 amI’m pretty sure I’ve read aphrael saying several times electing Trump would be the “end of the Republic”
lloyd (05f4ac) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:48 am> I’m pretty sure I’ve read aphrael saying several times electing Trump would be the “end of the Republic”
That is certainly rhetoric I use, and I strongly believe it.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 11:08 amI have no problem saying Trump is evil. With his raging case of malignant narcissism, how could he not.
I was listening to French and Jonah argue about how and why they’re voting this November. I was glad to hear French flesh out his position (voting for Kamala), and it really sounds like a matter of emphasis, in that David is emphatic in rejecting Trump, taking a full vote away from him by giving it to Kamala.
Paul Montagu (1e8339) — 8/21/2024 @ 11:15 am
Personally, I’m not there and I have that luxury. I agree that rejecting Trump is a first-order issue, given his coup attempt and his comments about the Constitution and how he would govern, but I’m still rejecting the Democrat nominee because of the way she was selected and because she’s too liberal, so I’m still protest-voting for the 3rd presidential election in a row, in effect taking half-votes away from each.
In that I agree with Jonah, I think my protest vote sends a clearer message, a rejection of what both parties have brought forth, and it tells the electorate that I’d rather see a traditional conservative lead the party, not the current sh-tstain we have now.
I was thinking earlier about Romney or Haley, but now my front runner is Liz Cheney. She’s smart, articulate, the right age and experience, traditionally conservative and, importantly, brave, willing to risk her incumbency on a first-order principle (subject to change if/when a better candidate emerges).
@533 Then I guess you’re entitled to your hyperbolic rhetoric.
And, on that specifically, remember Nejwa Ali? Probably not. Ten months later she’s still drawing a paycheck from taxpayers. I bring this up because I really wonder what is meant by Republic anymore. I remember “Viva le Resistance” and #Resist and Anonymous being pretty open efforts to stymie the duly elected administration in 2016. Not to mention the two year “insurance policy.” We have an entrenched bureaucracy that is a branch of government into its own, whose goal in part is to resist oversight by the people. Giving this another four years to cement itself further is a really strange concept of Republic. I think it’s largely already been lost, and there are folks who are fine with that apparently.
lloyd (376756) — 8/21/2024 @ 11:23 am@534 Paul, have you found that Russian cybertruck invoice yet?
lloyd (376756) — 8/21/2024 @ 11:26 am“In that I agree with Jonah, I think my protest vote sends a clearer message, a rejection of what both parties have brought forth, and it tells the electorate that I’d rather see a traditional conservative lead the party, not the current sh-tstain we have now”
I agree. The DEMs had a historic opportunity to reboot, and chose to just give it to the VP. Though she might help with minority voters and perhaps women too, she offers little to other moderates and independents. With what I would argue is a thin resume, Harris will keep this election a nail biter. I looked at several of her initial VP options all as being potentially better. The reality is that the DEM Party needed to hear from each candidate and let voters weigh in. Though I think this introduces some popularity contest versus shrewd electoral map figuring, it also provides a veneer of legitimacy. Biden screwed the pooch by not exiting in a dignified manner at the end of summer of 2023. He remains as small as ever in my view.
On the other side, I’ve listened to whembley’s judge argument and Kevin’s fear theater of what will go on if Trump doesn’t win, but remain unmoved. Trump’s a foreign policy enigma and has done nothing to relieve that impression. I just don’t trust his instincts and it’s unclear what adult might be on his cabinet and how he/she will be listened to. The world is too chaotic. But the over-arching reason is that Trump acts like an adolescent and a leader should be much better: dignified, honest, a unifier, self-deprecating, inspirational, forward-looking, and supportive of those working for him. Trump’s a disaster. This election is about him and not the country. He’s hijacked slogans and inch-deep policy to con the GOP. I want no part of that train wreck.
If I don’t vote for Harris, it will likely be Mitch Daniel. Cheney is good but I like someone who I view would be a great executive.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/21/2024 @ 11:44 amBut I’ll reiterate: imprisoning people so that the state can profit off of their forced labor is absolutely anathema to American leftist thought.
What I said is that it is APOLITICAL. You seem to think that it’s a feature of thought on the Right. If it is not, and it does not apply on the left-right axis, then it means nothing about her general approach which — when it aligns with anything — aligns with the far Left (or what looks like the far left to me; I start losing focus a little left of Liz Warren).
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:01 pm(a) i’ve not said anything about it being fn the right, i’ve said that it isn’t of the left.
(b) when i asked if it was left-wing, you said it was.
I said:
> Refusing to release prisoners on the grounds that prisons economically depend on the forced labor of those prisoners is “far to the left of the rest of the state”?
You said:
> Yes, it is.
You may have *meant* that it was apolitical, but that’s not what you said, and this claim
> What I said is that it is APOLITICAL.
is contradicted by the open evidence of your very words *on this page* *today*.
If you don’t want to acknowledge what you said (characterize it as misspeaking, that’s fine, we all misspeak from time to time), that’s your call. But i’m not going to engage with your changed premise until and unless you do so.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:06 pmThere was a very simple petition process (signatures from 300 delegates, with no more than 50 from a single state) for other candidates to challenge Harris at the convention; they just decided no to.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:11 pmLike the discussions over Trump v. DeSantis, this is crying over spilled milk.
