Patterico's Pontifications

10/19/2019

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:51 am



[guest post by Dana]

Feel free to talk about anything you think is newsworthy or might interest readers.

I’ll start.

First news item: Hillary Clinton claims that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a tool being prepped by Russia as a third-party spoiler to help President Trump win reelection in 2020:

“They are also going to do third party again,” Clinton, 71, said. “I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” Clinton said, referring to Gabbard, without mentioning the Hawaii representative by name.

“She is a favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. That’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she is also a Russian asset.

“They know they can’t win without a third-party candidate, and so I do not know who it’s going to be, but I can guarantee you they will have a vigorous third-party challenge in the key states that they most need it.”

Gabbard punched back:

Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose.

It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.

Second news item: President Trump is threatening to sue CNN for perceived unfair media coverage:

Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump and his re-election campaign have threatened in a letter to sue CNN for what they said was the network falsely advertising itself as a news organization, calling on executives to first discuss an “appropriate resolution” to the matter that would include a “substantial” payment to cover damages.

The network’s response to the threat:

This is nothing more than a desperate PR stunt and doesn’t merit a response.

Third news item: ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, not just trying to shut down a woman , but lumping her in with an accused rapist and subject of numerous allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior toward women in the workplace:

He later deleted the tweet with a load of babbling bullshit:

I deleted the original tweet. No matter how right I feel, it is not the loving way I want to be in this world. We have enough meanness and coarseness in the world today, I strive to do better each day. I do wish you well and hope we can heal instead of hurt.

Make sure you read the full exchange at Megyn Kelly’s Twitter feed. With grace and finesse, she neatly puts Dowd in his place at every turn.

Have a great weekend.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

396 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”

  1. She slays:

    Dowd: Megyn, i am all for that, and if you read my feed you would know that. However, did you stand up for Christine Blasey Ford, Anita Hill, and all the accusers of President Trump? Also, i know you are blasting NBC, but i don’t see you saying much about Fox.

    Kelly: umm, there is a whole movie about me standing up for the women at Fox. & I put Trump accusers on the air. Also my job as a reporter was not to “stand up” for Blasey-Ford. It was to report fairly on her w/o taking a side. You should try it sometime.

    Dana (05f22b)

  2. <3 Megyn Kelly

    But I think we need to talk about our resident Tulsi Gabbard shill’s ties to Russian intelligence, now that she has been exposed (and not in the way he would have liked…)

    Dave (1bb933)

  3. Evan McMullin, for all those that supported him, called Tulsi a Russian asset, showing his support for Hillary and the far left.

    NJRob (27e7f1)

  4. Yes they are fine with every ridiculous thing reid hoffman cooks up.

    narciso (7d5b61)

  5. For those that want the link of McMuffin disgracing himself…

    https://twitter.com/EvanMcMullin/status/1185355016393166849

    NJRob (3b6637)

  6. Cnn is all about desperate stunts, the 9keefe footage speaks for itself.

    narciso (7d5b61)

  7. Are the claims that Tulsi is actually a Russian agent or that her views align with Russian positions?

    DRJ (15874d)

  8. I really don’t see the problem, here. Hillary, washed-up Democrat, is attacking Tulsi-wootsie, up-and-coming Democrat, and Evan McMullin, never-was-enough-to-be-a-has-been, is throwing more mud in the pool. I’m enjoying it.

    At the same time, we’re being given an illustrated reminder that Russia is most definitely going to mess with the election. I appreciate that.

    So what is your problem, my dear comrades?

    nk (dbc370)

  9. Trump: I’m a stable genius.

    Hillary: Hold my Olanzapine.

    Frosty, Fp (aa1b9e)

  10. @8 More the former than the later but right now it sounds some place in between, i.e. no claims that she’s calling Putin on a daily basis but a lot more than shared talking points.

    Frosty, Fp (aa1b9e)

  11. Tulsi’s positions include massive gun control and universal health care. Why are the same guys who parrot talkings points in unison now so angrily defending her, when they pretend to be conservative most of the time?

    Dustin (6d7686)

  12. I have many points of disagreement
    with gabbard largely on venezuela and iran, shes all for bds, like omar, she cant make up her mind on gitmo,

    narciso (7d5b61)

  13. And domestic policy, but shes shown daylight on guns on those attacked by the black bloc, is that pro russia too.

    narciso (7d5b61)

  14. She’s far to the left of, say, ‘nevertrumpers’. Y’all do know this right?

    Another thing we know: Russia does a lot of sneaky stuff with candidates. I know Trump fans are sensitive about it because there’s so much proof he obstructed the investigation trying to stop it. For. Some. Reason.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  15. Why are the same guys who parrot talkings points in unison now so angrily defending her, when they pretend to be conservative most of the time?

    It’s a binary choice?

    nk (dbc370)

  16. Dustin,

    I’m curious to know why you think calling out McMuffin for walking in sync with the far left is supporting Tulsi?

    NJRob (3b6637)

  17. This is the same far left that was coopted by the Soviets and is their modern day successor.

    NJRob (3b6637)

  18. Dustin,

    I’m curious to know why you think calling out McMuffin for walking in sync with the far left is supporting Tulsi?

    NJRob (3b6637) — 10/19/2019 @ 9:52 am

    You’re the one supporting a gun grabbing socialist, NJRob, and you’re doing it copying the talking point of the day. You expressed a fanciful conspiracy theory about Egg McMuffin that is about 9 billion times more removed than me just saying you’re supporting the person… that you supported… in this thread.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  19. njrob, there’s no shame in your support for Tulsi. She’s very attractive and honestly these days why not go with that. If a pretty face gets you grabbing guns… well you are a Trump fan and he’s open to gun grabbing too. Maybe try a dating site or something if you’re lonely though. I worry about you, man. Camden is a cold place.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  20. I’m not supporting anyone. Just like people love to criticize Trump supporters for his foibles, it’s perfectly appropriate to call out those who supported the leftist stalking horse McMuffin.

    But keep doubling down.

    NJRob (3b6637)

  21. Tulsi’s positions include massive gun control and universal health care. Why are the same guys who parrot talkings points in unison now so angrily defending her, when they pretend to be conservative most of the time?

    It’s possible to disagree with some of her political positions and still defend her when she’s being unfairly attacked.

    Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71)

  22. Speaking of Hail Mary alternatives, Sinema is PG-13, this one is NC-17.

    urbanleftbehind (52b026)

  23. chuck, you make a great point.

    Similarly, the leap of logic leading to ‘egg mcmuffin is working for hillary like all nevertrumpers’ is silly.

    But I do wonder why so many Trump fans are so passionate about defending Tulsi from the very fair point that she is providing Russia’s perspective on foreign affairs… reliably. I guess that’s one of my two points. Tulsi actually is acting like she has some Russian influence, at a point in American politics where any patriot would distance themselves from Russia, due to their screwing with our democracy. the other point is that Tulsi is a gun grabber who wants socialist healthcare, and her support from Trump fans is hilariously inconsistent.

    I’m supposed to believe the Trump fan argument is that we should just be fair from assumptions about those we disagree with? That they aren’t just doing what they always do: parroting Russian talking points fed to them through Breitbart and Ace of Spades and other traitors?

    Dustin (6d7686)

  24. But keep doubling down.

    NJRob (3b6637) — 10/19/2019 @ 10:07 am

    So you agree that Tulsi is without any merit and should be rejected as a presidential candidate. Good to know you agree with Evan Mcmuffin or whatever his name is. So good that McMuffin can teach Trump and his fans so much about what to watch out for in gun grabbing socialists who parrot Russian propaganda.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  25. It’s the ultimate setup by Team T, saddle the Ds with a brownish candidate who will elicit the retort from some of the others “they jumped their turn!” with little to separate her from the current admin on foreign policy plus the Bernaic economic agenda.

    urbanleftbehind (52b026)

  26. Giuliani Mixes His Business With Role as Trump’s Lawyer

    ………He is a central figure in the impeachment inquiry. He is under scrutiny by federal prosecutors. But throughout the building controversy, Mr. Giuliani has continued to represent clients, broker deals and take on consulting contracts in Washington and around the world in ways that leave him subject to criticism that he is using his role as President Trump’s personal lawyer to open doors to the government and influence policy despite the questions about his own conduct.

    A few weeks ago, Mr. Giuliani secured a meeting, along with some other defense lawyers, with the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division and attorneys in the fraud section. They were there to discuss a foreign bribery case for a client that Mr. Giuliani described as “very, very sensitive.”

    Mr. Giuliani declined to divulge any details about the meeting, except to say it had nothing to do with legal issues facing him or Mr. Trump. Days after the meeting, it was revealed that Mr. Giuliani was under investigation himself for possible violations of foreign lobbying laws by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

    Mr. Giuliani lashed out at what he said were efforts by congressional Democrats, as well as journalists and critics in the executive branch, to “destroy” his business.

    “I really try very hard to be super-ethical and always legal,” he wrote in a text message in response to questions about his meeting with the Justice Department. ……

    Like everyone else associated with Trump (and Trump himself), it’s an opportunity to cash in. Draining the swamp indeed.

    Rip Murdock (d6b59b)

  27. I haven’t touched that story, because eww, I would dismiss the old battleaxes attempt for relevance, if there was a single candidate or elder who reprimanded her,

    now there is nothing commendable about warren, her entire life story has been a fraud, like soul man crossed with the lone ranger,

    narciso (d1f714)

  28. as for McMullin, he’s a very silly person, but rick Wilson, someone he pals around with sups with Qatari spoons, but he’s not dismissed out of hand, like say major flagg, from the old mash series,

    narciso (d1f714)

  29. State Dept. Inquiry Into Clinton Emails Finds No Deliberate Mishandling of Classified Information
    A yearslong State Department investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server found that while the use of the system for official business increased the risk of compromising classified information, there was no systemic or deliberate mishandling of classified information.

    The inquiry, started more than three years ago, found that 38 current or former State Department officials were “culpable” of violating security procedures in a review of about 33,000 individual emails sent to or from the server that Mrs. Clinton turned over to investigators.
    …….
    “While there were some instances of classified information being inappropriately introduced into an unclassified system in furtherance of expedience,” the report said, “by and large, the individuals interviewed were aware of security policies and did their best to implement them in their operations.”

    The report concluded, “There was no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.”
    ……..
    The use of a private email system “did not necessarily” increase the likelihood of classified information being transmitted on unclassified systems, investigators concluded, but it did add “an increased degree of risk of compromise.”

    Rip Murdock (d6b59b)

  30. as for McMullin, he’s a very silly person, but rick Wilson, someone he pals around with sups with Qatari spoons, but he’s not dismissed out of hand, like say major flagg, from the old mash series,

    narciso (d1f714) — 10/19/2019 @ 10:39 am

    I don’t really know anything about him. NJRob follows him on twitter… or he’s fed talking points and just sharing them to defend a socialist gun grabber that he says he doesn’t even support.

    Interesting times!

    For all the anger at McMullin, what happens when Tulsi does run as a spoiler candidate to help Trump? What happens when Romney does it too? Literally every decision will be based on how it affects Dear Leader, and not the inherent ethics, so there’s no consistency.

    And that’s why Ace and his following are promoting a gun grabber who parrots Russian foreign policy instead of condemning it.

    I’m not one to believe there are conspiracy board room meetings where hillary tells Mcmullin and Romney want to do, nor do I think Putin is broadcasting to Tulsi what to say. But where there’s alignment to tilt a little, or dirt or influence to be purchased, of course that’s happening from Russia with any candidate they can manage (including hillary… Russia definitely had Hillary in their back pocket). You’d have to be intellectually dishonest to deny that.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  31. Now megyn was screaming about ailes, yet she slid into the egyptian tomb that is nbc

    narciso (d1f714)

  32. Another hack from the journolist pack:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/AlexislnNH/status/1185590693118578691

    narciso (d1f714)

  33. Dowd is such a tool.

    Colonel Haiku (79562f)

  34. Thats when he had 150,000 troops in iraq

    https://mobile.twitter.com/alimhaider/status/1185552781047939072

    narciso (d1f714)

  35. Now megyn was screaming about ailes, yet she slid into the egyptian tomb that is nbc

    narciso (d1f714) — 10/19/2019 @ 10:54 am

    Ah yes, Megyn Kelly. She criticized Donald Trump and he embarrassed himself trying to match. Of all the pathetic exchanges in his life, this one is actually distinctly embarrassing for Trump.

    It’s somehow her fault that she exposed sexual misconduct at her two jobs instead of helping cover it up.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  36. You would think after covington he would get a clue, unpossible

    narciso (d1f714)

  37. Picking fights on the blog is frowned upon.

    Colonel Haiku (79562f)

  38. Picking fights on the blog is frowned upon.

    Colonel Haiku (79562f) — 10/19/2019 @ 11:07 am

    oh hey it’s the comment civility police! here’s a comment section donut for you: O

    see something say something!

    Dustin (6d7686)

  39. We see why the bureau has done little of use, in the last 5 years, mccabe practically bragged about it the executive summaries mislead the actual findings,

    narciso (d1f714)

  40. I don’t understand why people are still paying attention to Hillary Clinton. She’s not important or central enough to the political process at this point to assume she’s plugged into anything the involves knowledge or influence. Maybe she’s right or maybe she’s not, but this thing where the right has to immediately contradict anything she says is like some kind of pavlov’s conditioned response.

    Nic (896fdf)

  41. Which expression of outrage!! Should we consider then, obviously you dont think obamas habitual lying about health care doesnt matter.

    narciso (d1f714)

  42. @30 Rip Murdock (d6b59b)
    It is Dimitry Firtash, who was paying RudyTooty, Trump’s TV lawyers on Fox, Solomon, to create a bunch of conspiracy theories to get on Trump’s good side. You know, to not get sent to prison for 5 years. He’s paid $175…million in bail to stay in Austria.

    Just corruption, nothing to see here.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  43. And steele worked for deripasha just like adam waldman who was warners contact with him.

    narciso (d1f714)

  44. Also, Clinton’s not wrong in this case, she’s the worst possible messenger though.

    Google identified a bunch of bots promoting Gabbard coming from a none other than known Russian bot farms, and alerted Gabbard’s campaign, and they were pissed, at Google.

    Gabbard doesn’t have to be like Trump and Stein and be willing to accept the aid, just being a dupe is fine for the Russian’s, chaos is their goal, and their last effort was so successful.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  45. Of course shes wrong, gabbard is wrong on a whole host of matters, warren amd harris are even more wrong, sanders is the apotheosis or wrong, corbyns twin brother.

    narciso (d1f714)

  46. Ah google, they aid china but refuse dhs, they are in the gold medal of evil.

    narciso (d1f714)

  47. Same crowd that rolls their eyes at Trump obstructing justice when Russia tampered with our elections are angry that anyone pointed out Gabbard is spitting out Russian propaganda while the same shady russian folks are helping her as much as they can.

    Also, Clinton’s not wrong in this case, she’s the worst possible messenger though.

    The thing is, she’s just one person out of a bunch saying it. The idea she’s the ringleader is just propaganda. Find the most terrible person saying the point you want to discredit. Then just bash the terrible person and ignore the merits of the argument.

    Same reason njrob is quoting mcmuffin’s twitter. None of us care what he says. But he’s ‘nevertrumper deepstate #1’ so there’s no need to evaluate if Russia screws with our elections. he says they do so we know they don’t because he’s not on our ‘team’.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  48. Dems dont win, chaos, republicans dont win the system worked, the democrats were more tech savvy (remember that howler)

    narciso (d1f714)

  49. Gabbard doesn’t have to be like Trump and Stein and be willing to accept the aid, just being a dupe is fine for the Russian’s, chaos is their goal, and their last effort was so successful.

