Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Mike]

Oz is an example of the celebrity candidate and a carpetbagger at that. A quack TV doctor from out of state doesn’t play well. Yes, Fetterman is a barely functioning imbecile but he was also the sitting Lt. Governor so he had name ID going for him. If anything, the stroke helped him because he became a sympathetic figure.

At any rate, Oz losing to a barely functioning imbecile sort of underscores my point.

There was only a handful of races that were tossups/massively important and the Rs struck out in PA, AZ, GA, and Nevada. There is a common thread there.

[Jeff Buchanan]

There has not been a lot to write about regarding Putin's war in UKraine. That's because the focus of armed combat on both sides is in and around Bakhmut and just north and west of that, the Soledar - Kreminia line. Advances are followed by retreats on both sides. Masses of untrained and poorly equipped Russian soldiers are being ordered to attack in waves without air, artillery or armor support. Most of them are killed in attacks designed to soften Ukrainian defenses that then allow more experienced Russian soldiers to move forward on land that is strewn with bodies. It's brutal trench warfare as far from modern combined arms warfare as it could possibly be. The Ukrainian forces are judged by mailitary observers and analysts to be hodling thier own if not doing better than the Russian forces.

It is attritional warfare with Ukrainian forces changing previous tactics that won Kharkiv and Kherson - attacking C&C and logistics in rear areas and avoiding frontal engagements with the Russians. A recent analysis done by military experts explains that the change in Ukrainian tactics is paying dividends, if you can call piles of young Russian soldiers dead can be called a success. Clearly, the Russians or Wagner forces are not making sustainable progress - they occupy a few new meters of ground and then are forced back off of it by Ukrainians both sides sustaining enormous casualties. Analysts predict that Putin will conduct another large mobilization inside Russia, denying he's doing it all along. What he's doing is simply supplying numbers at the front in the hopes that Ukraine will tire of this sort of WWI style siege occupation and give up.

Geographically Bakhmut lies at the doorstep of Donetsk and that portion of the Donbas - it is strategically unimportant but has taken on great symbolic value for both sides. The Soledar-Kreminea line further N is strategically important as the line between the two cities sits right on top of major highways that feed critical Russian supply lines originating from further N and E inside Russia and Belarus. The battles in these two areas are primarily artillery duels against dug in defensive positions reminiscent of WW1. The landscape appears as if it were Verdun - blackened ruins, mostly mud, shredded trees and hundreds of craters made by indiscriminate shelling carried out mostly by the Russians. The Russians do not go in to get their dead and dying soldiers on these battlefields.

There's background chatter that the Russians are preparing defensive positions for a large scale Ukrainian offensive operations in the spring targeting either or both the Zaphorezia and Luhansk Oblasts. If the Russians lose control of these areas, two outcomes result: The land bridge between Rostof-on-don inside Russia and Crimea is threatened and/or Putin's objective of seizing the entirety of the Donbas would fail spectacularly. As a signal from the west that they are read-in on some type of forthcoming Ukrainian offensive of this can be seen in the rather large increase in military vehicles, equipment and ammunition flowing into Ukraine to support such a move.

[Hannibal]

Every once in a while, we get a small White Pill

[Hannibal]

Oz is an example of the celebrity candidate and a carpetbagger at that. A quack TV doctor from out of state doesn’t play well. Yes, Fetterman is a barely functioning imbecile but he was also the sitting Lt. Governor so he had name ID going for him. If anything, the stroke helped him because he became a sympathetic figure.

At any rate, Oz losing to a barely functioning imbecile sort of underscores my point.

There was only a handful of races that were tossups/massively important and the Rs struck out in PA, AZ, GA, and Nevada. There is a common thread there.

There are two common threads. I'll admit that Trump is problematic but he has brought some benefits to the table too. I would like to see him move on and retreat from politics but I can't make that happen and you aren't going to get his millions of followers to vote for somebody else that you like by constantly insulting them.

The other common thread is that the big losers were guys that the R establishment hates. They are boat rockers and the party doesn't want boat rockers. The country's ailments don't affect Mitch McConnell. He's perfectly fine with the county circling the drain. That's why he released millions of dollars for Lisa Murkowski in a 100% guaranteed R seat race so that she could defeat Tshibaka instead of redirecting it to Oz or Masters. Over $20 MM got flushed down the toilet in PA funding Oz's primary opponents too. That's more money than got spent on Mastriano's entire campaign.

The country is in pretty big trouble. Fixing it isn't going to be pretty. If you want difficult shit done, you're going to have to accept warts on your candidates.

Also -- why does it matter if he's a carpetbagger? Being a carpetbagger didn't hurt Hillary. And it was much more blatant in her case. How come these little flaws only matter for Republicans?

[Jeff Buchanan]

This will get no mention in the MSM. But it's a big deal and it's one of the small reasons, the Republic will survive. Not in all cases, but clearly in this one, the courts unfuck a wrong perpetrated by a fully woke VT administration.

[lineygoblue]

Every once in a while, we get a small White Pill

Part of the settlement should have been that stupid coach losing his job. Instead, he gets to go on doing what he does.

[THE_WIZARD_]

So when do the raids on Biden's homes begin?

[CGVT]

So when do the raids on Biden's homes begin?

As soon as he blatantly breaks the law like Trump did.

[Mike]

Has Trump even been charged with a crime yet?

[lineygoblue]

Has Trump even been charged with a crime yet?

Nope. And unless the "Justice Department" acts on its own, its not happening.

[THE_WIZARD_]

As soon as he blatantly breaks the law like Trump did.

Ummm....possessing classified documents for 5 years when you had no authority to declassify isn't breaking the law?

[THE_WIZARD_]

I would love to see the look on Merrick Garland's cheesy ass face right now...heh...

[CGVT]

Too bad there is no comparison.

Bradley P. Moss, a national security lawyer, told Insider that so far this looks like a routine matter with no allegation of criminal wrongdoing. He contrasted what we know about the case with that being built against Trump, who held boxes of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort even after their return had been demanded by the National Archives.

"Biden's team did exactly what you're supposed to do," Moss said. "When you find improperly stored classified documents, you immediately notify the government — and you turn it over immediately."

Classified documents are routinely misplaced, and so far this looks to be a routine investigation, perhaps motivated in part by a desire by the Department of Justice to show it is impartial, Moss said. The nature of the investigation would change if the US attorney in charge of reviewing the documents, Matt Lausch, a Trump appointee, were to uncover any evidence that Biden or his staff misled the National Archives.

"The reason Donald Trump is in criminal jeopardy right now isn't just because of the documents being improperly stored. It was the obstruction," Moss said. "That is why it has gotten to the point it has, where we're looking at the real possibility of a criminal indictment."

[THE_WIZARD_]

You are right...there is no comparison. Trump actually had the right to declassify the documents unlike Hillary and The Chairman.

[THE_WIZARD_]

The next PC with KJP should be a classic...