Rip Murdock (cb0759) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:15 pmI was thinking earlier about Romney or Haley, but now my front runner is Liz Cheney.
Liz Cheney will not be a GOP office-holder in my lifetime. There is a price to pay when you call out the king, even if you are right.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:19 pm> Refusing to release prisoners on the grounds that prisons economically depend on the forced labor of those prisoners is “far to the left of the rest of the state”?
No, I meant that her political positions were, regardless of this, far to the left. You were talking about her prosecutorial actions, where she was actually tough on criminals (graded on the SF curve), and I said that, nonetheless, she was far to the left of the state.
She would have lost to Cooley, and lost badly, had he not stated honestly that he would take the pay and pensions that he was legally entitled to and (correctly) that the AG’s $150K salary was ludicrously low for an attorney in California.
But the populist reaction to that favored the candidate who did not say that, even though she would have been entitled to a similar pension (and which she probably took).
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:24 pmOne nutty opinion does not mean that one is not a leftist. Ronald Reagan said smog came from trees. Does that have any bearing on whether he was on the Right?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:28 pm#537
The mini-primary would have been a Democrats in disarray disaster that would not have allowed them to unify. The vener of legitimacy would have been even thinner, and the black vote would have noticed that a black woman was booted off the ticket by a coaltion of white guys. Like it or not, Harris was the only available candidate once Biden loked in the mirror and noticed he was unfit.
Most of you, courtesy of the electoral college, have the luxury of casting a protest vote to little effect. I used to have that (and used it to vote LP in 2016), but have it no longer. If I don’t want Trump, I have to vote for the woman who can beat him, rather than chuck it away on a Republican who isn’t running.
Appalled (098dde) — 8/21/2024 @ 12:45 pmYou would vote for a Marxist to have control of our foreign policy and military? 😉
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/21/2024 @ 1:06 pmNot sure what exactly you mean by shenanigans, hinky, or even ‘audit’ as various audits are part of the process in several states..
But the machine counted the ballots correctly, the number of ballots matched the number of voters, the list of actual voters was contained within the list of registered voters, chain of custody was maintained, allegations of ‘fake ballots’ being inserted into the count were investigated and disproved, and no one has found any evidence of of ballot harvesting or dead voters participating in election, True the vote was forced to admit in court that they had no such evidence of ballot harvesting ‘mules’
Trump lost because a plurality of the lawful voters preferred his opponent.
Would love to see any evidence to the contrary.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/21/2024 @ 2:44 pmShould be clear that “of sufficient level to determine the election or substantiate allegations of systematic fraud” on all the statements. As happens in every election there were singular examples of illegality. For instance one dumba$$ cast his recently deceased mom’s ballot because he believed it was what she would have wanted.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/21/2024 @ 2:52 pm@541, A party SHOULD look for the best candidate. I question whether that’s in fact Harris. She can be a gaffe machine, her VP staff was a mess, and despite this last minute flurry, has very little direct accomplishment that you can look at as VP (whatever her role with the border, the perception is that it wasn’t a success). The real sense among many people…including Paul above as well….is that she was coronated and did not have to defend her ideas at a debate.
I recognize that the logistics of the last minute Biden-drop made a mini primary impractical and would lessen the legitimacy of the eventual winner because of the suddenness of it all. But clearly now it looks like there was a backroom deal…and a small contingent made the pick. I’m ok with smoke-filled rooms winnowing down a field. It’s a bit more troubling for the smoke-filled room to also pick the candidate. There’s no spilled milk here but a reality check that the process will cost Harris votes…and in a close election…maybe the election. Her eventual choice of Walz doesn’t help in that it’s a pretty liberal ticket that will also drive away votes.
The lack of a move yet to the middle is a problem. Maybe it comes eventually, we will see..
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/21/2024 @ 2:52 pmRefusing to release prisoners on the grounds that prisons economically depend on the forced labor of those prisoners is “far to the left of the rest of the state”?
Yes, it is. First, it is a repugnant reason, not a GOP reason. Second, she fails to make the common GOP argument (keeping criminals in prison reduces crime) because that is MORE repugnant to the left.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:03 am
Aphrael has a point here, Kevin.
Just acknowledge it and move on. There’s no harm in conceding an argument. It’s actually quite liberating.
norcal (066c53) — 8/21/2024 @ 4:13 pmAppalled @12:45 is correct; it was far too late to have anything but a coronation; and to pass over Harris would have probably cost more votes than anything gained by selecting someone else. And the Democrats did set up a process for someone to challenge Harris and no one did.
Frequently the best candidates don’t run for president at all, so all are left are second or third string politicians who become the nominees.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/21/2024 @ 4:27 pmKamala is “close your eyes and think Not Trump”. Striving for justification will only lead to frustration.
nk (96fe05) — 8/21/2024 @ 4:29 pmNothing has changed since 2016. I did not want Buggsy Siegel and Virginia Hill in the White House then, and the eight years since have only confirmed my opinion.
nk (4ef4be) — 8/21/2024 @ 4:49 pmMIT complains that the increase in Asian admissions this year show that they were indeed discriminating against them and decries the drop in Black admissions from 15% to 5%.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 4:54 pmYou would vote for a Marxist to have control of our foreign policy and military?