    If they can lure a trusted conservative influencer like JVW into promoting their nefarious scheme, we should all be concerned.

    Dave (1bb933)

  50. FWIW I just heard AOC use the phrase “stop the endless wars” while introducing Bernie to a “yuge” crowd in Queens.

    JRH (52aed3)

  51. FWIW I just heard AOC use the phrase “stop the endless wars” while introducing Bernie to a “yuge” crowd in Queens.

    They’re all in cahoots!

    Dave (1bb933)

  52. Or whatever the Russian word for “cahoots” is.

    Dave (1bb933)

  53. no I don’t think so, but you do notice no democrat dissents, and media personalities, are strikingly in lockstep, of course david weigel, is a typical hack, I’m sure yglesias and klein and fischer will nod,

    narciso (d1f714)

  54. I posted the translation, but it flags it as suspect. Ha…

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  55. Another Marine Was Misidentified In Iconic Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Photo, Corps Says

    https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/10/17/another-marine-was-misidentified-in-iconic-iwo-jima-flag-raising-photo-corps-says/

    “How the hell could that have happened?”

    Pfc., Intern Jarhead? AP ‘fake newser’ Joe Rosenthal? Pro UPI sabotage? Japanese spooks?

    Or maybe just human error.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  56. I miss Steve57. His military knowledge and posts are missed.

    mg (8cbc69)

  57. he’s more acroyd then chevy chase, although with a touch of john Malkovich,

    narciso (d1f714)

  58. fyi, I changed the wording in Hillary/Tulsi intro to: …Tulsi Gabbard is a tool being prepped by Russia… It reads more clearly.

    Dana (05f22b)

  59. mg, I agree… hope he’s doing well.

    Colonel Haiku (79562f)

  60. There are many people whose posts I miss.

    Simon Jester (71baa7)

  61. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-national-character-counts-week-2019/

    Whoa – I thought all that “character” stuff was for loser RINO sissies. That’s what Trumpsters have been telling us for years. Now, Dear Leader has proclaimed that “character counts,” and he thinks it’s important for “the next generation of our Nation’s leaders.” So this generation gets a pass, then?
    Donald Trump is preaching to us about the importance of humility, honesty, kindness, compassion, selflessness, honor, respect, devotion to duty, etc.

    All of which he very conspicuously lacks, and his devotees have been spitting on. And so his “proclamation” is contemptible.

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  62. Too many to count, for me.

    Spotcheck Billy (formerly CHaiku) (2601c0)

  63. That was me, just getting used to this new Chrome device

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  64. “Same reason njrob is quoting mcmuffin’s twitter. None of us care what he says.”
    Dustin (6d7686) — 10/19/2019 @ 11:49 am

    Several here cared enough to vote for him, so it’s ridiculously false to say “None of us care”.

    It may seem like no one cares only because now they’re too embarrassed to admit it.

    Munroe (53beca)

  65. so Hollywood has yet another inkind contribution with john Lithgow, playing ailes, margo Robbie playing a totally made up character, Malcolm McDowell playing Rupert Murdoch, expect a Weinstein film around 2025, or whenever Apophis is set to drop by, Epstein will happen later, they dropped that story down a well, didn’t they,

    narciso (d1f714)

  66. Matthew Dowd supported Blowsey-fraud and Anita Hill and claimed to be a Republican and now claims to be an independent. Just another liberal Democrat lying about his beliefs. And of course, he’s upset at Kelly, he’s a liberal, and every non-liberal should just shut up and take it.

    And I hate Megan Kelly. BTW, one benefit of not watching Network news is I have little idea who Matthew Dowd is. Just from reading his twitter feed, I’m not missing much. Wonder if he’s a rapey, rapey guy like Matt Lauer.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  67. Several here cared enough to vote for him, so it’s ridiculously false to say “None of us care”.

    It may seem like no one cares only because now they’re too embarrassed to admit it.

    Munroe (53beca) — 10/19/2019 @ 12:37 pm

    Nah, I don’t think anyone really cares about this guy. Other than you and njrob I think everyone kinda forgot this guy existed. I explained this already. The idea that This Tulsi Gabbard person is a Russian parrot is interesting. She does repeat their foreign policy ideas a lot. Russian bots are promoting her. The merits and issues about that really have nothing to do with this idea that someone you really dislike has agreed with the idea.

    Just as Trump obstructing the Russian collusion investigation is not a DNC talking point. It’s the truth, and of course even corrupt democrats will make use of this truth. What really matters is the merits.

    By twisting yourself around as to what team you’re on, you might… accidentally defend a campaign for gun grabbing and socialist healthcare… for no apparent logical reason.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  68. I have little idea who Matthew Dowd is.

    I never heard of him either. But the easiest way for any of these guys to get money is to piss the other team off. that’s what Ben Penn was trying to do. Why are we rewarding this system? If you stick to the merits of positions, it doesn’t matter who agrees or disagrees. There’s no need for a brand like bill o’reilly or megyn kelly. which to me just makes life easier.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  69. Wonder if he’s a rapey, rapey guy like Matt Lauer.

    rcocean (1a839e) — 10/19/2019 @ 12:50 pm

    Do you actually care about men in power sexually abusing women? You know why I’m asking.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  70. that’s only through the end of last year,

    https://www.newsbusters.org/non-journalists/matthew-dowd

    how is it abc, has gotten a blast of #metoo,

    narciso (d1f714)

  71. Never trumpers suddenly discovered “Character was the most important thing” in 2016. It was so important that having one bad character in the white house and one even worse character in the white house made them indifferent to who got elected.

    Accordingly, I will expect them to all vote D in 2020, since Bernie, Warren and Biden have better characters then Trump. Which brings up the question as to what their political beliefs have to do with the real world and getting things done – or not done.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  72. Attack a liberal pol or newsman and the average liberal response is always “What about…” Never fails. Notice they NEVER attack their own side no matter what. But they expect us to attack our side.

    And if an average liberal/democrat does attack a liberal/democrat – they always couple it with “of Course the conservatives/R’s are worse”.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  73. Actual assault yes, but keith Ellison proves the point, they don’t give a farthing, he’s the chief law enforcement officer in Minnesota, was the deputy party chair, actual evidence seems very few and far between, farrow’s claims are jumbled between verifiable fact and scurrilous rumor, and he doesn’t regret the latter,

    narciso (d1f714)

  74. Never trumpers suddenly discovered “Character was the most important thing” in 2016.

    Fascinating view. I seem to recall criticizing Romney’s dishonest record on issues as showing he had poor character, and Haiku being extremely angry that I would question Romney’s character. I feel many of Trump’s fans are consistent on the value of virtue, and this is why their positions are often criticized as naive in a dark world of savvy politicos like Trump’s circle.

    Accordingly, I will expect them to all vote D in 2020, since Bernie, Warren and Biden have better characters then Trump.

    Well you already told us they are nevertrumpers. You would expect them to vote for Satan and Stalin before they voted for Trump. This way you can ignore their criticisms of Trump as automatically too irrational to consider yourself. by not thinking about these issues, Trump keeps his die-hard loyal fans no matter how badly he screws up on a day to day basis.

    Attack a liberal pol or newsman and the average liberal response is always “What about…”

    True. Particularly with budget busting and government by fiat Trump.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  75. Hillary has shown herself to be a complete loon. But don’t think the average D is going to hold her smearing Tulsi G as a “Russian Asset” against her. The D’s don’t like Tulsi G, because so many R’s like her. To them, that’s intolerable. REAL Liberals/Leftists are hated by the Right.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  76. Attack a liberal pol or newsman and the average liberal response is always “What about…” Never fails. Notice they NEVER attack their own side no matter what. But they expect us to attack our side.

    What lefty blogs do you read? This sounds like ace’s mentally ill rantings. You know he stabbed all his friends in the back and no one trusts him right? Ace dies a cowards death, inside, every day (his own words, btw).

    Trust me, democrats are happy to criticize Hillary and Tulsi and Biden and Bernie, and they do it all the freaking time. It’s basically all they do these days. Because it’s the democrat primary.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  77. I think of most of these networks like the hive in aliens, you don’t want to touch anything without gloves, there is a wide spectrum of dsm iv behavior, they provide a thimble of news, in a lake of innuendo, but that is true in most institutions sadly, the Church’s don’t preach the Word, schools don’t impart a respect for our traditions, or even basic reasoning skills, the rank and file military and police are mocked by the media, which disdain the latter, and revere the former,

    narciso (d1f714)

  78. Hillary has shown herself to be a complete loon. But don’t think the average D is going to hold her smearing Tulsi G as a “Russian Asset” against her.

    Russian bots are definitely fighting for Tulsi, and Tulsi is definitely promoting the Russian point of view on foreign policy. While I suppose Russia may just love Tulsi because they happen to agree on foriegn policy, why are you so certain she’s the good guy? where did you come by this certainty? Is it the same places that taught you all you know about Russian buddy Donald Trump? It’s fascinating because it’s so universal on the Trump blogs that Tulsi needs to be defended. Even David Duke is praising her. And y’all don’t ever pause and wonder why this smells like BS?

    And what does this have to do with Hillary? Oh yeah, that’s right: nothing. Everyone is suspicious of Tulsi, so pick the ones that the Trump fans hate the most and say it’s really their idea.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  79. Mr. Dowd shouldn’t be so braggy about the quality of ABC News reporting, not after that bit of FakeNews they put out just a few short days ago. But I appreciate him letting us all know how big of a horse’s ass he is.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  80. Ms. Wheeler makes a good point FoxNews and their failure to disclose.

    Yesterday, I asked Fox Media Critic Howard Kurtz if he could dedicate a show to why Fox News commentators Joe DiGenova (who recently took to the air to accuse Democrats of “regicide”) and Victoria Toensing don’t disclose their representation of Dmitry Fitash, whom Rudy Giuliani has publicly asserted has close ties to mobster Semion Mogilevich. It would also be nice if they disclosed that in recent months they were being paid by corrupt Ukrainian oligarch Firtash $250,000 a month to to complain that Hunter Biden was paid $50,000 a month by a different corrupt Ukrainian oligarch.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  81. Attack a liberal pol or newsman and the average liberal response is always “What about…”

    That’s funny. Attack Trump and the average Trumpalista response is always “What about…” It happens here every day, all day long.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  82. Definitely feel Fall coming on in NorCal. My wife and I are so enjoying our two grandchildren, and with one due next week, our blessings continue. My son told me he dropped our granddaughter off for kindergarten and watched her as she went into the classroom. As all her classmates were going thru the door, the teacher’s assistant was handing them Twizzlers… she was mid-pack and when she got her’s, she turned to those behind and happily shouted, “can you believe this!”

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  83. ”by not thinking about these issues, Trump keeps his die-hard loyal fans no matter how badly he screws up on a day to day basis.”
    Dustin (6d7686) — 10/19/2019 @ 1:04 pm

    It’s called picking a candidate and sticking with him. It’s also called coming to grips with political realities, where you elect a flesh and blood candidate rather than a theory.

    Whoever it is you support for president (and, BTW, who is the lucky person?), I guess they can count on you to drop your support when your views aren’t aligned 100%. The key is not to stake a claim on a candidate just yet, else you may have to defend all their views and any cringeworthy comments. It’s the sort of infantile detachment from reality that comically gets held up for praise by #NeverTrump.

    Munroe (53beca)

  84. It’s called picking a candidate and sticking with him. It’s also called coming to grips with political realities, where you elect a flesh and blood candidate rather than a theory.

    At what percentage do they lose your support? Having chosen once, you can reevaluate, it’s called learning, it’s not a suicide pact.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  85. It’s called picking a candidate and sticking with him.

    Which is akin to “my mother, drunk or sober.”

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  86. It’s called picking a candidate and sticking with him.

    And this is where we differ, fundamentally. Politicians work for us and we should want the best for our country by holding our leadership accountable when they screw up, instead of sticking with them.

    Whoever it is you support for president (and, BTW, who is the lucky person?),

    I don’t respect any of the candidates. Biden’s always been a liar. Warren is like Trump in that she’s promising things she has no intention of delivering, simply to win the sucker vote. trump fans today were nasty to an extreme degree when I said what Romney really was many years ago on this very blog. Y’all don’t like him now, but I told ya so. My views haven’t changed.

    I don’t have to support a candidate for president. I hope the GOP dumps the fool.

    The key is not to stake a claim on a candidate just yet, else you may have to defend all their views and any cringeworthy comments. It’s the sort of infantile detachment from reality

    Oh dear! LOL

    Dustin (6d7686)

  87. rcocean-
    I’ve always wondered if President Obama and his staff/family had done everything that President Trump has done, would you defended him just as vociferously?

    Rip Murdock (d6b59b)

  88. ”At what percentage do they lose your support? Having chosen once, you can reevaluate, it’s called learning, it’s not a suicide pact.”
    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 10/19/2019 @ 1:52 pm

    I dunno. It would have to be pretty low to switch my vote to any viable alternative like a Biden or Warren.

    How about you? Don’t be shy. You’re among friends.

    Munroe (53beca)

  89. Munroe, did it occur to you that someone can just be honest? You point out that every politician these days can be criticized. If you were to look over my history here, even the candidates I’ve liked I’ve wound up criticizing. I preferred Bush 43, Rick Perry and then Ted Cruz, over the past 20 years, and each of them I’ve happily criticized or at least been honest about when others criticize. All of those guys sucked in a lot of ways!

    This is opposed to the weirdo Romney worship and then Trump worship by people who think politics is a sport where they should by team apparel like MAGA hats or Lakers jerseys. They should be helping me out, not the other way around.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  90. I don’t have a Maga hat but Im thinking about getting one just to annoy people who it will annoy.

    mg (8cbc69)

  91. I’ve got one, mg. It does bring the ankle biters out.

    Arguing with strangers about politics on the internet is no way to live your life… check this out>>> https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1185612002686844928

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  92. Gotta hand it to that lady, perfect roll!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  93. 87 – thats pretty cool, Col.

    mg (8cbc69)

  94. Dustin, you’re free not to support a candidate. It just seems rather cheap to criticize others who have, while immunizing yourself from criticism for a choice you can’t seem to make.

    Munroe (53beca)

  95. 96 I can’t stop laughing

    mg (8cbc69)

  96. Never trumpers suddenly discovered “Character was the most important thing” in 2016.

    Were you not born yet in the Clinton years? In a coma?

    The future “NeverTrumpers” generally agreed when Hannity emphatically intoned “It’s about character!” and Bill Bennett wrote The Book of Virtues, and various people said that if Bill Clinton lied about small things and cheated at golf, he would lie and cheat in big things. Some people said it about Obama too. It used to be a standard conservative viewpoint that character in leaders was at least as important as whatever policies they campaigned on.

    The Trump critics have held on to that viewpoint, while Trumpsters (including many in Hannity’s audience, no doubt) have been blasting them for “moral preening” and “pearl clutching,” and telling them to “grow up” and leave their childish fixation on character behind.

    Trumpsters take the bizarre position that whenever people criticize Trump for anything, it isn’t that they really object to that thing; they must be only pretending to object to it as a pretext for some baseless, abstract dislike of Trump.

