Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

Right now I'd predict Biden, Dem House, Republican Senate, just because the Senate is a tough map for Dems.

I'm not sure if there's going to be debates or not. Trump balked at the primary ones and unless he's allowed to pick the moderators...<<shrugs>>

[iam416]

If DJT were congenitally able to sit back and STFU, then he should agree to 35 debates. However, he is not. He'll never get that the value of the debate letting The Chairman prattle on and DJT seeming relatively sane. It'll take one "he still won't admit I won in 2020" line from The Chairman to win every single debate.

So, yeah....it's not a showcase of the best and brigthest, that's for damn sure.

[Jeff Buchanan]

An interesting story coming out of Belgorod - Russia is reporting a military transport carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs positioning for a prisoner exchange was shot down by Ukraine. There's a limited video of the crash that news outlets are reporting a visible puff of smoke before the plane went down consistent with a missile shoot down.

What's interesting about this is that the area the aircraft crashed in is considered a combat zone within which Ukraine's air defense systems have been very active in an air defense zone denial role. There's speculation that the transport was carrying weapons, not POWs. Reports indicate the aircraft tail number that would be commonly known via filed flight plans was in Tehran within the last 72h. That suggests the Russians picked up weapons in Iran, probably advanced ballistic missiles, and these were being delivered to the front.

Going to be hard to sort out what actually happened as the Russians are controlling the narrative for now. Ukraine has remined silent.

[Dr. Strangelove]

If DJT were congenitally able to sit back and STFU, then he should agree to 35 debates. However, he is not. He'll never get that the value of the debate letting The Chairman prattle on and DJT seeming relatively sane. It'll take one "he still won't admit I won in 2020" line from The Chairman to win every single debate.

So, yeah....it's not a showcase of the best and brigthest, that's for damn sure.

He has less discipline NOW than he had in 2016 or 2020, and that wasn't much.

It's also rich for the Trump people to complain about Nikki Haley relying on Independents in the NH primary. Because that's largely how he won the NH primary back in 2016. Trump was promising much more moderate policies in 2016 than he did in 2020 or he is today.

[iam416]

I mean, look -- if internal consistency is your thing, then you should probably avoid politics and certainly avoid DJT. Most politicians have absolutely no ethos other than to win. Anything that serves that end is good by them. Typically.

DJT is even more granular in his self-serving ethos -- DJT is invincible and infallible. The only exception to the latter is if fallibility is used as a direct shot at someone who disagrees with him "I regret appointing Nikki Haley to the UN because she's a nasty, nasty women possibly born in a foreign country."

[lineygoblue]

I had breakfast this morning in a quaint little town called Auburn Indiana, with my little brother from Indy, (meet me half way, bro) and my big brother from here. We do that about once per month just to stay in touch. Anyway, as we were talking about politics a bit, I mentioned that if we get the same presidential choices in '24 that we had in '20, that I was leaving the presidential part of my ballot blank. Before I could say anything else, both of my brothers chimed in and said, "me too". One is a conservative, and one is so liberal that even John Kerry would call him 'too far left'.

I'm thinking a lot of other folks are going to do the same. Too bad the ballot does not include the choice of "none of the above". It should.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Another local GOP that’s a total dumpster fire in a critical state.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Not surprising Trump wants to sabotage any border deal, a la Nixon vis a vis Vietnam in 1968. The economy isn't cooperating.

GDP Q4 2023: The U.S. economy grew at a 3.3% pace in the fourth quarter (cnbc.com)

[Dr. Strangelove]

[Dr. Strangelove]

[iam416]

Best and brightest

[iam416]

Meanwhile, the Left is doing all it can to try to get The Chairman to embrace Hamas.

Shrewd.

[Dr. Strangelove]

You sir, by your flippancy, just got denied entrance to the Kingdom of MAGA

[Dr. Strangelove]

Wow. The RNC may simply declare Trump the presumptive nominee as early as next week. Not bothering to wait for the next primary or the 1,215 delegates he needs to officially be the nominee.

Tell me again how this asshat is "anti-Establishment". The Establishment fucking works for HIM

RNC Moving to Declare Trump Its Presumptive Nominee - The Dispatch

[crashcourse]

regarding Kari Lake you have to wonder why they were willing to offer her 30million not to run. She lost the governors race, is unappologetically MEGA, and yet when you listen to the tape there is no doubt she was being bribed to get out of the race

as far as the primarys go do we really need any biden supporter bitching about manipulating primaries and the results?