To keep that out of the hands of Donald Trump? Maybe. I think I’ve said that this election sucks.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 4:56 pmTrump lost for a few reasons, some of them his own unforced errors like telling people to wait until day-of to vote. Most politicians try not to suppress their own vote.
It was almost is if he wanted to lose.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:00 pmKamala is “close your eyes and think Not Trump”. Striving for justification will only lead to frustration.
The Cult of the Not-Trump identifies itself.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:01 pmAphrael has a point here, Kevin.
No she does not, she has conflated posts and formed the wrong association amongst them.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:02 pm* He, sorry for the misgender.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:04 pmaphrael,
Starting over.
Do you agree that Kamala Harris as SF prosecutor was to the right of SF but to the Left of the state?
Do you think that her aberrant attitude towards releasing prisoners indicated a rightward tilt, or do you agree with me that it was just weird?
Follow-up: Do you agree it detracts from her attractiveness as a candidate regardless of who is looking at it?
Can you find a position that normally falls left vs right where she clearly rejected the Left-leaning position? As SF DA? As CA AG? As CA Senator?
Because from over here, it looks like she hews quite far left. Maybe not as far as some on the fringe, but further left than any major party candidate since FDR. At minimum.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:12 pmMisgendering me doesn’t bother me. The fact that you responded to “[x] is a left-wing position?” with “yes it is” and have then consistently denied doing it — and accused me of conflating posts when i quote back the contents of a single post — does.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:13 pmIt bothers me when I do it.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:13 pmThe Cult of the Not-Trump identifies itself.
We hold services every Wednesday.
nk (c0b59d) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:38 pmKevin, I object to this phrasing as it implies Harris has some positive values that make her an attractive candidate. I’m unaware of any positive case for why she should be president. All of the “why Harris?” Cases I’m familiar with are that she’s less bad than Trump or Biden.
I kindly ask that you correct your statement or provide some rationale for what is attractive about Harris.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:56 pmTechnically it’s not a cult as neither odd shoes nor odd hats are required. Everyone knows cults include one or both of those.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:58 pmI decided to unblock nk and Time. My suspicion confirms my assumption. I truly believe this comment section is on a parallel trajectory to Universe 25 of Mouse Utopia. If Whembly, Lloyd, NJRob, and other less regular contrarians stopped interacting and just spent their time observing, I think who is left would have to turn on themselves due to their predilections.
I am moving to observation mode myself. Hopefully others join.
BuDuh (35a7ac) — 8/21/2024 @ 6:04 pmFollow-up: Do you agree it detracts from her attractiveness as a candidate regardless of who is looking at it?
To aphrael and others on the Left she apparently has some attractions.
To me, they are indeed in contrast to Trump, such as who would be calmer in a crisis and who will treat the Constitution with respect (although that might be debated). Harris might also grow in the office and be a bit less of a bomb-thrower. Trump has done all the growing he will ever do.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 6:07 pmMy question here is whether the contest is a 1 versus a 2 (10 point scale), and if so which is which. I know I’m flip-flopping, but it cannot be helped. I’m thinking of leaving the ballot line blank, and am trying to figure out how to be “dead for tax reasons” for the next 4 years.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 6:10 pmI was talking with someone the other day, and they were saying that it would have been better for all if Crooks was a better shot. I think not. I think that Trump as a martyr would have been far more effective at electing MAGA and bootstrapping fascism than Trump the Politically Clumsy ever would be.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 6:13 pmA republic which needs to be preserved by assassination is not a republic as Caesar’s assassins came to learn.
Thankfully, America is not at that point yet. Trump’s death would have been just another a pointless murder like that of Corey Compertore.
nk (71c06b) — 8/21/2024 @ 7:03 pmKevin, I hope it was clear that I was trying to be funny about how bad Harris is.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/21/2024 @ 7:10 pm@567, even for them I think she’s far from an ideal candidate.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/21/2024 @ 7:11 pmBudah, feel free to continue blocking me, I can’t recall the last time you added value to a conversation.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/21/2024 @ 7:12 pmThe fact that you responded to “[x] is a left-wing position?” with “yes it is” and have then consistently denied doing it
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/21/2024 @ 5:13 pm
Correct.
If Kevin wants to start over, he should admit that’s what he did. That may not have been what he meant, but that’s what he said. He went on to say much else, but that doesn’t negate this particular answer.
norcal (066c53) — 8/21/2024 @ 7:39 pmBuduh,
I can’t argue with your remarks. I’ll think on them and may decide that the echo-chamber here is what everyone desires.