    Meanwhile, they have abandoned various principles they used to proclaim, just so they don’t look too obviously hypocritical in venerating Donald Trump.

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  97. Dustin, you’re free not to support a candidate. It just seems rather cheap to criticize others who have, while immunizing yourself from criticism for a choice you can’t seem to make.

    But you’re criticizing him regardless, so how has he immunized himself?

    Dave (1bb933)

  98. NASA Astronauts Make History With 1st All-Woman Spacewalk

    https://www.space.com/first-all-woman-spacewalk-nasa-success.html

    “You’re both very brave, brilliant women, and you represent this country so well… we are very proud of you… what you do is really something special.” – President Trump in phone call to NASA astronauts Koch and Meir aboard the ISS, orbiting Earth, 220 miles up in space.

    ‘ummm, there is a whole movie about me…’ – Megyn Kelly

    ‘Nuff said.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  99. I don’t have a Maga hat but Im thinking about getting one just to annoy people who it will annoy.

    mg (8cbc69) — 10/19/2019 @ 2:12 pm

    I think that’s what all the people getting it are doing. It’s basically saying “I hate this America… not enough Muslim bans.”

    it is great to want a more honorable and free society, but no one really thinks Trump cares about that, so the MAGA hat is really just trolling. It’s like when Haiku responds to my comments with something racist about Iranians (yesterday it was how iranians rape children or something). It’s easy to troll, hard to actually build and success.

    Trump has done a lot of damage to our country, to the republican party, to the idea of an accountable executive branch (always a matter of trust, due to how the branch is the enforcement of laws). It’s easy to troll but hard to build.

    I find people who smirk about this are either very old or too young to know better.

    Dustin, you’re free not to support a candidate. It just seems rather cheap to criticize others who have, while immunizing yourself from criticism for a choice you can’t seem to make.

    Munroe (53beca) — 10/19/2019 @ 2:16 pm

    Seems that way to you because you are loyal to an incredible screw up, lol. Like I said, even if I do support a candidate, I never go to that point where I get mad that someone points out his flaws. It’s called “PERSONAL INTEGRITY.” I don’t think integrity is cheap at all.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  100. A shot in the ass with a very large needle.

    Sorry, that was a hanging curve and I denounce myself…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  101. If tulsi is a russian asset then clinton and biden are communist chinese assets.

    asset (c1f76b)

  102. #76: Don’t you find it slightly odd, to say they least, that Donald Trump would presume to lecture Americans on the importance of virtues that are the polar opposite of the way he behaves?

    How can Trump apologists be comfortable seeing him posture as a moral leader when they are scolding his critics for “moral preening” and for an allegedly bad-faith insistence that the president ought to have better character than Trump does?

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  103. I think what Munroe really wants is for me to say I support a bunch of democrats. I can’t think of a single time I have supported a democrat for president in my life. I did think (and I was right) that Trump was so bad he’s as bad as hillary, but I would say they are both terrible.

    I’m not going to support crap. Offer me only crap and I’m not going to start picking up pom-poms. When Romney was the nominee all the honest Republicans supported Romney just as a binary choice thing, noting that the establishment really was afraid of reform. Our best chance from there was Cruz, and the GOP establishment picked Trump out of fear of reform again (though Trump winning was not considered realistic as I don’t think people understood quite how Russia would be cheating).

    Day one of the next administration they will probably have an EO saying that the Trump administration was not legitimate, and all EOs are void, going back to the Obama era EOs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried (unconstitutionally) to do something about his appointments. It has been a very arrogant time for the GOP, which is amazing as the only reason Trump was possible was the arrogance of Obama’s fiat behavior.

    Get mad at me all day if you want, but ‘this is how you get Trump’ is a lesson Trump fans don’t seem to actually understand. It works both ways. refusing to believe any criticism of Trump unless there’s some dishonest motivation (like I’m a secret democrat) is not going to help you guys get my vote.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  104. I dunno. It would have to be pretty low to switch my vote to any viable alternative like a Biden or Warren.

    How about you? Don’t be shy. You’re among friends.

    On a policy basis, when a viable competitor exceeds their percentage, pretty easy.

    Of course, even if we’re 100% aligned on policy, corruption is a deal breaker, ethics are a deal breaker, criminality is a deal breaker, being plainly mentally incompetent is a deal breaker. I don’t have to pick a specific someone else today to choose to not support someone today. Today I’ll take a Pence presidency, a primary where I’d support Nikki Haley first, and probably settle for Kasich if it came to that, because I know him personally, I think he’s ethical, even though we’re not 100% aligned on policy and hence isn’t my first choice.

    If it’s Trump vs anyone, I’ll vote against corruption, by just withholding my vote from Trump most likely. I can’t see supporting any Democrat, for any reason, I guess that least offensive is Mayor Pete, but I probably wouldn’t vote for him.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  105. If tulsi is a russian asset then clinton and biden are communist chinese assets.

    Please, tell us from you’re Saint Petersburg VPN connection how your Marxist competitors are using Biden and Clinton as their assets?

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  106. . Today I’ll take a Pence presidency, a primary where I’d support Nikki Haley first, and probably settle for Kasich if it came to that, because I know him personally, I think he’s ethical, even though we’re not 100% aligned on policy and hence isn’t my first choice.

    Pence is obviously not as bad as Trump so I don’t know why the GOP doesn’t just execute this great option and salvage its soul a little bit.

    Haley would be a good improvement in a primary. She’s probably the only Trump admin candidate I could support (Perry is a meh at this point for me, though he was a competent executive over a mess for many years and has a good crew due to that). Kasich I am amused by because he, like Jeb, keep MAGA hats awake all night long.

    I’ve never changed my basic view that to be a good presidential candidate you need to have been reelected as a governor who was fiscally successful. Which… even Howard Dean was that so I guess I need to offer something more.

    Trump has gotta go though. He’s a coward. You can’t have a coward leading the free world. Russia looks him in the eye and Trump looks down. Erdogan looks Trump in the eye and he wets his pants.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  107. warren’s handiwork, a catchall gosplan (central planning agency)

    https://dailycaller.com/2019/10/18/elizabeth-warren-scotus-consumer-financial-protection-bureau/

    narciso (d1f714)

  108. I think what Munroe really wants is for me to say I support a bunch of democrats.
    Dustin (6d7686) — 10/19/2019 @ 2:34 pm

    You’re wrong. I’ve heard plenty of who you and others here don’t support. Not enough of who you do support. And, I still don’t know. I thought it was a simple question, but apparently not. Apparently it was a question laced with ulterior motives. Jeez.

    Munroe (53beca)

  109. How can Trump apologists be comfortable seeing him posture as a moral leader when they are scolding his critics for “moral preening” and for an allegedly bad-faith insistence that the president ought to have better character than Trump does?

    Trump, by his own description, is the Chosen One, the King of the Jews, and without sin. He is all-knowing, all-wise and the measure of all things.

    To be a worthy cultist is to believe those things without question.

    Dave (1bb933)

  110. warren’s handiwork, a catchall gosplan (central planning agency)

    So exactly like you support with Trump’s MAGA economic policy. Good to know that your informed on what link farm sends out daily, if not what the words mean.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  111. I remember call after call to Rush limbaugh praising Trump for being a great family man. Call after call. Don’t listen to talk radio anymore. It’s just brainwashing. Tomorrow morning, go check Ace or Breitbart and you’ll know what Munroe, njrob, and the ocean guy will be mad about. But they will really think they mean it. A lot of that definitely is a manipulation, and all those dead kurds prove it’s tremendously effective. The KGB is winning the cold war.

    And, I still don’t know.

    Well It’s flattering that you guys went from saying my people should be banned from the country to being fascinated by my views. But I think I explained my support in this thread in great detail and you don’t actually care that much.

    Next time read more slowly.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  112. our future under any of these twits you don’t regard with enough apprehension,

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/10/dutch-farmers-stage-protests-against-climate-alarmist-laws/

    narciso (d1f714)

  113. I still support Ted Cruz, Munroe. He disappointed me regarding Trump in a big way but he is conservative, intelligent and understands the Constitution.

    DRJ (15874d)

  114. I don’t know why I respond, no one monitors the post bot. Just feed the link file to the chatfuel bot and it goes.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  115. ”Next time read more slowly.”
    Dustin (6d7686) — 10/19/2019 @ 2:54 pm

    Next time don’t answer in riddles. I specifically asked who, not what. The closest you got to actually naming someone was Cruz but, because I do read slowly, I know from other comments in other threads you’ve thrown him under the bus more than once for his support of Trump and who knows what else. So, as this is akin to pulling teeth, forget it.

    But, if you want to confuse simple dialogue with “fascination”, go for it. You win.

    Munroe (53beca)

  116. Fair answer, DRJ. Thank you.

    I supported Cruz, too. Voted for him. Still support him, but I don’t think he would’ve carried PA, MI and OH. That’s just the bottom line. I know you probably disagree.

    Munroe (53beca)

  117. I don’t know if he would have won but I think Trump winning shows there was a lot of unhappiness with Hillary in some places and a desire to rock the boat. I don’t think only Trump could have capitalized on that.

    In fact, most of Trump’s most popular policies (except tariffs, which I don’t think actually got him many votes) were policies Cruz embraced first. Trump even used Cruz’s digital/online/polling team from Cambridge Analytica, and there is a sound argument that Trump won several of those states because he used Cruz’s game plan.

    DRJ (15874d)

  118. To be a worthy cultist is to believe those things without question.

    One of the astonishing things about Trumpism is how so many people have accepted Trump’s glorified view of himself and have adopted his core ethical principle, which is: Good and bad, true and false are defined according to what makes Trump look good.

    A lot of people are emotionally invested in defending the name and image of Donald Trump. They take criticism of Trump as an attack on themselves, and often respond by attacking the critic. I saw that back in the primaries, and I didn’t see the same dynamic for any other candidate. Trumpsters will say it’s only because he was being unfairly attacked, or “but Hillary,” etc., but that’s rubbish. There was something unusually cultlike from the beginning.

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  119. I remember call after call to Rush limbaugh praising Trump for being a great family man.

    He’s such a great family man he’s got three of ’em.

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  120. Never trumpers suddenly discovered “Character was the most important thing” in 2016.

    Wrooong! Trump is a piece of sh!t that should not be within 1,000 miles of the White House. That’s all.

    nk (dbc370)

  121. In 2016 someone wrote a piece headlined “If Trump is so awful, why are his kids so awesome?” (or something pretty close to that.
    I would have responded with three questions:

    1. If Trump is so awesome, why must you look to his kids to find evidence?

    2. Are you aware that they were mostly raised by their mother(s), particularly when he had moved on to other women? He described himself as the kind of dad who provided the funds and didn’t want to be involved much in parenting beyond that.

    3. Who says they’re awesome, and why?

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  122. 127: You said it with admirable concision.

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  123. The people I know (in Texas) who strongly support Trump fall into two groups:

    1. True Trump believers who think Trump is a very successful businessman, authentically believes in America, and thus is more likely to fix what is wrong in America than any politician,

    or

    2. People who don’t care about Trump but resent the political double standard that always hurts Republicans and helps Democrats. They have lost patience with politics and would feel this way about anyone who fights. Trump is their Alamo — not the guy with whom they might want to fight but who they have — and they are drawing a line in the sand for the final battle.

    DRJ (15874d)

  124. The second group is particularly energized by unfairness to people like Kavanaugh.

    DRJ (15874d)

  125. Talk is cheap. Don’t even have to buy a MAGAS hat to rile the “How Dare You Flock”.

    mg (8cbc69)

  126. Cruz had my support, financially, campaign-wise and in the Caliunicornia primary, for what that vote was worth.

    But I voted for Trump in November ’16 and will again next November, if he’s able to crush the soft coup that has engulfed his first term so far. He’s buffoonish, he’s his own worst enemy, but considering all he’s had to pushback against, he’s done fairly well.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  127. Does he sometimes scorch ground unnecessarily, probably, but you don’t win points for civility, ask w, for being unwilling to defend your own policies, your appointees, etc,

    and there’s a lot of overlap, even many of the same players who bedeviled w, fitz comey, mueller, goldsmith, et al, many of the same print critics, mayer savage, Kessler, of course klein yglesias, they play the double game,

    narciso (d1f714)

  128. now Kavanaugh has not yet really acted like he acknowledged what they tried to do him, then against the justice department doesn’t seem to care either as they didn’t about awan network or a dozen other concerns, Gorsuch seems to have a better understanding,

    now mark Levin, to cite one defender who was once a trump critic, recognizes the notes of this symphony as it was played against his boss ed meese, they sent two bloodhounds after him, ultimately unsuccessful, but his policy agenda, was certainly affected,

    narciso (d1f714)

  129. I don’t live in Texas, but I would include myself in #2, as described with a few tweaks:

    People who’ve watched as their party’s politicians – who feebly protest and then roll over – have been targeted by a MSM that doesn’t even pretend to be unbiased any longer and which unabashedly takes its talking points and marching orders from the DNC so consistently that it can’t be denied. People who have seen and heard the hatred and lefty agenda with their own eyes and ears and – fearing not only for their own lives and well-being, but also for the same of their children and grandchildren – not only say No!, but HELL NO!!!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  130. They have lost patience with politics and would feel this way about anyone who fights.

    And if one asked them “What are you confident that he will fight for?” they would treat it as a pointless question.

    Many of them would say “as long as he’s making the right people mad,” then everything’s groovy. They delight in seeing “liberal heads explode,” and they love to see “liberal tears.”

    In some measure, what Trump does is less important than the sense that he appears to hate the same people they hate. But then anyone that Trump attacks becomes someone they hate.

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  131. Saw Ted speak in St.Peterborough Cow Hampshire prior to the election. Amazing speaker in this old historic town hall. Patterico talked me into donating to Ted. I would do it again.

    mg (8cbc69)

  132. Talk is cheap. Don’t even have to buy a MAGAS hat to rile the “How Dare You Flock”.

    mg (8cbc69) — 10/19/2019 @ 3:36 pm

    Rile up is a strong word. I just call them like I see them. Trump’s a horrible guy. I wouldn’t want to see him near anyone I care about, let alone run the free world. It’s no surprise he’s got a big mouth but is a coward when he faces anyone tough. His supporters… well DRJ is more charitable than I am… I think she’s accurately described a lot of his fans, but some of them are white supremacists, plain and simple. They are evil. These guys will pretend to be fed up, but they aren’t fed up with injustice… they want their own injustice. they are also stupid and therefore very sensitive about elitism.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  133. Baylor and Oklahoma St. game is a good watch

    mg (8cbc69)

  134. I wasn’t keen on the airstrikes in Syria, I didn’t know if they would work, i’d rather not have tariffs, but I don’t see that any other measure in 45 years has had any impact on china, tell me otherwise, and the European hypocrisy on the matter is galling,

    I don’t like the way he depicted the Iraq war, but it struck a chord, particularly among veterans, and one is hard pressed to see a tangible success from that expenditure, Afghanistan is even more dubious, for reasons we could elaborate on,

    narciso (d1f714)

  135. The only question I have is…there’s only one full-time employee for this job?

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  136. Don Kilmer – Big Government And The Tragedy Of The Poker Table Commons

    https://talki.ng/s/03l12v/don_kilmer_big_government_tragedy_poker

    A good read which includes a nice statement on the Electoral College:

    …….we can thank the Founders for the Electoral College. How could they have known? Our nation is splitting into factions, mostly along the lines of densely populated coastal metropolitan centers against the suburban and agricultural heartland. How could the Founders have known that the best way to hold the country together, and insist on the territorial integrity of the nation, was to devise an electoral process for the chief executive that distributed the selection process across all the states. Brilliant!“
    _

    harkin (6776a3)

  137. so I don’t think much of goldsmith, I think even less of marci wheeler, terrorist apologist two thirds of the time, Mueller’s gong show contestant, most recently,

    narciso (d1f714)

  138. If voters were so deeply and rationally fearful of the lefty agenda, it would have made sense to support a candidate who had not been contributing monetarily to its political proponents before suddenly deciding to run a presidential campaign against it.

