Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[SeattleLionsFan]

Trump's tax rate plan is more favorable for me.
Good enough reason there.

That just makes you wrong, not an asshole. .

[The Oracle]

I don't get it. Superdelegates haven't voted yet.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The interim president of Brazil (Miguel Temer) is himself under investigation for impeachment and is tied to the Petrobas scandal. He was just found guilty of breaking campaign finance laws and is actually forbidden to run for office for another 8 years.

He's been President for what?A month? And he's already had three ministers resign (all hand-picked by him from the right wing parties who lost the last elections). Two of them (One his Minister for Transparency!) were caught on tape boasting how now that they were in power they could get the Petrobas investigation shut down. So there's dirt on everyone's hands down there...but it seems pretty clear that the impeachment of Rouseff wasn't done out of concern about corruption. It was done so unpopular parties could take over the government through a non-electoral process.

As for Venezuela it's a disaster...but I'm not sure that's a good reason to let Brazil degenerate into chaos. Or to not even be able to offer any comments and hide behind "we don't like to comment on the internal affairs of other countries". Of course we do, but only when it suits us.

[Mike]

On a related note... Yay Olympics!

[hack]

I agree that even if the threshold for concern/State Dept statements is humanitarian concerns, it would be disingenuous to explain it all away that way when the standard shifts depending on the politics of the situation. The only things I've got here is that the Intercept story was awfully spun and misleading, and don't count on the State Department to be principled in any way.

[Dr. Strangelove]

These Olympics will be...memorable.

* Brazilian constitutional crisis
* Deep economic recession
* The bay is full of sewage
* Zika Virus
* Pickpocket paradise

Fun times!

[hack]

Also, Brazilian girls. Genetic diversity is hot.

[iam416]

Interesting discussion re South America. It strikes me that Venezuela has been openly hostile to the US and Brazil has not. Venezuela, IMO, while having some oil relevance is a big zero. Brazil is the South American "power" -- I guess -- to the extent South America has such things. And I'm not familiar enough with Brazil's internal issues to comment on whether they are abusive when it comes to civil rights, but Venezuela clearly is.

I'd rather swim in the Lake of Fecality than visit a Venezuelan hospital. I mean -- it's an unmitigated fucking disaster of a country resulting from both drop in oil prices and a painfully stupid government. As corrupt as Brazil is, I don't think they've assfucked their people in any way approaching Chavez.

So, Brazil, IMO, considerably more important than Venezuela and Brazil, IMO, considerably less citizen assfuckery.

Setting that aside, why on earth does anything less than true first world countries host global events? I mean -- I know WHY....but FFS, pass a resolution, UN...make yourself useful.

[Hannibal]

Trump says the judge overseeing the lawsuit against Trump University can't be fair to him because hes a Mexican. Even though the guy was born and raised in Indiana, but is of Mexican heritage.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/03/politi...ead/index.html

The faux outrage over this is adorable.

[iam416]

Re Trump, his comments on the Judge are profoundly stupid. I can't imagine going out of my way to piss off a judge trying my case. But, hey, if he wants to fuck himself, then so be it.

What's interesting is that he took issue with him being of Mexican descent -- arguing he'll have it out for Trump based on that descent and, presumably, his life experiences. I think that's stupid, but it calls to my mind the liberal argument for "diversity" -- that folks of different races, ethnicities, genders (apparently there are dozens), etc see things differently and thus we need a diverse bench to represent all viewpoints. Indeed, Justice Sotamayor famously asserted a viewpoint of a "wise Latina" adds value to the bench (I think she actually said was better than old white males).

Assuming that "diversity" argument to be true -- that different judges reach different conclusions based on their race, ethnicity, etc.....then, well, Trump may actually have a point. Now, I think that particular case for diversity is utter hogwash so Trump's points are hogwash...but I think you'd have a hard time splitting the baby on this one...

[Hannibal]

Re Trump, his comments on the Judge are profoundly stupid. I can't imagine going out of my way to piss off a judge trying my case. But, hey, if he wants to fuck himself, then so be it.

Take some time to learn about the judge's political leanings and you might see it differently.

What's interesting is that he took issue with him being of Mexican descent -- arguing he'll have it out for Trump based on that descent and, presumably, his life experiences. I think that's stupid, but it calls to my mind the liberal argument for "diversity" -- that folks of different races, ethnicities, genders (apparently there are dozens), etc see things differently and thus we need a diverse bench to represent all viewpoints. Indeed, Justice Sotamayor famously asserted a viewpoint of a "wise Latina" adds value to the bench (I think she actually said was better than old white males).

LMAO. This was my thought exactly. The entire concept of "diversity" is based on the exact same thought process that Trump used to come to the conclusion that he might not get a fair trial. The cognitive dissonance that Democrats have to deal with on a daily basis must be crippling. But of course, no mainstream Republican is making this argument, because they are 100% clueless, gutless, pussy cuckolds. As usual, they are kneejerkedly condemning Trump because absolutely nothing terrifies them more than the possibility of being called "racist".

[Dr. Strangelove]

Tell us all about the judge's "political leanings", Hannibal. The guy made a career going after the Mexican cartels and had to be guarded 24/7 for a while.

And anyways Trump didn't say shit about the judge's politics. He said he was "Mexican" and therefore incapable of properly handling his job. And later added that no Muslim could be trusted to treat him fairly either.

[Hannibal]

You should be applauding him for that. It's the worldview you guys have been pushing for literally my entire life.

Like I said before, the faux outrage is adorable. Really, it is.

[iam416]

Take some time to learn about the judge's political leanings and you might see it differently.

I don't care. From my perspective, as an attorney, you don't actively try to piss off the judge trying your case. Everyone has been stuck with a bad judge. In some instances, it's clear the judge doesn't like your case at all. You have to deal with it -- and IMO that does not including publicly attacking said judge.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hanni- Trump directly attacked the man's ethnicity. Spin all you want. Trump mentioned nothing of substance about his case nor about the judge's political leanings. Trump felt simply calling him a "Mexican" was evidence enough of his inability to be a judge.