It goes against my nature to allow moby’s to continue to maintain the charade though.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 8/21/2024 @ 7:53 pmMore on Russia…
One, Lavrov is a shameless liar when he asserted that Russia “has not stained itself with the bloody crimes of colonialism,” not when this country is “home to over 270 languages and dialects spoken by 193 ethnic groups, including more than 100 minority languages. Yet, russian is the only official language. The languages of oppressed minorities are belittled.”
Two, this is how you know Russia is a sheethole country, an accumulation of sheety rule going back centuries.
Three, Chechen president Dudayev said these words in 1995 about Russia, before he was assassinated in 1996, almost 30 years ago, but he might as well have said them 30 days ago, because they still ring true. Prophetic.
Paul Montagu (effdcb) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:41 pmThat may not have been what he meant
It wasn’t. aphrael has confused the antecedent, and maybe I could have been clearer. He is, however, the only one in this conversation that thinks that Harris’s attitude towards prisoners is, in any way, an indication of her political leanings.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:45 pmThis is one of those discussions where the people in it assign wildly different weights to the several points of contention. I NEVER WAS talking about the prisoner thing. He was talking about nothing but and so he viewed my response as veing in response to the only thing he cared about.
#503 needs to be taken in context, such as 501, 499 and all the way back to 393. All of a sudden aphrael brought up the prisoner thing after a dozen comments, which was new to the conversation, and I was still referring back to other parts of the discussion and asserting (as I still do) that her role as a prosecutor in the last century — arguably to the right of SF — was still to the left of the state. And she continued to shift Left as AG and as a Senator.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 9:57 pmImagine that the voters of New Mexico passed a ballot initiative banning private possession of handguns, a district court overturned it on the grounds that it’s a clear violation of the second amendment, and raul torrez refused to appeal.
Would that be a violation of his oath of office? Would you denounce him for failing to appeal?
Well, there are no initiatives in NM. But even then, such a law would be facially unconstitutional since the Supreme Court has ruled and the ruling is clear. It would not much matter what the state’s AG did. Not so in the case of Prop 8 which, at that time had cleared the CA Supreme Court and was a subject where federal appeals courts were silent.
But your real question is whether I would want the state AG to defend a law I thought was unconstitutional. The answer is yes. That’s how cases get fairly decided; default judgements are not democratic in the least.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:11 pmBut what Harris did was not just “refusing to defend.” Harris filed a subsequent amicus brief asking for her own state’s Supreme Court to be overturned so that NO ONE ELSE could defend either. The technical term for a person of this sort is “a piece of work.”
The initiative process, in states that have them, is intended as a way to force change that the powers that be do not want. If the state can simply have someone challenge the ones it doesn’t like, then refuse to defend, the initiative is a dead letter.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:12 pmI NEVER WAS talking about the prisoner thing.
More correctly, I was only talking about it when forced, and I did not see it as anything but a distraction. Hence my assertions that it didn’t matter, when apparently ir did matter a great deal to aphrael. I still say that it doesn’t mean a damn thing about Harris’s current political alliance with the hard left of her party.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:15 pmFour, a large number of Russian conscripts are surrendering in Kursk, for good reason: They’re treated better as Ukrainian POWs than by Putin’s abusive army.
Five, while the Ukrainians have conquered nearly 500 square miles of Russia, the mobiks are taking more territory in Donetsk. It’s obviously a concern because the Ukrainian army is spread, but so is Putin’s.
Six, the DOJ began a criminal investigation into convicted child diddler Scott Ritter and Trump advisor Dmitri Simes.
Seven, Trump’s former NSA McMaster talks about the “mesmeric hold” that Putin held over the sh-tstain. Just fluff the f-cker’s ego and it’s all over.
The one area where a president has unique power is foreign policy, which is why I say the two important issues in a presidential election are the economy and national security, although a president less less influence over the economy.
Paul Montagu (effdcb) — 8/21/2024 @ 10:51 pmHarris’ top 10 most universal positive qualities are:
1. Unlikely to foment a violent attack against the legislative branch of the federal government.
2. Unlikely to commit election fraud.
3. Likely to GO THE FVCK AWAY if she loses. (actually I suspect she could run for California governor, but the for the purpose of non-Cali she would’ve gone away)
4. Does not seem to be in cognitive decline.
5. Positive evidence that she understands that laws exist and are not just guidelines.
6. Not enamored of vicious dictators.
7. Respects the political process enough to allow her party to create a platform that isn’t just “My whims.”
8. Speaks in complete sentences.
9. Had an actual career where she did an actual job day in, day out.
10. (this may be less universal, but I appreciate it) Was never in the Ivy League system.
Nic (120c94) — 8/21/2024 @ 11:26 pmOther positive qualities:
11. Pays her bills
12. Does not try to stiff the people who do work for her.
13. Does not import people from other countries to do work for her when there are a number of people here who might need jobs.
14. Step-kids appear to actually like her (and seem to be reasonable human beings).
15. Has not had multiple divorces.
16. Does not hire hookers.
17. Does not appear to think that people who join the military are suckers.
18. Has probably actually sat at a kitchen table dealing with kitchen table issues.
19. Was never a friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
20. Has gone to the grocery store and actually bought groceries.
21. Spent most of her life without lackeys.
22. Virulently against sex-trafficking.
23. Has extensive experience driving a car.
I understand that this is a very low bar to set, but Trump can’t clear it.