    A thoughtful voter would look for someone with a demonstrated history of commitment to some program or agenda beyond self-aggrandizement. Donald Trump had none. There was no basis to think he would “fight for” anything that he did not see as being in his own interest.

    Many voters were choosing a fantasy Trump who had “given up everything” in the purest patriotic devotion anyone had seen since George Washington. Then they thought he “bled millions to put Kav and Gorsuch on the Court” — though he was actually loaning money to his campaign and he knew nothing about Kav and Gorsuch before the Federalist Society fed him information.

    It’s one thing to make a “lesser of two evils” vote. It’s another to delude oneself about what Trump so obviously is, and to take the view that it’s un-American to hold him to account.

    Radegunda (05af0f)

  139. now it’s just a fact, if the dems take power, they have promised to take your guns, leave you with unreliable electricity, probably let everyone out of jail, mandatory abortion, and who knows what else, I’m not taking that chance,

    narciso (d1f714)

  140. Baylor and ohlahoma St. was a good watch.

    mg (8cbc69)

  141. yes, well I voted for cruz, others though otherwise, big league people like paul singer, for his own reasons wouldn’t allow support to consolidate before him,

    narciso (d1f714)

  142. @120/@123- Seriously?!?! Did you see Cruz puckered up, kissing ‘Trump azz’ at that Dallas rally? Tedtoo’s blatant hypocrisy is precisely the sort of ‘swampy stuff’ voters from all points of the compass are fed up with. And you wonder why “conservatives” are on the bottom of the deck these days??? Just unreal.

    With apologies to the great Tom Lehrer:

    Gather round while I sing you of Canadian Cruz,
    A man whose allegiance is ruled by expedience;
    Call him unprincipled for changing his views,
    “Principles, schminzables” coos Canadian Cruz

    Don’t say that he’s hypocritical,
    Say rather that he’s quite political;
    “The Donald’s my bud, not scum– that’s old news!
    Memories are short,” coos Canadian Cruz

    Some have harsh words for his bait-and-switch ruse,
    But some say their attitude should be one of gratitude;
    Like the wife and the father; their honor abused;
    So easily betrayed by Canadian Cruz

    To become a conservative hero,
    Just show Texans you’ll stand up for zero;
    “Self-respect doesn’t matter; nothing more left to lose;
    Except an election,” coos Canadian Cruz.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  143. @148. See #149.

    You know what the difference is between ‘Cruz Cultists’ and ‘Trump Cultists’???

    Nothing.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  144. I’m bothered a helluva lot more by the Left’s lies, deceit, tactics, actions, judgment, philosophy, principles, and direction they want to take the country in much more than ANYTHING Trump has said or done or – likely – will say or do.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  145. Col – “How Dare You”

    mg (8cbc69)

  146. “Trump is their Alamo…”

    The ‘Alamo’ was a loss; Trump is their Patton.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  147. The summer of 2021, if NeverTrump would ish and not merely stay sitting on the toilet: http://www.yahoo.com/news/salvinis-rallies-rome-protest-against-165626887.html

    urbanleftbehind (f3c658)

  148. Patton was a courageous soldier and an extremely able and intelligent leader. Of all the Western Allied commanders, he was the only one the Germans truly feared.

    To compare him with Cadet Bonespurs is vile slander.

    Dave (1bb933)

  149. I was a triangulating Cruz voter, my own sister foiled that gambit by voting for Alex P. Keaton’s idiot Columbus neighbor.

    urbanleftbehind (f3c658)

  150. 112 you ask how lying crooked hillary and qud pro quo biden are chinese communist assets. Both of them are for free trade and biden (after hunter got 1.5 billion from the chi-coms) said chinese commies are no economic threat to america.

    asset (9bb3f1)

  151. Gabbard said: “HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long”

    What a strange response. The first thing I would do is call Hillary and say: “Where did you get that idea? This is crazy. You’ve got to help me correct this.”

    But then, I am not a Russian puppet.

    noel (f22371)

  152. Biggest deceit the left ever pulled off was Trump getting republicans to vote for him. And that’s exactly what his fans will be saying in ten years.

    This is me ten years ago saying I told you so.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  153. Trump is Benedict Arnold Bradley Chelsea Manning.

    nk (dbc370)

  154. Being reasonable does not work with the Clintons, noel. No more than it works with Trump. They’re liars and verbal bullies and the only way to deal with them is to beat them down. There is no other way.

    nk (dbc370)

  155. And I am seriously considering the gambit option. The Democrats sacrificing a minor piece, Tulsi, to keep “Russian collusion” front and center for the long game.

    nk (dbc370)

  156. Supported afghanistan and iraq, said she learned a lesson from the latter but then recommended libya and syria? Which did not work out.

    narciso (d1f714)

  157. Pence is obviously not as bad as Trump….
    He is as long as he stays VP. He has sold his soul to be vice president. It will be impossible for him to wash off the actual and moral corruption after serving as Trump’s enabler. The only way Pence becomes President is if Trump resigns or is impeached. Pence cannot be elected on his own after suffocating his principles.

    Rip Murdock (d6b59b)

  158. She even bashed the Democratic Party in that quote. Gabbard is acting a bit suspicious, to me.

    noel (f22371)

  159. @156. You just don’t get it, Dave; ‘kicking azz and taking names-‘ this is how they see Trump:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-0dTpzNzwo

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  160. I would say Pence has one chance, and that is to give a Khruschev-style de-Stalinization speech as soon as he takes office, denouncing all of Trump’s violations of the constitution and law.

    Dave (1bb933)

  161. Ahe doesnt think the dems, have moved left enough, now at least the last two furthered islamism, one might argue the way iraq was handled did too.

    narciso (d1f714)

  162. Compare trump to stalin who killes 10-20 million people, yes thats reasonable!!

    narciso (d1f714)

  163. What’s the difference between a Never-trumper and a liberal?

    Answer: Both will vote for Warren and socialism, but the never-tumper will blame it on Trump.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  164. Pence cannot be elected on his own after suffocating his principles.

    Rip Murdock

    He would never get elected either way. But you are right… he’s stained with the corruption and he knows it. Nevertheless, an obvious improvement and the GOP has zero reasons to stick with Trump’s sinking ship.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  165. Btw we know who actually worked for firtash chertoff davis and manafort,
    We know who worked for burisma, blue star strategies

    narciso (d1f714)

  166. Pence is an asswipe.

    nk (dbc370)

  167. narciso will learn what an analogy is one of these days, I’m sure of it!

    Dave (1bb933)

  168. “sounds like Trump at his best”
    – Tucker Carlson on Elizabeth Warren’s economic policy

    Dave (1bb933)

  169. According to Peggy Noonan impeachment is winning in DC. Trump’s desire to fulfill his campaign promise to “Bring the Troops home” is seen as crazy and isolationist. The R Senators are now willing to work 6 days a week for 6 weeks to have a full-blown impeachment trial.

    I laughed when i read this. They can hold an impeachment trial but only Liberal Democrats will watch it. And any R Senator who votes to remove Trump will have killed his career. Of course, it doesn’t really matter. The D’s and RINO’s have decided they will pass no legislation or do anything to help the country, so why not fill their time with a trial?

    rcocean (1a839e)

  170. Just listened to Eamond Dunphy on “The stand” an Irish podcast. Its unintentionally hilarious. Ht talks to some Irish reporter who works for “The Hill” and the two of them sneer and moan about how “Dumb” and “Evil” Trump is and how the “Walls are closing in”. Every other week for almost 3 years, Trump was about to resign, be “destroyed by Mueller” or be impeached. This week they were wondering if Trump “really realized” how he’s “destroyed the middle east” and “killed thousands”. Or that “Putin is moving in and taking over the Middle East”. Imagine, all that from moving 50 men from Northern Syria to Southern Syria? LOL.

    On the plus side: they’re sane compared to Bill Kristol or David French.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  171. shorter nk #163…work together today, fight to the death tomorrow.

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  172. ….and move to wi, ia or mi

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  173. I’ve always wondered if President Obama and his staff/family had done everything that President Trump has done, would you defended him just as vociferously?

    Obama isn’t Trump. There’s no equivalence.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  174. 170… he’s quite believable, isn’t he, narciso?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  175. @177. The same ‘Peggy Noonan’ who, as a street journalist, worked for the “Communist Broadcasting System”– known to righties as CBS, reporting on reactions to the Lennon murder to WCBS-AM News Radio 88 listeners. Her checks from the ‘Reds’ kept her in the black.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  176. Well, if you’ll remember, they sacrificed Al Franken to #MePrettyOneTimeToo, in a strategy whose target really was Trump’s venereal peccadilloes.

    nk (dbc370)

  177. Who “made” her? (P. Noonan)

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  178. Al Franken chose wisely but moved meekly.

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  179. The greatest trick the Kabbage guy from ten years in the future ever pulled was convincing himself that people cared what he predicted.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  180. More bad news for Boeing; radio Trump Tower and hit the silk, Nikki.
    After the impeachment trial, bye-bye Mike:

    Trump/Haley 2020

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  181. To go to a more pleasant subject (anything being more pleasant than Trump), is anybody else noticing the Deep State strategy to whitewash Comey? First, the Mueller report which pretty much said he had probable cause to sic a special prosecutor on Trump, and now the exoneration of Hillary’s emails which justified his previous exoneration of her? It is rumored that J. Edgar Hoover had dossiers on all the DC pezzonovantes and that’s how he kept his job for close to half a century. Does Comey have GPS Fusion-type dossiers on other DC denizens besides Trump?

    nk (dbc370)

  182. @185. ‘Who “made” her? (P. Noonan)

    Meh. One of today’s… ‘Children Of The Damned’

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  183. Jim Geraghty
    @jimgeraghty
    Oh, by the way, if Tulsi has all these Russian Bots behind her and promoting her… and she’s still only at 2% in most polls… that doesn’t paint a picture of a particularly powerful or influential Russian propaganda and disinformation campaign
    __ _

    Justin Amash
    @justinamash
    The thing we know for sure is that Hillary Clinton is a Donald Trump asset.

    _

    harkin (6776a3)

  184. A Bollywood threesome, but Donnie watches the balding Russian guy have all the fun.

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  185. Glenn simpsons first gig was working for saqami, a pro iranian prince of ras al khalmah, keeping his anti iranian bros off the throne.

    narciso (d1f714)

  186. Kabbage you mean terminator?

    narciso (d1f714)

  187. Trump should swiftly reject the schedule of 2020 debates
    Hugh Hewitt-
    ….. Trump is the incumbent who can restore presidential debates to serious exercises in exploring the crucial differences between the two major-party candidates….
    How HH can say that with a straight face is laughable.  Trump can’t be serious for one minute. I agree the debates should be canceled, because the minute Trump opens his mouth it will either be a lie or a conspiracy theory.  Trump (and with him, Republicans in general) hasn’t shown any philosophical grounding since, well, ever. 

    Rip Murdock (d6b59b)

  188. Trump is the incumbent who can restore presidential debates to serious exercises in exploring the crucial differences between the two major-party candidates….

    LOL.

    Yeah, maybe he’ll brag about the size of his genitals again.

    It saddens me to see Hugh Hewitt among the ranks of the beclowned.

    Dave (1bb933)

  189. Reocean @181:
    I’ve always wondered if President Obama and his staff/family had done everything that President Trump has done, would you defended him just as vociferously?

    Obama isn’t Trump. There’s no equivalence.

    You’re right. No familial or personal corruption, upending decades of foreign policies, solicitation of foreign governments or invitations to hack on Americans, or betrayal of allies under Obama. I’ll concede the mistakes in Iraq and Libya. But you’re right there is no comparison.

    Rip Murdock (d6b59b)

  190. 192… speaking of threesomes, how ’bout a throuple?

    “In one of those first meetings, Hill says, Cummings said something that has stuck with her. “It [was] that our role on Oversight is to get to the truth and to follow the truth wherever it leads us and to expose that for the American people,” Hill tells me over the phone. “To make sure that they have the information that they should have to, frankly, evaluate their government.”
    It is in that spirit that we are sharing information obtained from multiple confidential sources relating to Rep. Hill, who’s currently in divorce proceedings. It is this writer’s view that events that occur within a marriage or affairs that lead to its demise should be kept between the parties involved and are not the business of the general public. When those events or affairs occur within one of the parties’ workplace, though, and that workplace is the United States Congress, the public should know about them as they determine that elected official’s fitness to serve.

    Photographs and text messages obtained by RedState show that Rep. Hill was involved in a long-term sexual relationship with a female campaign staffer. The woman, whose name is not being released, was hired by Hill in late 2017 and quickly became involved in a “throuple” relationship with Hill and her estranged husband, Kenny Heslep.”

    https://www.redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2019/10/18/ca-rep.-katie-hill-allegedly-involved-female-staffer-2-yr-throuple-relationship

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  191. 1/2 of me feels like my post #23 was ignored, the other 1/2 says thank you Haiku for posting the Throuple story for the evening visitors.

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  192. Ironically, it was Hewitt who famously asked Trump a simple question about nuclear defense policy and elicited an incoherent, rambling word salad that showed Trump didn’t even understand the words in the question, first suggesting that World War Two was fought by “hand to hand combat” and ending with the epic:

    “I think – I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.”

    Now that’s a serious exercise in exploring the crucial differences between candidates…

    Dave (1bb933)

  193. Narciso- that’s a definite upgrade from the likes of Ali Watkins, that Ms. Chon.

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  194. Huey hews to the crack of the heaviest whip.

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  195. “Pence is obviously not as bad as Trump so I don’t know why the GOP doesn’t just execute this great option and salvage its soul a little bit.”

    So, here’s a little Pence story that got little or not coverage thanks to all of the other craziness this week.

    Check out this photo from his meeting with Erdogan: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHFNCGAW4AEGWoa.jpg
    Not especially remarkable, until you compare it with this picture from an Erdogan/Putin meeting: https://i.imgur.com/Okqeuw4.jpg
    (In case you don’t see it right away, look at the flags behind the each of the participants).

    I had several thoughts after I saw this:
    1. If this were a Democratic administration, we’d never hear the end of it from the right.
    2. I remember when Pence bought tickets to a football game just so he could be performatively outraged at a player “disrespecting” the flag.
    3. Trump has done severe damage to our international standing, far more than any so called “apology tour” that the right hyperventilated about. We’re a laughingstock.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  196. He means well, but mr pressed pants degradd our arsenal while putin built up his. Wait who was the tool again?

    narciso (d1f714)

  197. ”Now that’s a serious exercise in exploring the crucial differences between candidates…”
    Dave (1bb933) — 10/19/2019 @ 7:03 pm

    I guess coherence was drastically de-crucialized when it came to voting for Bush Jr.

