The Frankish Reich

Allow me to explain. There are people like Jim Jordan who appear to actually believe Trump's bs to an extent that the Democrats reasonably believe he's nuts. And that is a person nobody is able to deal with. There are other people like this Mike Johnson who appear to be humoring Trump and his bs for their own political advantage. That is a person you may be able to deal with.

Conflicts or not, what the hell are Clarence Thomas and his wife doing with all the money they earn? Why is he always in need of gifts and loan forgiveness? Dude is just really bad at managing his finances. In a security clearance investigation (I don't think Supreme Court Justices get one) they'd be asking about gambling problems, affairs, drug issues, whether he owes money (ding!) to any person who could compromise him, etc.

The story has absolutely nothing to do with your bizarro conspiracies. it’s not interesting/troubling enough to you that Iran is training Gaza terrorists?

On such matters I turn to the experts. No, I don’t mean some gender theory professor or media pundit. I mean my college age daughter. She seems to know every so-called TikTok or YouTube star out there. When the Bud Light story broke, I asked her who this Dylan Mulvaney is. Her answer: never heard of him/her until now.

Again, something only right wing media seemed to care about. I looked it up: the articles that are all inflamed about the interview outnumber those giving it positive coverage by about 10:1. Ever consider you're being trolled?

Ahh, yes, I remember January 6, 2017. It is burned into my brain. Joe Biden refused to accept the state electoral college certifications from certain Trump states and all hell broke loose. I mean, that did happen, right? Of course, no one knew who this dweeb version of Jim Jordan was until today. Jokes on you though, since Dems wouldn't have let this happen by not showing up to vote unless there was a side deal to fund the government before Nov 17, probably with Ukraine aid in there too ...

And now Mike Johnson, someone everyone had to google last night, is going to be empowered to do ... nothing. Nothing in a divided government. But he'll make you feel great about owning the libs!

One of the reasons I frequent this forum. I had no idea that certain seemingly perfectly normal people harbor such bizarro beliefs. I mean, read their football posts, they seem like regular guys (and they are all guys). Then come here and find out more than you ever should have known about them. That's also why I take occasional extended leaves from this place ...

I just don't think that market is big enough for that to be the reason. Therefore, I will assume that is was a type of virtue signaling. This obviously bothered a lot of people for a variety of reasons. Even if I were a Bud Light drinker it wouldn't have bothered me. To be honest, for some people (including someone I know who now googles various beers to make sure Anheuser Busch does not own them) it seems to be good old fashioned "I don't want to be ridiculed as the guy who drinks gay beer." Others saw it as further normalization of trans people and part of a larger trans agenda, telling kids "it's cool to be trans." Whatever. People should have more important things to think about than some minor internet celebrity getting a tiny social media influencer gig.

"The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." - Abba Eban, Israeli Foreign Minister, after the Geneva Peace Conference in late 1973. And here we are again. In a rare instance of continuity in foreign policy from Trump to Biden, the so-called Abraham Accords continued. Minor Gulf States made their peace with Israel under Trump, and an expansion to the big player, Saudi Arabia, was on the table. But the deal didn't include anything about the status of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. And so other radical Arab groups had to scuttle the deal, namely, Hamas. Another opportunity to move forward, another opportunity squandered. Is the situation for Palestinians better now than if the Saudi deal had gone forward? Better for Hamas I guess, as it would have been further marginalized. Better for Iran, too, since that would have further marginalized them in the Middle East. Better for the Palestinian people? You tell me.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't so much talking about age/sex profile as I was talking about other things. In other words, the intersection between UFC viewers and "foodies" and other craft beer enthusiasts strikes me as pretty minor.

Because the UFC demographic likes crappy beer. In addition to the obvious.

Way to go, squishy old school Republicans. You are giving the nutcases what they wanted: an election denier as Speaker, someone who will never do anything to cross Trump. This is what Mitt Romney has been talking about. The party is no longer recognizable.

So it is what I thought, a Jews run the world post. Just come right out and say it if that's what you believe.

If you consider complying with the Geneva Conventions to be "standing in the middle," well, then, that's indeed a good place to be. If you don't like that, explain where the lines are. Is Irv's suggestion that we nuke Gaza acceptable? If not, why not?

And it is perfectly fair and correct for the US to counsel others to avoid committing war crimes. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/europe/israel-gaza-and-the-laws-of-war.html Anyone who has spent much time on social media recently will have seen people conflate the justness of the conflict itself with the justness of the way it is being conducted. Some have appeared to excuse the killing of Israeli civilians on the basis that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is wrong, while others appeared to dismiss the killing of Palestinian civilians in airstrikes on the grounds that Israel is right to defend itself from attack.

Elise Stefanik, upstate NY rep with endless ambition who herself wanted no part of the thankless job of Speaker, now going off against Biden like a Jim Jordan in the 184 weight class.

And yes, that's a perfectly acceptable response. These talking heads are expected to talk, talk, talk to fill the dead air while images of death and destruction play behind them. They don't always hit the perfect tone, and neither would I.

Looks like some Dems are going to sit out the vote to allow him to get a majority with fewer Republican votes. I hope they extracted something in return for that favor

You know what else "hasn't happened before or since?" FULLY FUELED JETS BEING FLOWN DIRECTLY INTO TWO ONE HUNDRED STORY BUILDINGS, CAUSING BOTH TO COLLAPSE, WITH AN ADJACENT 40+ STORY BUILDING COLLAPSING SHORTLY THEREAFTER. When heaven forbid that happens again and the building(s) remain standing, you'll have a good point. Until then ...

Jim Jordan with better hair and a less obnoxious demeanor.

You must be the person behind the rebranding of Israeli Couscous as Pearled Couscous. Yes, Israel must be reminded. And Hamas must be decried.

I had to look that one up. I was blissfully unaware that there's a crackpot conspiracy theory about that too. Yes, I do believe it collapsed from fires and the almost unimaginably intense heat and repercussions of the fall of the larger towers. https://www.nist.gov/pao/questions-and-answers-about-nist-wtc-7-investigation

Right. So if we did have Hines - if he hadn't been injured in that Jetski accident - would both of them have been active at the same time? What on earth were we going to do with two little guys whose skillets are essentially the same? Harty came with a cap hit of $3.75 million. Maybe that could have been better applied to a position of need.

Don't you bore yourself doing this all the time? Me: right wing social media has mischaracterized a CNN report. Possible responses: 1. You're right, they kind of did. (Good response) 2. No, they still kind of underplayed the horror of being held captive. (Acceptable, arguable response) 3. Hey, left wing media did the same thing last summer! (Pointless, boring, predictable response)