Nic (120c94) — 8/21/2024 @ 11:46 pmWell, those are technically answers to my question….
Time123 (67127c) — 8/22/2024 @ 2:36 amNJrob, never stop fighting the good fight to make the GOP as small as possible.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/22/2024 @ 2:37 am@586 he is doing a good job. Kari lake is doing a better job telling “mccain” republicans to get the hell out. They are running ads of her yelling for them to get out!
asset (7506b3) — 8/22/2024 @ 2:55 amBubba vs dump on jeffrey espstein best friend. As shirley temple said many years ago talking about errol flynn on johnny carson show. Carson: You were probably to young for him. Temple replied from what I heard I was too old for him!
asset (7506b3) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:00 am@588
Trump knew. He knew, he thought it was cool.
Time123 (67127c) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:15 amEpstein was not the only one. If you will scroll down on the linked story, you will see that the jumped-up bellboy was not very selective when it came to Mar-a-Lago club memberships for rich libertines until they threatened to hurt the brand.
nk (34d9d6) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:54 amOn the subject of traditional Republican values, Lara Trump called Mayor Brandon Johnson to complain bitterly about the lack of riots at the DNC. “Just what kind of milquetoast, lefty, liberal, snowflakes have you all turned into?” she demanded. “Where’s the tear gas? Where are the cracked skulls? Where’s our 1968?”
nk (7b2378) — 8/22/2024 @ 5:26 am@547
My point is that its impossible. Like, we couldn’t even do it even if we WANTED to do it.
With the astronomical amount of mail-in ballots, chain-of-custody is impossible to establish.
The only thing to do, is to look forward at the next election and learn from the past.
whembly (477db6) — 8/22/2024 @ 6:09 am#549
I think that much of the positive explosion of relief when Biden withdrew and Kamala stepped in is the argument against your position. The electorate may be getting sick of primaries and would prefer a smoked filled room, to the divisive hooting and hollaring that goes on these days.
The way we pick presidential candidates these days leave them damaged, even if the right candidate emerges. And, frankly, a sustained wise man rebellion against Trump would have left the GOP in a better place then it is now. I think that’s true, even if Trump decided to create the MAGA party.
Appalled (11ead9) — 8/22/2024 @ 8:29 am@592, No. it’s very possible to catch fraud. It’s been done in the past through a variety of ways.
Also, when you start to actually get specific about how fraud could occur you find out that there are safeguards in the system as well behaviors that would identify the need for additional scrutiny.
You’ll also find that those investigations were done in many places without finding evidence of wide spread fraud, to say nothing of fraud sufficient determine the outcome of the election.
Time123 (9ee45a) — 8/22/2024 @ 8:49 amWith the astronomical amount of mail-in ballots, chain-of-custody is impossible to establish.
……..
whembly (477db6) — 8/22/2024 @ 6:09 am
In California, voters can track their ballot-when it is mailed, received, and counted-and receive automatic email, text, or voice call notifications.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 9:39 amImagine that the voters of New Mexico passed a ballot initiative banning private possession of handguns, a district court overturned it on the grounds that it’s a clear violation of the second amendment, and raul torrez refused to appeal.
BTW, since I did not support Prop 8, my dissatisfaction with Harris’s behavior on that appeal wasn’t partisan.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 9:39 amReformatted post 595:
In California, voters can track their ballots-when it is mailed, received, and counted-and receive automatic email, text, or voice call notifications.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 9:39 am
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 9:40 amWith the astronomical amount of mail-in ballots, chain-of-custody is impossible to establish.
What is important to do is to have a procedure to validate off-site ballots that isn’t 19th century green-eyeshade guesswork.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 9:41 amIn California, voters can track their ballots-when it is mailed, received, and counted-and receive automatic email, text, or voice call notifications.
Even in piddly little New Mexico we can do this. It’s not hard. But oddly this has nothing to do with validating the source of received ballots, which is the actual problem. Maybe thumbprints.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 9:43 amEach ballot has its own QR code tied to the address that received it.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 9:46 am“With the astronomical amount of mail-in ballots, chain-of-custody is impossible to establish.”
Aren’t there voter registration lists with addresses? Aren’t the ballots coded to catch people who try to also vote in person? Aren’t the number of ballots sent out matched against the number received? Isn’t there at least some minimalist signature check? Nothing is perfect and I applaud any strengthening of the system, but this appears to be a loser’s lament…and another round of Trump pushing buttons…and the faithful acting as expected.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:00 amHere are three more books worth reading — if you want to understand Communism: Chinese Shadows by Simon Leys,
Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, and Under The Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin.
(Leys biography is fascinating:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys
He cared about the truth, and came to know it, it by bit.)
Jim Miller (9d25ee) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:02 amthis appears to be a loser’s lament…and another round of Trump pushing buttons…and the faithful acting as expected.
The L.A. Times was unhappy with the system in place in 2020 and published a long article about the provenance problems a week or so before the 2020 election.