    Munroe (53beca)

  198. President Trump is looking more and more like one of those cows being rousted from the pasture for the boxcars. But, so far, so good, and he’s now tweeting about the boxcar.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  199. I forgive w’s verbal fumbles, but not th e way he let his critics have the final word, i guess that why i was more a fan of cheney and rumsfeld.

    narciso (d1f714)

  200. Omigoodgosh!

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    Crooked Hillary Clinton just called the respected environmentalist and Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, a “Russian Asset.” They need a Green Party more than ever after looking at the Democrats disastrous environmental program!

    nk (dbc370)

  201. This guy has been on point and hes not really keen on any of the party, sdp sna fsa qed

    https://t.co/15uN8iHgTd?amp=1

    narciso (d1f714)

  202. 208… there’s something about W that I’ve always wondered about… I recall traveling to Texas for a biz meeting in either ’97 or ’98 and seeing him give a speech on TV and being fairly impressed. Cut to the campaign in late ’99 and 2000, it seemed like a noticeable degradation in his speech… he seemed less eloquent.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  203. 209, if I’m following correctly…what’s gonna be the retractable bolt?

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  204. Well, in 97/98 did he sound more or less like his dad…maybe it was panderspeak meant to make him sound less elite under the orders of Rove, like pantsuit’s “I’m in no ways tired”

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  205. The difference between this and stalins and maos is the latter is related with cold distance.

    narciso (d1f714)

  206. Btw we know who actually worked for firtash chertoff davis and manafort,
    We know who worked for burisma, blue star strategies

    You mean the Firtash being prosecuted by the Trump DoJ for being a Russian stooge and mobster, who’s out on bail of $175M, and the Manafort who’s currently in prison having been prosecuted for being a laundering Russian/Ukrainian money and tax evasion? You know, against the guy that traded on daddy’s name to get a high paying job, totally legal but smarmy. Who else is trading on daddy’s name, I wonder?

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  207. It’s terrible that Hillary Clinton hired Paul Manafort to manage her campaign, she totally shouldn’t have been elected…

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  208. No she hires podesta who was paid by manafort, thats who did the lobbying greg craig was paid by another oligarch, but skaddem arps paid 4 million in the coin box

    narciso (d1f714)

  209. Weber almost handled the downstream lobbying but that was handed over to vitter.

    narciso (d1f714)

  210. Whose to say Gabs didnt pay Hillary for the inverse endorsement, with the buy from a “thirsty” Steyer: http://news.yahoo.com/tulsi-gabbard-elevated-iowa-clinton-000035418.html

    urbanleftbehind (1dffd7)

  211. Maybe then again she was just bringimg more pillows than the press, usually does with regard to the ig report.

    narciso (d1f714)

  212. Which are unneccessary because i could havd telegraphed how miller and haberman were going to play it.

    narciso (d1f714)

  213. No she hires podesta who was paid by manafort, thats who did the lobbying greg craig was paid by another oligarch, but skaddem arps paid 4 million in the coin box

    Hmm, you’re pointing at a squirrel across the street while you’re standing in the filth of the sewer.

    All Trump roads lead to Moscow, whether it’s Ukraine, Turkey, the EU, NATO… But sure, ignore that, whatabout the bad thing that the other people that were the junior partners of the Trumpworld leaders, did. Those silly geese, they only got $4M, and they declared it on taxes!! Manafort got $40M, those cheep losers, look at how much better at being corrupt he is…Trump’s Taint™ will out, every time.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  214. You really do swallow the democrats garbage 150 million went to the clintons anx the looked the other way on ukraine on uranium one, on missile interceptors all ths way down the line, on new start, the hacked exchanges

    narciso (d1f714)

  215. That is actual policy in real time, now having an alternative natural gas source for ukraine thats a good thing, arming thswith something less than pistols, now it was in this same period that ukraine was shipping heavy boosters to north koreA

    narciso (d1f714)

  216. It’s almost like you’re repeating Moscow’s talking points, like you’re the night shift guy at the Saint Petersburg farm of people from under the bridge.

    Troll kalla mik,
    trungl sjǫtrungnis,
    auðsug jǫtuns,
    élsólar bǫl,
    vilsinn vǫlu,
    vǫrð nafjarðar,
    hvélsveg himins – hvat’s troll nema þat?

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  217. ex- military, narciso.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  218. Speaking of Gabbard, has anyone heard from JVW? Perhaps teh Pantsuited Pantload should be concerned.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  219. It turns shes more in with the black bloc than she acknowledged, but since apparently ngo was asking for it, seems to be the consensus position it doesnt matter.

    narciso (d1f714)

  220. @83 et.al. Red baiting is never a good position to take. In the second red scare the soviets had infiltrated the US government but McCarthy was also a lying political opportunist. The net effect was to hinder US counter-intelligence operations. Hillary and Schiff are channeling him almost verbatim.

    Besides the inherent dishonesty, another problem with red baiting is the 1 dimensional thinking. The test of a US politician’s position is whether it’s in the interests of the US, not whether it benefits Russia. This isn’t a zero sum game. There are situations where the US and Russian interests align and times they won’t. It also gives the Russians too much leverage. If they want to discredit someone they can quote them in Russian media, send some bot farmers their way, or overtly funnel money. If you think this is ridiculous and no one would ever fall for something so transparent or the Russians would never waste effort on something that seems to automatically discredit them I’d suggest you research The Trust or any of the multiple defections that were actually fake.

    Frosty, Fp (f27e97)

  221. Yes ive mentioned the trust on more than a few occasion, as well as the zinoviev letter. Now obamas push to depose mubarak on behalf of qatar not only earned him the emnity of the kingdom but made the subsequent leadership more pro russian sams with libya and general hafter whose been cleaning up the mess from the last 7 yeats

    narciso (d1f714)

  222. I had several thoughts after I saw this:
    1. If this were a Democratic administration, we’d never hear the end of it from the right.
    2. I remember when Pence bought tickets to a football game just so he could be performatively outraged at a player “disrespecting” the flag.
    3. Trump has done severe damage to our international standing, far more than any so called “apology tour” that the right hyperventilated about. We’re a laughingstock.

    Davethulhu (fe4242) — 10/19/2019 @ 7:08 pm

    Great observation with the flags.

    Whatever they have that shut down our response to Iran, bowing to Turkey, betraying our friends, and of course handing another victory to Russia, has to be something. Trump’s fans can screech racist stuff about Iranians all day, but the real problem is the evil government that apparently Trump is afraid of. Just another way he’s no Reagan.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  223. But the capture torture and murder of an american ambassador really agitates too many on the left

    narciso (d1f714)

  224. that is bad too narciso.

    also bad: the need to say ‘but but but benghaaaazi’ when we’re talking about something the current president is screwing up today. Crooks count on that kind of cover.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  225. Wow!!!! Congrats to the Houston Astros! Altuve’s homer- shades of Mazeroski’s homer over the Yanks in the ’60 World Series! [My folks were there at Forbes Field for that!]

    What a game! And what superb series of baseball playoff games this year. Congrats to all in MLB!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  226. @159

    The first thing I would do is call Hillary and say: “Where did you get that idea? This is crazy. You’ve got to help me correct this.”

    This has to be the funniest thing I’ve read on this blog.

    Frosty, Fp (f27e97)

  227. “But the capture torture and murder of an american ambassador”

    Stevens’ death was a tragedy, but he was neither captured nor tortured, and it’s disgusting that this lie is still being pushed.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  228. Trump-supporting Republicans are unwilling to let the President own his screwups, and instead always provide him cover, no matter how many intellectually dishonest contortions are needed to do the job. But if Trump had won the presidency as a Democrat and done just one-tenth of the outrageous crap he has done, these same Republicans would be screaming that he was unfit for office, and should be investigated, impeached, and thrown out on his ear. This is the hypocritical double-standard that has made me lose respect for the Party as a whole, and for the individuals rationalizing this dishonest practice.

    Dana (05f22b)

  229. Amen, Dana. Same for Davethulhu.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  230. Breaking: Trump reverse course: tweets tonight G7 will NOT be held at Trump’s Miami Doral locale. Search for new site — possibly Camp David– goes on.

    Congrats, Captain; didn’t steam over this tow line!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  231. It was his brothers and he was only vice president, you all are so full of it

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_G7_summit

    narciso (d1f714)

  232. So a tempest in a teapot, after all.

    narciso (d1f714)

  233. ….is anybody else noticing the Deep State strategy to whitewash Comey?

    It’s called establishing facts.

    Rip Murdock (d93e1f)

  234. I guess coherence was drastically de-crucialized when it came to voting for Bush Jr.

    Compared to Donald Trump, W is like Solomon.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  235. No more like a basenghi.

    narciso (d1f714)

  236. 208… there’s something about W that I’ve always wondered about… I recall traveling to Texas for a biz meeting in either ’97 or ’98 and seeing him give a speech on TV and being fairly impressed. Cut to the campaign in late ’99 and 2000, it seemed like a noticeable degradation in his speech… he seemed less eloquent.

    I dunno – when reading a speech written by a good speech-writer from a teleprompter, even Trump can sound eloquent. I thought Bush was great at speaking off the cuff; certainly better than his dad. He had Reagan’s sincerity, but not his polish.

    Also, there is a difference between giving one speech at one meeting that you have weeks to prepare for, and giving a dozen campaign speeches a day. Fatigue has to take its toll, both physical and mental (sounding eloquent saying the same thing over and over is hard).

    Dave (1bb933)

  237. …… when reading a speech written by a good speech-writer from a teleprompter, even Trump can sound eloquent.
    He sounds like a hostage reading something he doesn’t believe.

    Rip Murdock (d93e1f)

  238. He sounds like a hostage reading something he doesn’t believe.

    But he speaks in complete, grammatical sentences, which qualifies as “eloquent” for him…

    Dave (1bb933)

  239. All you whiners and complainers ought to form your own “How Dare You Disagree With Us In The Little Tent Party”.

    mg (8cbc69)

  240. My Twins sucked, DCSCA.

    mg (8cbc69)

  241. I’d say getting 3 million fewer votes than Hillary freaking Clinton gives TrumpWorld “Little Tent Party” bragging rights until further notice.

    Dave (1bb933)

  242. Ok, I didn’t know that Tulsi was against Liquor, Guns, Bacon, Tobacco, and Quesadillas, before she was for them. That puts Google’s claimed “uncovering” of suspicious activity in her website in a different light. Google is pre-dominantly LGBTQ (where it is not Incel), and therefore it’s just as likely that they’re lying, that they made up the allegations, because they don’t consider her committed enough to their agenda. Like, say, Kavanaugh.

    nk (dbc370)

  243. Compared to Donald Trump, W is like Solomon.

    GWB has three things DJT does not have: respect for his fellow human beings, sincerity, humility.

    Kishnevi (ceb37f)

  244. @213 – I’ve seen Bush-II in informal interviews/talks and he’s impressive. I also thought he did well in the debates. But in any formal situation or formal speeches he didn’t come off well. I had a co-worker who stated about Bush: “I want a President who sounds smarter than me”. Oops, just thought about the McCain funeral, where Bush gave the best speech.

    Anyway, Bush-II’s problem was his bad decision making, his elitism (despite his Texas manner) and his refusal to fight back.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  245. Whos being naive foreign policy is not nissionary work, dealing with noriega saddam (with our tax guaranteed agricultural credits) was that noble no it waa exoedient at one point in time.

    narciso (d1f714)

  246. Yes, Trump reversed course and cancelled plans to Hold G-7 at his own Doral Club. I am impressed. He can abide by the Constitution, if forced to do so.

    But I have zero confidence that those immediately around him informed him that this was unconstitutional. They just nodded.

    noel (f22371)

  247. Trump is now surrounded by folks like some of the guys on this blog. He runs off into the weeds and they quickly grab his golf bag and trot up behind him.

    noel (f22371)

  248. Hypocritical (redacted) from daily kos, so there was no emolements case against rockefeller in 1975, or was it he owned half the country, like an oligatch.

    narciso (0742fe)

  249. Putin on Trump getting impeached: “Nyet!
    Makes sense. Vlad worked hard to help get his buddy elected.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  250. This is a great day for civilization:

    Defense chief says US troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq

    U.S. troops leaving Syria will be relocated to western Iraq, where they will continue to conduct operations to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday.

    Stopping endless wars!

    Millions of lives will be saved!

    Proud of ALL!

    Dave (1bb933)

  251. Ron Chernow-
    Hamilton pushed for impeachment powers. Trump is what he had in mind.
    ……. There seems little doubt, given his writings on the presidency, that Hamilton would have been aghast at Trump’s behavior and appalled by his invitation to foreign actors to meddle in our elections. As a result, he would most certainly have endorsed the current impeachment inquiry. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Trump embodies Hamilton’s worst fears about the kind of person who might someday head the government…..

    From the outset, Hamilton feared an unholy trinity of traits in a future president — ambition, avarice and vanity. “When avarice takes the lead in a State, it is commonly the forerunner of its fall,” he wrote as early as the Revolutionary War. He dreaded most the advent of a populist demagogue who would profess friendship for the people and pander to their prejudices while secretly betraying them. Such a false prophet would foment political frenzy and try to feed off the confusion. …..

    Hamilton sketched out the type of charlatan who would most threaten the republic: “When a man unprincipled in private life[,] desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper . . . despotic in his ordinary demeanour — known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty — when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity — to join in the cry of danger to liberty — to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion — to flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the day — It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.’ ” Given the way Trump has broadcast suspicions about the CIA, the FBI, the diplomatic corps, senior civil servants and the “deep state,” Hamilton’s warning about those who would seek to discredit the government as prelude to a possible autocracy seems prophetic. …..

    Rip Murdock (d93e1f)

  252. Not only did Trump stab the Kurds in the back, he’s twisting the knife.

    U.S. troops leaving Syria will be relocated to western Iraq, where they will continue to conduct operations to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday.

    For all his crowing about stopping “endless wars”…good grief.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  253. ”GWB has three things DJT does not have: respect for his fellow human beings, sincerity, humility.”
    Kishnevi (ceb37f) — 10/20/2019 @ 6:42 am

    respect for his fellow human beings: Iraq war
    sincerity: WMD
    humility: Mission Accomplished

    Munroe (53beca)

  254. Democrats love to claim that “Bush lied about WMDs.” Trump folks, too.

    DRJ (15874d)

  255. This is a great day for civilization:

    There’s also this uplifting announcement from our Great President: “We’ve taken control of the oil in the Middle East, the oil that we’re talking about, the oil that everybody was worried about. We have — the US has control of that.”

    Radegunda (dd98be)

  256. I dont but it was covered up by the same outlets, the post the times the journal

    narciso (38a1a4)

  257. I’ve never thought much less said that GW Bush lied about WMDs.

    Democrats love to push for impeachment, as do NeverTrumpers.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  258. ’Democrats love to claim that “Bush lied about WMDs.” Trump folks, too.’
    DRJ (15874d) — 10/20/2019 @ 9:12 am

    Democrats love to claim *insert random wild claim here* about Trump. Bush Jr folks, too.

    Munroe (53beca)

  259. Now since youve gone democrat underground, maybe you do.

    narciso (38a1a4)

  260. “The national media blasted President Trump’s withdrawal of 50 US military advisors from the Syrian border with Turkey as a “sellout,” a “betrayal” and a “huge strategic blunder.”

    Let’s be clear: None of them truly care about the Kurds. Otherwise, they would have been sending correspondents and camera crews to Rojava, as the Kurds call northern Syria, on a regular basis.

