Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

M. Talent and the other 'gentlemen' in the olive oil importing business, with whom he is known to carouse at the horse-track and whist tables, would have us live in a world where Graft & Grift were as common as salt & pepper. I would not see common decency so cavalierly tossed in the gutter as that. What would our forebears, men of distinction and integrity, luminaries such as Rutherford Hayes and Chester Arthur, be made to think of "modern man" if they could but see "Tammany Hall" Talent and his fellows, hats at jaunty angles and cigarillos twixt their fingers, laughing contemptuously at magistrates who refused a bribe? Sneering at those they cannot buy? Leave such intrigues for the Ottoman Court or some other horrid den of iniquity.

[lineygoblue]

If we go to a brokered convention I don't know how you take the nomination away from Bernie and hand it to someone else without losing a big portion of those votes in November.

If the Dems pull some trickery to take Bern out of the equation, and give their nomination to someone else, I could see him running as a 3rd party candidate.

They've been so focused on investigations, and trying to toss Trump out of office, that they've failed to field a strong, reasonable candidate who doesn't think that 60 million voters are stupid and deplorable, just because they chose not to vote for Hillary.

Its always been about providing a better alternative. Still is. So far, they've provided bupkis.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Take heart, Talent, for this is a joyous day.

Your beloved Governor Blago is being released from prison by corruption-hater President Trump.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump has also pardoned Bernie Kerik, the former Police Commissioner of NYC during 9/11.

Kerik became prominent after that, worked for Rudy Giuliani's consulting group, and somehow got appointed to be Interior Minister of the Iraq Interim Government, where he took a $250,000 "loan" (sometimes described as a "bribe") from an Israeli contractor. That's basically what sent him to prison for a couple years. When Tom Ridge retired he almost became DHS Secretary (this was before the stuff about the bribe went public) but he had to withdraw when they found out he'd been using an illegal immigrant as a nanny for years.

[iam416]

I remember when the Logan Act was all the rage. I also remember when Senators undercutting an Administrations foreign policy was heinous.

I highly doubt the same standards are applied to Chris Murphy is his gaggle of Iranian asslickers: https://www.nationalreview.com/corne...crite-on-iran/

I think the Ds are going to include in their platform: "beg forgiveness from Iran."

[Dr. Strangelove]

I remember when the Logan Act was all the rage. I also remember when Senators undercutting an Administrations foreign policy was heinous.

I highly doubt the same standards are applied to Chris Murphy is his gaggle of Iranian asslickers: https://www.nationalreview.com/corne...arr-to-resign/

I think the Ds are going to include in their platform: "beg forgiveness from Iran."

Was looking forward to some Iranian asslicking but your link is to a thoughtful piece in which Rich Lowry wonders if Trump is trying to force Barr to resign haha

[iam416]

Read all about it, now!

[Dr. Strangelove]

I dunno...sounds a little NSFW

Nah I read it. FALSE ADVERTISING!

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump has also pardoned Michael Milken? LOL...that's sort of amazing. Anyone want to take a wild guess at which US Attorney was responsible for indicting Milken in the first place?? Wonder what HE thinks about that one.

EDIT: Oops, it turns out Rudy himself has been pushing for a Milken pardon for a while. So chalk that one up to Rudy's influence and not just the "I like pardoning white collar criminals with NYC connections"

[Jeff Buchanan]

DSL, I appreciate your lofty thoughts about hating to live in a world where Graft & Grift (are) as common as salt & pepper. I also get your humor but, a point needs to be made.

So, come-on. The history of governance - and I don't care of what flavor - is rife with it. That's not a statement meant to excuse it but rather one that recognizes it's presence. At the same time there are elements of integrity in the governments of mostly western countries where the concept of democracy has been alive for centuries or has recently taken hold ..... and by recent I mean in the last 200 year, that make government work. Those elements are either in the form of structures, processes - checks and balances for lack of other terms - or humans acting with integrity in the absence of such checks and balances to make governments perform in service of the citizens they govern.

Believe it or not, despite the presence of all the graft and grifters you worry about, the US has a stable government, law and order - and citizen safety as a result, electrical power, decent transportation in the form of air, roads and rail, reliable telecommunications and a regulatory framework that is more-or-less decent in achieving results (depending on who you talk to about that, of course). Left to the notion that making money is not evil, the vastness of the entirely of corporate America including the entire financial and service sectors, is providing jobs, goods and services and building wealth for citizens who want to climb aboard that train instead of complaining about it and it's unfairness.

Some people tend to loose perspective on this ...... don't be one of them.

[Dr. Strangelove]

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump with the best approval numbers of his Presidency in the latest NBC/WSJ poll

[iam416]

[Whitley]

Through Super Tuesday....538 current model on the chances of winning each contest

Bernie: Nevada 69%(Biden 14%), South Carolina 53% (Biden 37%), California 69% (Biden 11%), Texas 53% (Biden 20%), North Carolina 45% (Biden 24%), Virginia 44% (Bloomberg 25%), Massachusetts 50% (Warren 21%), Colorado 63% (Biden 18%), Tennessee 49% (Biden 22%), Alabama 42% (Bloomberg 24%), Arkansas 42% (Bloomberg 24%), Utah 67% (Bloomberg 15%), Maine 57% (Bloomberg 15%), Vermont 96% (Mayor Pete 1%), American Samoa 33% (Biden 24%)

Kloubacher: Minnesota 36%(Sanders 36%)

Biden: Alabama 38% (Sanders 36%)

[Hannibal]

Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is running as a Democrat in NY-14. Too bad she probably has no chance of unseating The Narcissistic Socialist Child.