Afterwards they STFU, but that does not mean their questions were answered.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:06 amCommunism is just the State being neighborly.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:07 am@597
As far as I know, California and I want to say New Mexico does this.
Not aware of any other states that does this.
whembly (477db6) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:16 amEach ballot has its own QR code tied to the address that received it.
To the address, or to the registered voter? Can anyone return the ballot if they are a registered voter?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:18 amHeh… nevermind… most states has ballot tracking.
whembly (477db6) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:24 amRidiculous and false. WA State is 100% mail-in, and it works just fine. The fraud rate is 0.005%.
Paul Montagu (6a638f) — 8/22/2024 @ 10:44 amSome interesting historic pollings on Aug. 22nd: (via 538)
2016 – H. Clinton +6
whembly (477db6) — 8/22/2024 @ 11:26 am2020 – Biden +8.8
2024 – Harris +3.2
The electorates in 2016 and 2020 are massively different the electorate in 2024. Apples, oranges, and beets.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 11:54 amThe electorates in 2016 and 2020 are massively different the electorate in 2024. Apples, oranges, and beets.
More poorly educated young people?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:13 pmIt’s kind of ironic all the pensions that Walz collects, given the issue that got Harris her AG job. Bet you no one asks that question of Walz.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:15 pm538 Averages:
I’m surprised that Florida is that close.
Favorable/Unfavorable
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:16 pmBet you nobody cares. Public pensions was a big issue in California at the time of the CA AG race; not so much now. Also, it could be an issue if Walz was as wealthy as Vance, but that is not the case. Who knows-Vance might bring it up at their debate.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:19 pmGiven the pensions are Walz’s primary source of retirement income, I don’t see it as an issue.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:20 pm#613
The times are different — there seems less concern about this sort of thing now. Also, unfairly perhaps, a teacher pensions feel different than a cushy CALPERS pension (which were very much n the news in the 2000s). Finally, the MN governor only makes $120,000 a year. That’s really low for a governor.
Appalled (11ead9) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:22 pmThe CA AG made $150K back then, which was pretty low for a high-end California lawyer.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:27 pmPopulism then vs populism now.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:28 pmThe MN legislature meets, at most, 120 days during each 2-year period, so the governor’s job is not what it is other places.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:31 pmBreaking: Supreme Court says Arizona can require proof of citizenship to register voters in federal races
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:56 pmBoys vs girls.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:56 pmThat $150,000 in 2010 is the equivalent of $280,000 today.
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/22/2024 @ 12:56 pmThat $150,000 in 2010 is the equivalent of $280,000 today.
Less than the starting salary at many law firms.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 1:25 pmHarris proposes soak-the-rich tax plan
And it would impose what amounts to a wealth tax:
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 1:28 pmTaxing capital gains as regular income is going to be VERY unpopular in the tech industries, where a large part of pay is in stock options or founder’s shares in startups, with the hope of a big killing if things work out. Capital gains of this kind might have 5 years of lower income followed by a huge year and this plan acts as if that big year is normal.
It will disrupt tech companies bigly.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 1:32 pmBut this is what I’d expect from people who never worked outside of Soft America. There is a difference between income from the iron rice bowl, and income from risk.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 1:34 pmI think the race is tight but with momentum leaning toward Harris. Positive vs apocalyptic will trend positive I imagine. The debates will tell the story.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 8/22/2024 @ 1:51 pm> Taxing capital gains as regular income is going to be VERY unpopular in the tech industries
Speaking as someone who works in big tech and for whom more than 1/3 of his compensation is in stock:
i don’t have a problem with this. right now i’m getting special treatment for no good reason, and the fact that our system priviliges investment income over labor income is deeply immoral.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/22/2024 @ 2:32 pmArkansas rethug supreme court blocks abortion vote. It will be back in 2026.
asset (f2b280) — 8/22/2024 @ 2:51 pmour system priviliges investment income over labor income is deeply immoral.
Your income is labor income. Maybe you’re OK with another 20% or so in taxes, but I’m gonna bet that most of your co-workers are not.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:05 pmThe debates will tell the story.
I really don’t understand why Trump doesn’t lose every debate he’s in. He comes off like a drunk uncle at Thanksgiving and while the other drunks might appreciate it, most don’t.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:08 pmI’d feel a lot better about these tax plans if it was to reduce the deficit, but the next words our of their mouths are about all the great things they are going to spend it on.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:09 pm> Your income is labor income.
Sorta? the initial stock drop is labor income.
But when I hold the stock for years and then sell it, it becomes investment income.
Taxing investment income at a lower rate than labor income is an active disincentive to laboring. It’s also yet another case where those wealthy enough to invest get favored treatment vs. those who aren’t wealthy enough to invest.
It’s deeply immoral and we should stop it.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:26 pmThe public sector can’t compete with the private sector in salaries or bonuses, but for lawyers and accountants, for example, there isn’t a requirement to achieve X number of billable hours, with its negative impact on home life.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:47 pmNo joy:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:00 pmTaxing investment income at a lower rate than labor income is an active disincentive to laboring.