    Let’s also be clear about the goals of Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan. While he attempted to stylize his military invasion of Rojava as a counterterrorism operation, few international observers bought into it. Why? Because there have been no terror attacks against Turkey from Syrian territory since the Syrian Kurds established their self-governing entity in 2012. None.”

    https://nypost.com/2019/10/19/trump-didnt-sell-out-the-kurds-by-pulling-out-of-syria/

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  261. #269: Munroe, do you believe that Donald Trump has more respect for his fellow human beings than George Bush does?
    Do you seriously believe that Bush was deliberately lying about WMD, just to start a war and get lots of people killed?

    Do you not know the real story behind that “Mission Accomplished” banner?

    Can you honestly deny that Donald Trump is immeasurably worse on the measures of empathy and sincerity and humility than Bush, or almost anyone else in public life?

    Radegunda (dd98be)

  262. Democrats love to claim *insert random wild claim here* about Trump.

    Most of the time, all that’s necessary to make Trump look bad is to quote him.

    Radegunda (dd98be)

  263. Where does defrauding the chicago school systems fall, where does letting libya get carved up so slave markets are reopened, was that impeachment worthy.

    narciso (38a1a4)

  264. Yes he pulled the same stunt in 2008, when we had 150,000 troops, in iraq,

    narciso (38a1a4)


  265. Reuters Top News
    @Reuters
    · Oct 18
    Mexican president says they had to release the son of drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman after an intense battle between security forces and cartel gunmen as ‘the situation became very difficult’ and ‘many people were at risk’ https://reut.rs/2qm71ly
    __ _

    Zach Weissmueller
    @TheAbridgedZach
    To be clear, what happened here is that a drug cartel defeated the Mexican army in a battle.
    __ _

    Esoteric Jeff
    @EsotericCD
    To also be clear: this presages the collapse of Mexican central authority and is going to become a problem for us all here in the USA very soon.
    __ _

    Jim Blevins
    @JBlevins0
    You could say the same thing about Sweden, where
    -gangs have forced police to release suspects repeatedly and where
    -gangs attack police-department offices.
    __ _

    SoothingDave
    @SoothingDave
    At least we have a wall and rational policies for handling refugees
    __ _

    klg
    @Phxwarpedview
    Sigh. Phoenix person here. The issues with cartels are already a problem in Arizona. Big problem.
    __ _

    AZ Spook 🇺🇸🗽
    @SunDevil31673
    Phoenix here as well and you’re absolutely right. Can’t build the wall fast enough which will, hopefully, dry up the drop houses here.
    __ _

    The Saddest Horse
    @saddesthorse
    Cc to everyone wanting to protect Syria’s border but not our own.

    __ _

    harkin (6776a3)

  266. Trump’s actions on Ukraine — and they are pretty gross — have put a spotlight on how family members of government officials can get awfully rich by being related to the right politician. That seems a problem worth talking about. Suppose Trump decided to push the Hunter Biden thing by one of his tweets (and didn’t oversell the accusation by saying Biden stepped on an investigation). Is that wrong for a politician to do?

    And, if you don’t have a problem with that, what’s the problem with Hillary using her media access to amplify questions (which had been reported previously) about Tulsi Gabbard and possible Russian connections?

    I think there is an assumption that only the media gets to choose what stories are important, and what goes in the dustbin. That really should be false. Politicians have a right to make their case, too. Sure, Hillary has Russia on the brain. It’s gotta hurt to be the kind of person who can lose to Donald Trump, and Russia is the way she rationalizes this to herself. But if the story is there — and Russian interference is national matter of concern — then isn’t Hillary doing us a service by airing the thing out there?

    Appalled (1a17de)

  267. It’s true, Harkin. Trump’s absolute failure to build the wall when he had ample chance, because he’s a con artist who needed to keep that issue alive for a long time, has left many American states vulnerable. He had the house and should have built the wall in the first 100 days, but he failed.

    He also should have been making deals and getting real legislative accomplishments as he promised he uniquely could do. Clinton did that. Bush did that. Obama did that. Trump failed and has no significant and lasting legislative accomplishments.

    By keeping immigration as a convenient issue, Trump can say ‘but why are you complaining that I was a coward with Turkey? Don’t you know this other issue is more important?’ That’s called a shell game and it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book.

    But immigration was time sensitive. It turns out that Trump has made the issue toxic.

    I’m trying to think of any area other than judges where Trump hasn’t failed by his own promises.

    He freed ISIS instead of defeated them. He didn’t balance the budget or repeal Obamacare. We’re still begging him to build the wall. He’s a talker not a doer.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  268. ”Can you honestly deny that Donald Trump is immeasurably worse on the measures of empathy and sincerity and humility than Bush, or almost anyone else in public life?”
    Radegunda (dd98be) — 10/20/2019 @ 9:27 am

    No. Therefore, what?

    Am I supposed to care that Bush Jr can sip Korbel in a luxury suite with his friend Ellen, and Trump can’t?

    What does that have to do with public policy? People can be awesome individuals at a personal level while being total jerks and eff ups in their public roles, and vice versa.

    Munroe (53beca)

  269. Munroe,

    When Trump was elected, I could see the possibility he might turn out like an LBJ — a mean, corrupt POS, but effective.

    He has not been effective — partly because, unlike an effective mean SOB, he craves attention and affection, and can’t really do anything that tears him away from the adoring crowds. Also, Trump is too untrustworthy to make a binding deal.

    So Trump is even bad at being a jerk.

    Appalled (1a17de)

  270. The people I know (in Texas) who strongly support Trump fall into two groups:

    1. True Trump believers who think Trump is a very successful businessman, authentically believes in America, and thus is more likely to fix what is wrong in America than any politician,

    or

    2. People who don’t care about Trump but resent the political double standard that always hurts Republicans and helps Democrats. They have lost patience with politics and would feel this way about anyone who fights. Trump is their Alamo — not the guy with whom they might want to fight but who they have — and they are drawing a line in the sand for the final battle.

    DRJ (15874d) — 10/19/2019 @ 3:31 pm

    The second group is particularly energized by unfairness to people like Kavanaugh.

    DRJ (15874d) — 10/19/2019 @ 3:33 pm

    Don’t forget the whole dogpile on the Covington kids fiasco…

    Obviously I’m in the second camp too.

    I’ve mentioned here that Democrats “broke me” after the Kavanaugh/Convington ordeal and I’m in Calvinball mode from here on out. I will not participate in any political process that empowers the Democratic party at any level. They’ve shown they are FAR worse than Trump or any other GOPer for that matter.

    If that means that I support heavily flawed and controversial candidate like Trump?

    Yeah, every day and without any remorse…because I can now say, unequivocally that any Democrat in power would be worse in every imaginable way than Trump/GOP.

    Trump-supporting Republicans are unwilling to let the President own his screwups, and instead always provide him cover, no matter how many intellectually dishonest contortions are needed to do the job. But if Trump had won the presidency as a Democrat and done just one-tenth of the outrageous crap he has done, these same Republicans would be screaming that he was unfit for office, and should be investigated, impeached, and thrown out on his ear. This is the hypocritical double-standard that has made me lose respect for the Party as a whole, and for the individuals rationalizing this dishonest practice.

    Dana (05f22b) — 10/19/2019 @ 10:05 pm

    Eh… I’d argue that the GOP party lost any sort of integrity post Tea Party. Now, they’re just the ‘Not Democrat’ party who won’t do even half the crazy crap Democrat promises once they’re in power.

    As for the double-standard you keep pounding… maybe because I’m old and jaded, but all of that is nothing more than raw exercises in political power. It’s the same vein as that TV ad of Ryan throwing grandma off the cliff, or Reid lying on Congressional floor that he has evidence that Romney failed to pay his taxes. They’re all deplorable tactics, but it’s as old as history. You know what you’re walking into when you participate in politics and it would behoove us all if we’re ready for such tactics.

    I can condemn Trump’s screwups just fine. I don’t think they’re impeachment worthy or even something that would stop me from voting for him next year. I recognize that we don’t get to pick our perfect candidate. The simple calculus for me is this: at the ballot box, which candidate would advance my preferred policy?

    That’s it. This is an exercise of raw political power by the real sovereign – the voters.

    In my neck of the woods, Missouri, this is why judges is so important in the Trump/McConnell era that cannot be underestimated. Because eventually, we know Democrats will gain the Whitehouse/Senate again in the future. So the more Trump judges being approved will hopefully mitigate future Democrat’s crazed policy advancements.

    That’s one of the reasons why Trump-supporting Republicans tolerates at minimum to avidly support Trump despite his numerous flaws.

    The alternative was/is much worse. Which, again, is an exercise of raw political power via rationalizing to support Trump.

    whembly (c30c83)

  271. Google is your friend if your memory is short on all the actions Democrats and their friends in our justice system have taken in their attempts to stop construction of the border wall. And remember all the comments made here on how there is little, if any, difference between the two political parties on agendas.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  272. Here is a take from Kenneth Timmerman at the NY Post that opposes my point of view.
    I think if Trump does pull off the win here on this hand of the poker game (remember that Trump’s bluff was called and now we have a new hand… Erdogan has to continue to play the game, he can’t take his money off the table because it is sanctioned)
    if Trump does pull it off, this is a reasonable take on why he might

    “On Tuesday, the Department of Justice unveiled a criminal complaint against Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank for allowing Iran to buy billions worth of gold using frozen oil money, violating economic sanctions. The complaint makes clear that senior government officials — possibly including Erdogan himself — took enormous bribes in exchange for allowing the scheme to continue.

    Those sanctions — and the threat of more sanctions — paid off and forced Erdogan to back down.

    The Kurds are paying a heavy price in this battle — not because of a US betrayal — but because they remain stateless and thus powerless. By targeting Erdogan financially, legally and undermining his legitimacy, President Trump has done more to help the Kurds than his critics with their crocodile tears. And for now, he is winning.”

    Don’t agree entirely with the conclusion in the second to last sentence, but anything that can be done that undermines Erdogan is a win for the US. He’s a herpes boil on NATO’s butt

    steveg (354706)

  273. … all the actions taken to thwart reform of asylum loopholes, bumrushing the border, etc.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  274. Steveg see comment 277…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  275. Democrats used the “Bush lied about WMDs” claim to discredit him. I don’t know why Trump agreed, although he does agree with Democrats on many issues. He also likes to discredit other Republicans, seemingly more than Democrats.

    But IMO the important point is that, even if sometimes we agree with Democrats about things, that doesn’t make us Democrats. People who support Trump don’t become Democrats just because they believe Bush lied about WMDs, and people who don’t support Trump don’t become Democrats just because they disagree with Trump’s actions.

    DRJ (15874d)

  276. “Democrats love to claim that “Bush lied about WMDs.” ”

    Bush did lie about WMDs

    August 2002 – “No doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction” – lie
    September 2002 – The aluminum tubes presented as clear evidence of a nuclear weapon program – lie
    October 2002 – “Massive stockpile of biological weapons” – lie
    December 2002 – “We don’t know whether or not he has a nuclear weapon.” – lie
    Late 2002-early 2003 – Saddam / Al Qaeda links – lie

    None of the above were intelligence failures, there was clear evidence that all of the above were untrue. At best the Bush admin cherry picked intelligence that was favorable to the position they they had already staked out.

    Trump’s one saving grace (so far) is that he hasn’t started a war under false pretenses, and he hasn’t normalized torture.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  277. It is good to get more conservative judges and reduce regulations, Haiku, but is it enough? Trump is not getting legislative changes that might survive his term(s). A Democratic President can undo everything except the judges. Judges can’t change the direction we are headed. They can only delay it a little.

    DRJ (15874d)

  278. @277 Richard Engel

    @288 Mostly, you know, voting no. They even tried to deal on it, but Trump couldn’t even manage to close on a deal where they volunteered a conditional yes.

    Nic (896fdf)

  279. Let’s be clear: None of them truly care about the Kurds.

    It wasn’t news that US military was in Rojava to back up the Kurds. It is news that Trump stabbed an ally in the back.

    Paul Montagu (cbbfc4)

  280. respect for his fellow human beings: Iraq war
    sincerity: WMD
    humility: Mission Accomplished

    It’s sad that the same discredited arguments from Code Pink and ANSWER have resurfaced 14 years later. Adoring Trump fans seem compelled to downtalk Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 so as to make Trump look less a fool by comparison.

    Paul Montagu (cbbfc4)

  281. 294… I agree, the road to success is not one single path.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  282. 289… the various factions of the Kurds are a substantial distance away from their version of a Continental Congress.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  283. Trump a year ago: I care about the Kurds and they died for our cause and we “never forget”
    Trump fans today: no one actually cares about these Kurds. Never even heard of them. Irrelevant. Also Bush lied about WMD omg.

    Dustin (915f3d)

  284. “Bush did not lie.”

    Yes he did. None of the stuff in your link is evidence of an ongoing wmd development system. Here’s a breakdown on why the author is incorrect in regards to the “5000 tank shells filled with sarin” etc.: https://theintercept.com/2015/04/10/twelve-years-later-u-s-media-still-cant-get-iraqi-wmd-story-right/

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  285. well they wanted the moral certainty of opposing vietnam

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/10/the_seedy_history_of_joe_biden_and_russia.html

    narciso (d1f714)

  286. Davethulu, are you saying Bush was wrong or that he lied?

    Dustin (915f3d)

  287. Dustin
    I agree that “no one actually cares about those Kurds” is an overstatement, but it is a fair characterization of some of the partisans who are just anti-trump reflexively choosing to back the opposing view.

    I wanted to give enough of a quote to tell everyone who read the post enough context as to where the writer was coming from.
    However I do think that if Trump pulls a rabbit out of his hat here, it will be due to the sanctions and pressures he can now legitimately hit Erdogan and the Turks with.
    The US has been more than a little pissed off at our erstwhile ally for a while.
    They screwed us on using Incirlik, they refused to allow us to invade Iraq from the North, the bought the Russian S-400 anti aircraft system and still wanted F35’s etc etc.
    But there was no excuse to pressure them. Now we have an excuse.

    That doesn’t help the Kurds too much and it doesn’t count as rebuilding lost loyalty, or bring back the dead, but it may turn out better than I first thought.

    steveg (354706)

  288. “Davethulu, are you saying Bush was wrong or that he lied?”

    I’m saying that he lied. The list of statements I have @293 were all contradicted by known intelligence within the Bush admin.

    For example (first entry on my list):

    “It was a shock, it was a total shock–I couldn’t believe the vice president was saying this,” Gen. Anthony Zinni, the former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command, told me in an interview for the documentary. Zinni, who had access to the most sensitive U.S. intelligence on Iraq, was on a stage in Nashville, Tennessee, receiving an award from the Veteran of Foreign Wars on August 26, 2002, when he heard the vice president launch the opening salvo in the Bush administration’s campaign to generate public support for an invasion. “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction,” Cheney said. “There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us.” Zinni, sitting right next to Cheney’s lectern, says he “literally bolted” when he heard the vice president’s comments. “In doing work with the CIA on Iraq WMD [weapons of mass destruction], through all the briefings I heard at Langley, I never saw one piece of credible evidence that there was an ongoing program.” He recounts going to one of those CIA briefings and being struck by how thin the agency’s actual knowledge of Iraqi weapons programs was. “What I was hearing [from Bush administration officials] and what I knew did not jive,” Zinni says.

    http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-the-bush-administration-sold-the-iraq-war

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  289. GWB has three things DJT does not have: respect for his fellow human beings, sincerity, humility a left testicle, a right testicle, a cerebral cortex.

    nk (dbc370)

  290. Too bad BushJR didn’t take to Twitter to explain the truth while he was under siege by #NeverBush and Fake WMD News.