No, it’s an active incentive to invest rather than buy a sailboat. Without those investment dollars, there is no startup job. And considering that most startups fail, without that incentive there will be fewer of them. Your long-term holding of the stock is your risk and your delayed gratification. If it goes under there is no compensation for that past work.
Investment gains are not guaranteed like a payroll check is.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:24 pmWhat is immoral is taxing unrealized gains. It’s guaranteed to dry up capital. One could even call it “tax gouging.”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:28 pmClearly we need a spending limitation amendment.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:29 pm“To dream, the impossible dream……”
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:45 pmI don’t see such an amendment getting the required 2/3 vote in either the Senate or House; or 2/3 of the states proposing one.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:48 pmNo, it’s an active incentive to invest rather than buy a sailboat. Without those investment dollars, there is no startup job. And considering that most startups fail, without that incentive there will be fewer of them. Your long-term holding of the stock is your risk and your delayed gratification. If it goes under there is no compensation for that past work.
Investment gains are not guaranteed like a payroll check is.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/22/2024 @ 4:24 pm
I agree with this. As the adage goes, if one wants less of an activity, tax it.
norcal (5757e1) — 8/22/2024 @ 6:18 pm@638
No only immoral, but economically illiterate.
The thing about tax advocate constantly ignores, is the human response to such tax.
Here’s how it’d happen.
1) Democrats pass an unrealized tax of those making more than $500k.
whembly (477db6) — 8/23/2024 @ 6:24 am2) Those folks hires smart tax lawyers to mitigate tax liability.
3) If mitigation isn’t enough, those folks will move their money out of the country.
4) Democrats passes additional spending, believing that the wealthy folks would keep it in country.
5) Months later, Democrats realize that there isn’t enough money, so instead of reducing spending, they lower the threshold from $500k to $250k, to cover the gap.
6) Months later, Democrats realize that there isn’t enough money, so instead of reducing spending, they lower the threshold from $250k to poverty level.
7) Months later, Democrats realize that there isn’t enough money, so instead of reducing spending, they raid from other funding sources, such as SS or other defined government programs.
8) …profit?
Gotta love all the digital ink spilled on this unrealized gains tax that has zero sourcing from either the Harris campaign, the DNC, the Democratic Party platform, or anywhere else official.
Sam G (3626e6) — 8/23/2024 @ 7:42 am@644
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/23/kamala-harris-unrealized-capital-gains-tax
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/22/us/politics/kamala-harris-tax-plan.html
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/finance-and-economy/3131566/harris-radio-silent-5-trillion-tax-hikes-she-reportedly-backs/#google_vignette
You were saying?
whembly (477db6) — 8/23/2024 @ 8:33 amGiven the likelihood that the Republicans will retain control of the House, any plan from the Democrats is DOA.
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 9:23 amwhembly (477db6) — 8/23/2024 @ 6:24 am
That wouldn’t do anything,
What you miss here is that the rice drops and there are less unrealized capital gains. In fact people could be taxed on gains that are never realized. The tax basis is the value on a certain date (like estate taxes) but when they come to sell they don’t get it for that price.
This is just a talking point. It’s not a serious proposal.
Is the law amended, or written in the first place, so that the person pays taxes on the basis of the value when sold if it is lower?
It’s the same tax.
If there is a shortfall, they just add it to the deficit. The only purpose of a tax is to pass reconciliation. They don’t care what actually happens.
Don’t you realize that by now?
Democratic proposals are not made by serious people. Not serious about whether they work and not even serious about whether they can pass Congress.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:14 pmRip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 9:23 am
I think it is more likely that the Democrats will gain control of the House (that is what retirements are telling you) while the Republicans will gain control of the Senate.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:16 pmaphrael (9c2ac5) — 8/22/2024 @ 3:26 pm
If that is so, then having investment income, or a pension, or Social Security is an even greater disincentive to working.
Why is Walz then still working?
https://nypost.com/2024/08/22/us-news/tim-walz-enjoys-cushy-pensions-despite-apparent-lower-net-worth-than-typical-pol
If you want to talk about disincentives, means testing is great disincentive to working. Or Medicaid eligibility requirements.
There are people who claim that the child tax credit, especially a refundable one, is a disincentive to working. It is, a little bit, if the job is not good or takes a mother away from her child when she would rather not do that..
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:26 pmI think it is more likely that the Democrats will gain control of the House (that is what retirements are telling you) while the Republicans will gain control of the Senate.
If Harris wins by any margin, the House is gone and the Senate will hinge on Tester losing. There are currently 5 tossups, and Democrats lead by 4 points or more in 4 of them. That would bring the Senate to 50R-49D plus whoever wins in Montana. The Republican leads there, but a month ago he was losing. Needless to say, a 50-50 Senate goes with the WH.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:33 pm@643: It’s simpler than that. If they have to pay tax on it whether or not they sell, they will sell. All at once, leading to the deepest market crash in history. Even if they don’t want to, they’ll have to sell some to pay the high tax bill. Then they will invest in maximally low-risk things. Heavy taxes kill risk-taking. Good luck with that startup.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:38 pmThey tricked them. (the protesters)
They semi-forbade some places to go, and negotiate with them.