    He sat back and took the punches on his chin in a very presidential manner, though.

    BuDuh (879ad1)

  291. @293. That’s ’cause he’s not a neocon– just nyccon. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  292. This is the New York Times story on Tulso Gabbard.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/us/politics/tulsi-gabbard.html

    It didn’t quite refer to her as a Russian asset. (and it is not clear what exactly is going on)

    What, Exactly, Is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?

    As she injects chaos into the 2020 Democratic primary by accusing her own party of “rigging” the election, an array of alt-right internet stars, white nationalists and Russians have praised her.

    ,,,,Perhaps strangest of all is the unusual array of Americans who cannot seem to get enough of her.

    On podcasts and online videos, in interviews and Twitter feeds, alt-right internet stars, white nationalists, libertarian activists and some of the biggest boosters of Mr. Trump heap praise on Ms. Gabbard. They like the Hawaiian congresswoman’s isolationist foreign policy views. They like her support for drug decriminalization. They like what she sees as censorship by big technology platforms.

    Then there is 4chan, the notoriously toxic online message board, where some right-wing trolls and anti-Semites fawn over Ms. Gabbard, calling her “Mommy” and praising her willingness to criticize Israel. In April, the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, took credit for Ms. Gabbard’s qualification for the first two Democratic primary debates….

    ……Ms. Gabbard has disavowed some of her most hateful supporters, castigating the news media for giving “any oxygen at all” to the endorsement she won from the white nationalist leader David Duke. But her frequent appearances on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show have buoyed her support in right-wing circles.

    Both Ms. Gabbard and her campaign refused requests for comment about her support in right-wing circles or threat to boycott the debate. Even some political strategists who have worked with her are at a loss to explain her approach to politics…

    ….Disinformation experts have also pointed to instances of suspicious activity surrounding Ms. Gabbard’s campaign — in particular, a Twitter hashtag, #KamalaHarrisDestroyed, that trended among Ms. Gabbard’s supporters after the first Democratic debate, and appeared to be amplified by a coordinated network of bot-like accounts — but there is no evidence of coordination between these networks and the campaign itself….

    ….Ms. Gabbard’s fans are especially sensitive to claims that she is supported by Russian bots and amplified by the Russian state-funded news media outlets — a conspiracy theory, they say, that is designed to delegitimize her campaign and her foreign policy views.

    [That she is “supported by Russian bots and amplified by the Russian state-funded news media outlets” is a conspiracy theory that’s true, though – SF]

    “This whole thing the Democratic Party has done by putting forward this false idea that there was collusion between Russia and Trump has hurt our relations in a huge way with the Russians,” Mr. Graham said. “I can’t speak for Tulsi, but I think she feels kind of the same way on some of these things.

    While Democrats in Washington fret about Ms. Gabbard, her primary rivals have largely stayed silent, seeing little advantage in attacking a low-polling candidate.

    She is likely to get harsher treatment back in Hawaii, where a cottage industry of researchers, former opponents and Democratic strategists has sprung up to track her connections and background and ties to the teachings of the guru Chris Butler, who founded The Science of Identity Foundation, and whose work she said still guides her. Ms. Gabbard has said the focus on her relationship with Mr. Butler and her faith was fueled by anti-Hindu bigotry….

    She’s intelectually dishonest. No one to admire.

    Sammy Finkelman (0d0ca8)

  293. I’d like to repeat what others have said: You can call out the BS directed against Gabbard and *still* not vote for her.

    whembly (c30c83)

  294. @307. And DJT has three things GWB didn’t have: Ivana, Marla and Melania. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  295. and yet they found caches of chemical weapons, and WikiLeaks cables reports of use of same, against coalition forces, shocking squid misses this, but it didn’t happen in the open like halabja in 1988,

    narciso (d1f714)

  296. Appreciate the answer, Davethulu.

    I’ve always interpreted this with a little empathy about it. 9/11 happened and I imagine a lot of people were trying to interpret intel a lot differently on the day before vs the day after. Saddam did have a WMD program at some point. He retained some stuff that were WMDs. He probably had more than we know about, and it was shipped to Syria. But either way, when building the case for war, they said a lot of things that they didn’t back up. Maybe they were just ginning up support. Maybe they really didn’t know as much as they thought (that’s kinda what your paragraph quote suggests to me).

    Either way, Bush was the president and the buck stops there.

    Too bad BushJR didn’t take to Twitter to explain the truth while he was under siege by #NeverBush and Fake WMD News.

    Really bizarre statement from Cruz Supporter/Buduh. Trump has been hysterically blaming Bush for 9/11 ever since Trump bragged he has the tallest building in NYC … on 9/11. It’s so weird to say ‘well yeah that was totally a lie, but it’s not the liar’s fault… it’s the guy who was lied about’s fault’.

    The last group to actually trust Trump and the GOP were the Kurds, and they probably felt nervous about it.

    Dustin (915f3d)

  297. Opposition to Assad is, by Tulsi Gabbard, being for “regime change wars” Like it can on;y lead to long drawn out wars.

    We mustn’t believe that there’s some natural problem with regime change. And it’s more than just the vacuum.

    Putin and Iran, and Saudi Arabia actually too and others (and this is also a policy of China) want people to have the feeling that whereever there is a terrible dictatorshp installed there can never be any change – except for the worse.

    That’s why some countries supported Al Qaeda in Iraq after the U,S. invaded and are backing up Maduro in Venezuela. (Russia was not in the klead in Iraq post 2003: Syria and Saudi Arabia and Iran were)

    But it is important to realize that, in order for regme change to succeed, that there be no sanctuaries and that we understad that, for high policy reasons, and not for very salient reasons that we would call self interest Russia and China and other dictatorships will try to make any attempt to get a better regime a failure, especially any thing that smacks of democracy. And this now has many disparate dictatorships united.

    They want is to give up on the whole idea of change for the better.

    Syria tolerated the Kurds for awhile because The Kurdish territory wasb’t really a democracy nor did it have mch propects of turning into one.

    Sammy Finkelman (0d0ca8)

  298. You can call out the BS directed against Gabbard

    What BS? That’s the problem. It’s just Trump’s freakshow fanclub saying there’s some vague “BS” because they are told to say that. The Russian bots thing is true! Tulsi parroting Russia’s POV on foriegn policy is also happening.

    I think you guys want to suggest all collusion theories are necessarily false, in order to protect Trump from the consequences in 2020 when we have attack ad after attack ad. It’s like you’re trying to vaccinate us from nodding our heads about basic patriotism. Good luck with that.

    Dustin (915f3d)

  299. no the sahwa opposed the Iraq war, typified by awda and safar hawali, because they feared secular contamination, the first is the one that pat leahy is sticking up for, but the sunni leadership in Iraq, along with the alawites in Syria, agreed on one thing, oddly they enlisted sunni militants like al golani to do it,

    narciso (d1f714)

  300. they really can’t challenge the anti interventionist caucus in the democrats, actually pro Iranian and pro Qatari so they use this weak notion,

    narciso (d1f714)

  301. Bush did lie about WMDs

    No, he didn’t. Being mistaken about WMDs isn’t lying. If you believe that Saddam had WMDs and if your CIA Director says “slam dunk” but it’s later shown later that he didn’t them, then you’re wrong, not untruthful. The Democrat-majority Senate came out with the Phase I report in 2004 which concluded that most of the claims by the Bush White House were “generally substantiated by the intelligence.” These arguments should not have to be re-litigated.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  302. During the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner this week, Bush presented a slide show of quirky photographs from inside the White House. In one, the president is looking under furniture in the Oval Office.

    “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere,” Bush joked. “Nope, no weapons over there … maybe under here?” (Bush pokes fun at himself at dinner)

    https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/26/bush.wmd.jokes/

    Class act all the way. He was at least getting US Soldiers killed on his way to that remarkably insensitive punchline. I hope no Kurds were hurt.

    BuDuh (879ad1)

  303. “and yet they found caches of chemical weapons, and WikiLeaks cables reports of use of same”

    This is the same wrong argument, over and over.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  304. and yet it has been, because they lied then, montagu, then cj chivers came by and ran them over for not emphasizing the caches and encounters,

    https://dailycaller.com/2019/10/20/pete-buttigieg-wont-answer-tulsi-gabbard-russian-asset/

    narciso (d1f714)

  305. Good news for the NeverTrumpers, they have an ally in Robert Francis…

    https://pjmedia.com/trending/beto-orourke-announces-support-for-menstrual-equity-act-on-nationalperiodday/

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  306. 320… he could definitely take a punch.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  307. one too many wipeouts with a board, coronello,

    narciso (d1f714)

  308. “No, he didn’t. Being mistaken about WMDs isn’t lying”

    From your link, the phase II report:

    This was a bi-partisan majority report (10-5) and “details inappropriate, sensitive intelligence activities conducted by the DoD’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, without the knowledge of the Intelligence Community or the State Department.” It concludes that the US Administration “repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent. As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed.” These included President Bush’s statements of a partnership between Iraq and Al Qa’ida, that Saddam Hussein was preparing to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups, and Iraq’s capability to produce chemical weapons.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  309. It was non-stop whacks with a 2×4 from December 2002 on, narciso… it tends to harden the heart against the people taking those whacks.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  310. I was speaking of o’rourke, w had a duty to defend the mission amd the men who carried it out.

    narciso (d1f714)

  311. Bipartisan is bohica.

    narciso (d1f714)

  312. Just remember, Bush wasn’t the only one saying we gotta stop Saddam cause of his WMDs. Many prominent democrats were saying that for a couple years before 9/11. The idea was that if they can and are reaching out and hitting the USA, the threshold for shutting WMD programs went down.

    But while Trump was on the sidelines calling Bush the worst and Hillary the best, Bush had to make decisions. He seems to have done a tremendously better job than Trump or Obama.

    Dustin (915f3d)

  313. In any event, I’d like to thank Trump fans’ efforts to resist the rehabilitation of Bush, even if it only for their own selfish reasons.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  314. “Just remember, Bush wasn’t the only one saying we gotta stop Saddam cause of his WMDs. Many prominent democrats were saying that for a couple years before 9/11. ”

    This, I believe, is ultimately why Bush wasn’t impeached. Too many congresspeople were complicit.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  315. No… Bush didn’t lie. He and many prominent officials were simply wrong.

    Huge difference.

    At worst, it was a huge confirmation bias where the US intelligence thought that the UK had the “goods” and that the UK intelligence thought that the US had it.

    The idea that there was a conspiracy to knowingly lie that Iraq had WMD when they didn’t is nothing less than Bush Derangement Syndrome.

    whembly (c30c83)

  316. This, I believe, is ultimately why Bush wasn’t impeached. Too many congresspeople were complicit.

    Davethulhu (fe4242) — 10/20/2019 @ 12:03 pm

    I don’t think they were ‘complicit’. I actually think Saddam did have a huge WMD program. The reason it didn’t stay where we expected it to be is that our enemies have a great intelligence program. This is just the next chapter in the cold war.

    Dustin (915f3d)

  317. “This, I believe, is ultimately why Bush wasn’t impeached. Too many congresspeople were complicit”

    Despite their claims otherwise…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  318. We gave them a year and a half to hide them

    narciso (d1f714)

  319. Curveball ali alwan was the germans asset since 1991

    narciso (d1f714)

  320. I don’t think they were ‘complicit’. I actually think Saddam did have a huge WMD program. The reason it didn’t stay where we expected it to be is that our enemies have a great intelligence program. This is just the next chapter in the cold war.

    I was working at an agency in 2002/3/4. And we had worries mainly about the administration expressing “absolute confidence” in their current development of WMD’s. We knew he’d had programs in the past, but all intelligence on those programs said they were paused to dead, although he had some stockpiles of WW2 chemical weapons, just because they’re old, doesn’t mean they don’t work, getting shot with a Colt 1860 Army will still kill you dead.

    We had ample evidence of him talking about his desire to buy/build modern WMD’s, again they didn’t actually have WMD’s, Sarin isn’t one.

    At the end of the day, the data said they mostly likely didn’t have WMD’s, didn’t have the capability of making them, but a high level of desire to obtain them. It was a risk, and with the history of Iraq, a pretty big one, but judged in context, less than Iran and WMD’s, North Korea, Pakistan, former Soviet client states.

    It wasn’t a failure of inteligence, it was a failure to understand the ramifications the on the ground issues in the region. Taking out Iraq was always the easy part, the knock on effects of splitting the country into tribes, Sunni/Shia/Kurdish animosity. Rummy and Cheney didn’t really think that way, and they had personal history with Iraq, so were way to shaded in what they “knew” vs the risks and what was happening in real time. W, generally deferred to them as they were the supposed to be experts, while the naysayers were mainly in the IC community, who’d failed, in his eyes, on 9/11.

    But those things happened, the knock on effects happened, and know we know much more about the political/culture of the various groups in the region, we should, we’ve been with them 15 years, the Kurds for nearly 30.

    Trump is making decisions like the last 30 years of built-in knowledge didn’t happen. He doesn’t like the reports of what the pullout will do, because it conflicts with his campaign promise, that was based on him knowing absolutely nothing. Since he’s been president he’s had the opportunity to learn things, but actively chooses not too. The more people tell him his idea is crazy, the more he wants to do it (this is a universal Trump truth), and when those people are proven right, he cannot accept that he was wrong, so it’s some 3rd parties fault. Plus, he’s susceptible to flattery from people he think look like what he wishes he was; smart, powerful, rich. And the recipe for flattery is well known, and the perfect people to exploit him? Putin, Kim, Xi, Dutarte.

    Plus Plus, he’s very, very, not smart, hugely stupid…a moron, and lazy, and corrupt at heart, and incapable of carrying out the duties of the office of the Presidency.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  321. From your link, the phase II report:

    I read the report over 11 years ago and it’s still the same report. The part that you quoted, Dave, was Jay Rockefeller’s cover letter, not the report itself, and it’s not representative of the report’s contents. More accurately, Rockefeller’s statement was misleading. The irony is that Bush so believed that Saddam had WMDs that he didn’t take the dissenting views seriously enough; likewise, Senate Democrats so badly wanted to say that Bush lied that they spun a conclusion that differed from the actual report.
    Another thing. The Phase I report was supported with unanimous consent from all committee members, and both parties had every opportunity to provide input. Phase II didn’t go that way. The Republicans got shut out of the process, turning it into a politically-timed railroaded report in an election year, hence the multiple minority rebuttals from the committee. The actual conclusions:

    Conclusion 1: Statements by the President, Vice President, Secretary of State and National Security Adivisor regarding a possible Iraqi nuclear weapons program were generally substantiated by the intelligence community estimates, but did not convey the substantial disagreements that existed in the intelligence community.

    This is where accusations of “cherry-picking” came up, but if the principals believed the intelligence (and there is no evidence to suggest that they didn’t), then it’s not a lie.

    Conclusion 2: Statements in the major speeches analyzed, as well additional statements, regarding Iraq’s possession of biological agent, weapons, production capability, and use of mobile biological laboratories were substantiated by intelligence information.
    Conclusion 3: Statements in the major speeches analyzed, as well as additional statements, regarding Iraq’s possession of chemical weapons were substantiated by intelligence information.
    Conclusion 4: Statements by the President and Vice President before the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence committee’s uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing.
    Conclusion 5: Statements by the President, Vice President, Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense regarding Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction were generally substantiated by intelligence information, though many statements made regarding ongoing production prior to late 2002 reflected a higher level of certainty than the intelligence judgments themselves.
    Conclusion 6: The Secretary of Defense’s statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.

    There’s no doubt that Rumsfeld lied on that subject. He should go down as one of the worst SecDefs in American history for the way he handled post-war Iraq. It’s on Bush that Rumsfeld stayed in his job for so long.

    Conclusion 7: Statements in the major speeches and additional statements analyzed regarding Iraqi ballistic missiles were generally substantiated by available intelligence.
    Conclusion 8: Statements by the President, Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense that Iraq was developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that could be used to deliver chemical or biological weapons were generally substantiated by intelligence information, but did not convey the substantial disagreements or evolving views that existed in the intelligence community.
    Conclusion 9: The President’s suggestion that the Iraqi government was considering using UAVs to attack the United States was substantiated by intelligence judgments available at the time, but these judgments were revised a few months later, in January 2013.
    Conclusion 10: Statements in the major speeches analyzed, as well additional statements, regarding Iraq’s support for terrorist groups other than al-Qa’ida were substantiated by intelligence information.
    Conclusion 11: Statements that Iraq provided safe haven for Abu Masab al-Zarqawi and other related al-Qa’ida-related terrorist members were substantiated by the intelligence assessments.
    Conclusion 12: Statements by the President and Secretary of State suggesting Iraq and al-Qa’ida had a partnership, or that Iraq provided al-Qa’ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence.
    Conclusion 13: Statements in the major speeches analyzed, as well additional statements, regarding Iraq’s contacts with al-Qa’ida were substantiated by intelligence information. However, policymakers’ statements did not accurately convey the intelligence assessments of the nature of these contacts, and left the impression that the contacts led to substantive Iraqi cooperation or support of al-Qa’ida.

    The bottom line is that Saddam’s relationship with al Qaeda was cooperative, not collaborative, and any parties who suggested collaboration were being misleading.

    Conclusion 14: The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammed Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001.

    That one is on Cheney. Between that and the stovepiping from his Office of Special Plans, Cheney should not have been VP in the second term.

    Conclusion 15: Statements by the President and Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information.

    Although it was contradicted, the concern that Saddam would hand WMDs over to terrorists wasn’t limited to the Bush administration. The Clinton White House had those same concerns.
    So there you have it. There were two conclusions that contradicted Bush, the rest were generally substantiated by the intelligence.
    What has been proven for quite a while was the abysmal intelligence and the abysmal way it was put together by CIA, other intelligence outlets and Cheney’s Office of Special Plans.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  322. If we can’t agree on Saddam and WMDs, can we agree Saddam helped al queda/911?

    DRJ (15874d)

  323. If we can’t agree on Saddam and WMDs, can we agree Saddam helped al queda/911?

    Sure, as long as the agreement is that Saddam didn’t have a sliver of a think to do with it.

    I’m sure he was a fan after the fact, right up until the run up to killing him kicked in.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  324. no but his security services, they had contact with Algerian, Egyptian Lebanese terrorist organizations, and guess who showed up within weeks of Baghdad falling, now zarquawi crossed over from Kurdistan, but other figures like Shehata, were there before the invasion,

    narciso (d1f714)

  325. Then it is easier to prove something in court than proving it to the intelligence community. I’m not sure if that is good or bad.

    DRJ (15874d)

  326. no but his security services, they had contact with Algerian, Egyptian Lebanese terrorist organizations, and guess who showed up within weeks of Baghdad falling, now zarquawi crossed over from Kurdistan, but other figures like Shehata, were there before the invasion,

    So you’re justification is a made up thing about Samer Shehata, because you obviously don’t know who that is, and the other ones you think justify things are unrelated to 9/11 or happened after the US invaded Iraq.

    But stay on brand, not knowing things is your jam.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  327. yes I do, he was zarquawis delegate in Iraq, one of many, now did we underestimate what materiel would be need, probably it wasn’t expected that the expedition would be of long duration, that was largely bremer’s doing, was debaathification, conducted to an extreme level, probably,

    narciso (d1f714)

  328. You need to learn a thing…one, because you should probably know that you’re talking about a professor at Georgetown University, who’s been there for more than 20 years. But your lies are obvious, so I guess that’s a good thing. If you’re saying it, it’s not true.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  329. not that impressed anymore, cordesman, a prince talal fellow,

    https://freebeacon.com/culture/academic-watchdog-says-georgetown-intolerant-ideological-anti-israel/

    narciso (d1f714)

  330. GWB has three things DJT does not have: respect for his fellow human beings, sincerity, humility.”

    LOL! Bush said what he had to say to get elected, then ignored it and boasted about it in his Autobiography. “Humility”? He lied us into the Iraq war, tried to nominate his unqualified friend to the SCOTUS, and tried to ram Amnesty down the throat of the American public. And lets not talk about TARP. His whole attitude – go read his book – was “To hell with the voters, I know best” – he was the most arrogant POTUS in my lifetime. He beloved he was “The decider”.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  331. Bush-I was the same way. A total contempt for the American People. He considered it “Humiliating” to appear in a debate with Clinton and explain his positions. He told us “No New taxes” then thought it bizarre when people got upset when he broke his pledge. He deliberately ran in public with a shirt saying “Read my Hips” mocking his whole promise. But that was just “campaign rhetoric” .

    He lied to us about Souter, telling us “trust me, he’s 100% conservative”. But in reality, he didn’t know or care. He told his chief of staff to give him someone who the D’s wouldn’t fight, because he didn’t want to fight over the SCOTUS nominee. He never even asked souter about any issues, despite campaigning on “appointing over Scalias”.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  332. Lots of typos in the last post, but you get my drift.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  333. Yeah BDS. Got it.

    Explains the projected silly TDS claims I guess.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  334. I’ll trust you’re exaggerating like you did over O’Donnell, when you judged her corrupt, but it was mike castle, that went to work for al Jazeera, as a lobbyist,

    narciso (d1f714)

  335. Very nice, mg.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  336. This is spot on, and it puts our nation and its people at risk:

    Trump is making decisions like the last 30 years of built-in knowledge didn’t happen. He doesn’t like the reports of what the pullout will do, because it conflicts with his campaign promise, that was based on him knowing absolutely nothing. Since he’s been president he’s had the opportunity to learn things, but actively chooses not too. The more people tell him his idea is crazy, the more he wants to do it (this is a universal Trump truth), and when those people are proven right, he cannot accept that he was wrong, so it’s some 3rd parties fault. Plus, he’s susceptible to flattery from people he think look like what he wishes he was; smart, powerful, rich. And the recipe for flattery is well known, and the perfect people to exploit him? Putin, Kim, Xi, Dutarte.

    What galls me the most is his unwillingness and lack of interest in learning. That he delcines to take advantage of the top scholars and advisers at his disposal is disgraceful. But the danger comes from believing he knows it all and has nothing more to learn. The truly smart individual easily admits to not knowing everything, and has an insatiable curiosity to learn more of the world around him. Trump chooses to squander the opportunity. Believing one is the smartest man in the room automatically makes him susceptible to flattery. He wants to hear others say what he already believes is true about himself. The level of self-deception is mind-boggling.

    Dana (05f22b)

  337. If we can’t agree on Saddam and WMDs, can we agree Saddam helped al queda/911?

    I agree that Saddam helped al Qaeda, but I haven’t seen evidence that he had any role in 9/11. I won’t agree that Bush lied, not when so many of his claims were substantiated by the intelligence. Cheney and Rumsfeld were less truthful, however.
    FTR, I lost confidence in Bush in 2006, after the Golden Mosque bombing and considering the sum total of his other poor decisions. I was contributing to RedState at the time, and I started calling for Rumsfeld to be sacked and to implement a counterinsurgency strategy. That didn’t go over very well with the other contributors, and I was taken off the front page after the election, even though I was right. So I’m not saying what I’m saying because I’m some Bushie.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  338. https://www.pgatour.com
    good fun with dad

    mg (8cbc69)

  339. Via CNN:

    San Francisco man completes ‘figure-8’ sail around the world in one season

    In about 13 months, this guy sailed (alone):

    from San Francisco down the Pacific to the tip of South America,

    all the way around Antarctica,

    from the tip of South America up the Atlantic coast to Baffin Island,

    through the Northwest Passage in the Arctic,

    through the Bering Strait and back down the Pacific coast to where he started.

    It’s about 40,000 miles total. This was his second attempt; the first (in 2017) ended unsuccessfully with his boat capsized boat off Tasmania.

    Pretty amazing.

    Dave (1bb933)

  340. 358/359 he’s rested and ready, someone comp him a tanning salon coupon stat!

    urbanleftbehind (2211f8)

  341. @360, to me it also shows a huge lack of self confidence that he covers up with bluster and bravado.

    Time123 (80b471)

  342. Quick survey:
    What will America find more entertaining?
    1. Trump not being impeached.
    2. Trump being impeached but not removed by the Senate.
    3. Trump being impeached and removed by the Senate.

    nk (dbc370)

  343. So mogadishu on our border, circa 1992.

    narciso (d1f714)

  344. So, I bought some American Spirit Black rolling tobacco ($10.00 for 1.4 ozs which is a very reasonable price) and stuffed some in my regular filtered tubes. Wow! That is some powerful stuff. Coronary-level nicotine kick. Even with the filter, it’s stronger that Gauloises unfiltered Caporals. On the other hand, it’s also very reminiscent of the Gauloises, which is what I’m after.

    I suspect that when American Spirit says “rolling”, they mean “rolling” and not “stuffing”. A normal rolled cigarette will have maybe half the tobacco of a stuffed cigarette. I’ll try it that way, and then maybe I can finish one of those without feeling that I’m about to pass out.

    nk (dbc370)

  345. How about sofranies, they are more nati e ti the balkans

    narciso (d1f714)

  346. Residents of northeast Syria city pelt departing US troops
    AKCAKALE, Turkey (AP) — Angry over the U.S. withdrawal, residents of a Kurdish-dominated Syrian city hurled potatoes at departing American military vehicles as they drove by on Monday. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said U.S. troops will stay in eastern Syria to protect Kurdish-held oil fields for at least the coming weeks and he was discussing options to keep them there.

    “Like rats, America is running away,” one man shouted in Arabic at a convoy of armored vehicles flying American flags passing down an avenue in the northeastern city of Qamishli, according to video by the Kurdish news agency.

    The video showed people pelting the vehicles with potatoes and shouting, “No America,” and “America liar,” in English.

    Another man shouted obscenities and talked of babies in Kurdish-held areas who have died in the Turkish offensive. One of the vehicles reversed down the street and over a sidewalk as several people walked after it, shaking their fists in the air and shouting insults.

    The scene encapsulated the Kurds’ feelings of betrayal and added a new indignity to a U.S. withdrawal that has been rushed and saw several close brushes with Turkish-backed forces. ….

    Rip Murdock (d93e1f)

  347. Narciso, I need the glossary or cliffs notes for posts #371 and #374.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  348. The “fighting spirit” is not absent but mis-allocated (ex. the retreat from Culiacan).

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  349. And I forgot that cigarettes become stronger as you smoke them down. The old-fashioned regular size is 2.75 inches, king size is 3.3 inches. I’ve been using king size tubes, so another thing I’ll try is clipping off half an inch.

    nk (dbc370)

  350. I tried a traditional tobacco, once when it was the craze in the 90s, it didn’t take, I remember those Balkan cigarettes from a david stone thriller,

    narciso (d1f714)

  351. From my experience, the Balkan blend is the smoothest of blends. Smoother than Virginia, the most popular blend. The opposite end of the spectrum from the French blends, which is what I’m looking for.

    nk (dbc370)

  352. now if al queda hadn’t outstayed their welcome, it’s dubious the counterinsurgency strategy would have worked, it was a question of timing,

    narciso (d1f714)

  353. Sobranie is a brand of Balkan cigarettes, urbanleftbehind. James Bond smoked them. I smoked their line of Black Russians when I was young and they were still imported.

    nk (dbc370)

  354. I am duly corrected, narciso. James Bond smoked Morlands, not Sobranies.

    nk (dbc370)

  355. what would a modern british spy, smoke now? Jeffrey deaver tried a modern upgrade, he wasn’t called back, unlike Anthony horowitz,

    narciso (d1f714)

  356. @275. What- no Kibble?

    “Ally cats”– loyal only as long as you keep feeding them. Let’em fight for their own litter boxes.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  357. ^@387 for 375, not 275. Typo.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  358. Colluder from back in the day…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  359. Trump relies on Fox & Friends and conspiracy websites for his “information”. And he relies on his good buddy Vlad to spoon feed him disinformation on Ukraine, which figures.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/putin-and-hungarys-orban-helped-sour-trump-on-ukraine/2019/10/21/a0af1e9c-f40b-11e9-ad8b-85e2aa00b5ce_story.html

    Paul Montagu (1794c8)

  360. While we bicker amongst ourselves, the nation continues to corrupt our children and destroy their lives.

    https://lukemacias.com/afathersfight/

    NJRob (4d595c)

  361. there is that wider point, the character from dickens, micawber, is it, and one can conjecture that was the point of the exercise,

    narciso (d1f714)

  362. Per CNN: breaking— author of mysterious, 2018 anonymous Op-Ed slamming Trump has quilled book titled: ‘A WARNING’ by ANONYMOUS. Book to be released in November; profits to go to WH Correspondents Fund.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  363. 311. whembly (c30c83) — 10/20/2019 @ 11:23 am

    You can call out the BS directed against Gabbard and *still* not vote for her.

    The “BS” is that the New York Times called her a Russian asset. It didn’t.

    It just said that Russia, and many people pushing various extremist views who were more or less for Donald Trump in 2016, supported her.

    Which is true.

    Tulsi Gabbard was kind of incoherent during the debate, as well as knocking down a straw man re: NYT

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/15/october-democratic-debate-transcript

    GABBARD: Well, first of all, we’ve got to understand the reality of the situation there, which is that the slaughter of the Kurds being done by Turkey is yet another negative consequence of the regime change war that we’ve been waging in Syria.

    Donald Trump has the blood of the Kurds on his hand, but so do many of the politicians in our country from both parties who have supported this ongoing regime change war in Syria that started in 2011, along with many in the mainstream media, who have been championing and cheerleading this regime change war.

    Not only that, but the New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime change war. Just two days ago, the New York Times put out an article saying that I’m a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears.

    This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I’m an asset of Russia. Completely despicable.

    As president, I will end these regime change wars by doing two things — ending the draconian sanctions that are really a modern-day siege the likes of which we are seeing Saudi Arabia wage against Yemen, that have caused tens of thousands of Syrian civilians to die and to starve, and I would make sure that we stop supporting terrorists like Al Qaida in Syria who have been the ground force in this ongoing regime change war.

    How does Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen kill Syrian civiians? She’s incoherent! And she’s trying to claim that in taking the position she does on Syria, she is acting in the capacity of a veteran. Which is dishonest.

    Note also the transcript’s unusual spelling of “Al Qaeda”

    Sammy Finkelman (0d0ca8)

  364. She has a half a point, with some of the militias that the kingdom and the uae have sponsored to fight the war in yemen.

    narciso (d1f714)

  365. 370.

    Trump being impeached but not removed by the Senate.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)


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