Then (maybe this was when they got to the place were the pro-Israel group had assembled on the property of a synagogue — they were slow walked and denied a permit so they went to a place where no permit was needed) when they got to a certain place where the police expected disruption they were suddenly confronted by hundreds of police.
The police arrested a few key individuals – they knew who they were because they had been talking to them all that day – and the remainder of the crowd, suddenly leaderless, just dispersed.
I think this is a tactic adapted and made humane, that is derived from what secret police in dictatorships like Syria in 2011 except there they used facial recognition software from previous demonstrations and tortured those they arrested.
Another way was the fat that inside he convention hall demonstrators were left with nothing to do.
Some delegates, trying to force a speaking position announced they would stage a sit in. There were no speeches after Walz spoke on Wednesday and they sat down while the rest of the people there were slowly leaving.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:39 pmJust guessing, but I believe nk’s post was sarcasm.
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:50 pm650. What about the guaranteed win in West Virginia (that is actually no change as far as the filibuster rule etc is concerned but Gallego is quite different from Sinema. So the Dem majority may have no exceptions)
And there is the possible win by Larry Hogan in Maryland or where is that? Maybe not so good.
The prediction here (8 different estimates)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_Senate_elections
is:
D/I – 47
R – 50
3 tossups
D/I – 48
R – 50
2 tossups
D/I – 48
R – 50
2 tossups
D/I – 45
R – 50
5 tossups
D/I – 48
R – 51
1 tossup
D/I – 46
R – 51
3 tossups
D/I – 47
R – 50
3 tossups
D/I – 49
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:53 pmR – 50
1 tossup
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:50 pm
Yes, it was.
But there was areal question behind it. How was the disruption prevented?
First, the number of protesters was greatly reduced by pointing out to them that it would help Trump win and many have ties to the Democratic Party. Or maybe Iran got the message.
The remainder were outmaneuvered.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 12:58 pmUnlike the Vietnam War, where Americans soldiers were dying daily, nobody cares about the Gaza War and the Palestinians.
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:04 pmOne interesting thing si that refutations of false Republican claims are not given by Democrats but by the media. (the Democrats want votes from people on both sides of every issue except abortion – or maybe also abortion. They had a Roman Catholic cardinal give an invocation and let him talk about “life” while they never use the word abortion but only women’s health)
Like Minnesota’s supposed tampons in boy’s bsthroom’s law.
It seems like this law, while it was sort of hijacked by pro-transgender surgery people – was originally promoted so that cost (or embarrassment for the youngest girls) would not be an issue.
It merely says that any public school bathroom that is likely to be used by a menstruating student must make tampons etc available. They are not going into boy’s bathrooms. They are going into girl’s bathrooms and bathrooms used by both sexes and nurse’s stations. There is no policing by the state of Minnesota.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/16/us/politics/walz-free-tampons-schools-minnesota.html
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:14 pmRip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:04 pm
That wouldn’t stop a small minority of activists from doing something. College campuses were disrupted.
Even if the goal really was general intimidation for other purposes – and for money.
In 1968 it was a small minority who went to Chicago, because there was not much connection between the Democratic convention and the government or the draft.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:19 pmWhat about the guaranteed win in West Virginia
It’s not a tossup so it’s already counted.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:21 pmUnlike the Vietnam War, where Americans soldiers were dying daily, nobody cares about the Gaza War and the Palestinians.
There was also the little matter of the Draft.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:23 pmThat wouldn’t stop a small minority of
activists</strike terrorist sympathizers from doing something. College campuses were disrupted.FIFY
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:37 pmCorrection to post 661:
FIFY
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:39 pmSeriously? The war started under a Democratic administration and escalated under a Democratic administration. Democratic administrations conducted military drafts between 1965-1969. And finally, the nominated Presidential candidate (who never entered a primary) was the VP of the administration sent thousands to Vietnam.
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:50 pmHumphrey also supported the war. So did Nixon, but it wasn’t a good look for a Democrat in 1968.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/23/2024 @ 1:59 pmGene McCarthy’s supporters, who had “cleaned for Gene” to walk precincts, were less than thrilled with Hubert Humphrey and stayed home.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 8/23/2024 @ 2:01 pm@655 mayor dailey is dead.
asset (1ac741) — 8/23/2024 @ 2:18 pmMy brother left a 20 min the video recorded before a big operation in Feb 2023 that was edited down to about 6 minutes leaving out the personal stuff and played at his funeral as audio.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 2:22 pmI don’t think the draft itself was an animating issue-there was a peacetime (with the exception of the Korean War) draft in the 1950s and early 1960s which didn’t lead to massive protests. But once you might have to fight……..
Rip Murdock (509171) — 8/23/2024 @ 2:42 pmDr. Scott Gottlieb NYT op-ed article about getting rid of the fentanyl trade from China.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/opinion/fentanyl-trade-opioid-crisis.html
One way is mailing precursor chemicals directly into the United States, smuggling them to Mexico and processing it there and then smuggling it back into the United States.
Nothing there having to do with migrants which he never mentions as something to do with this
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 8/23/2024 @ 2:43 pm