The Frankish Reich

You tell me what would have happened if Pence had bowed to Trump's pressure ....

Good point on polls. But two responses: - Trump loves citing polls when they show him in the lead vs. DeSantis, etc. - State-by-state polls are kind of trash these days. Kind of; they're still (amazingly to me, given how many people ignore pollsters) useful, but just barely. And of course we elect presidents state-by-state. National polls are weirdly still pretty good. The consensus of the reliable national polls in 2020 had Biden up by about 7 percent, which is just about what he won by in the popular vote.

I have no problem with the video. It is a kind of red America virtue signaling, but there's plenty of blue America virtue signaling to counteract it. What I have a problem with is the underlying assumption - popular in some circles - that small towns are somehow bastions of community and civic virtue. Have these people actually spent time in America's small towns lately? I see that Jason Aldean grew up in Macon, Georgia (a small city, not a "small town") and that he lives in ... Nashville. Small town America: a great place to visit in country songs, but you wouldn't want to live there ... https://www.usda.gov/topics/opioids In five states, California, Connecticut, North Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia, the rate of drug-overdose deaths in rural counties were higher than those in urban counties. https://news.ohsu.edu/2022/08/15/meth-use-drives-overdose-epidemic-in-rural-u-s-communities https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/substance-use#:~:text=Rural adolescents and young adults,influence%2C than their urban counterparts. Though often perceived to be a problem of the inner city, substance use and misuse have long been prevalent in rural areas. Rural adults have higher rates of use for tobacco and methamphetamines, while opioid use has grown in towns of every size. Rural adolescents and young adults use alcohol at higher rates and are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, like binge drinking or driving under the influence, than their urban counterparts.

2024 GENERAL ELECTION President Biden leads former President Trump 49 - 44 percent in a hypothetical general election matchup among registered voters. This is essentially unchanged from June, when Biden had a slight lead over Trump, 48 - 44 percent. https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3876 "I can't believe I'm losing to a guy with advanced dementia"

Because he's a coward. Pence isn't. "We are going to THE CAPITOL." Except he didn't go with them. He watched on TV.

It was embarrassingly awful. Even Trump hated how "low class" the rioters looked. But a reminder: it almost worked. It caused Congress to adjourn the ceremonial act of counting the electoral votes. It amped up the severe pressure Trump was putting on Pence. It almost caused Pence to flee the building on Secret Service advice. It came far, far too close for comfort.

Yeah, he must be using another screen name. You know, the one he uses with that VPN to browse "best S&M pictures."

I get it. He is indicted for you. The Messiah.

Living rent free inside his head. Where I have tons of square footage to enjoy!

OK, I get it. There's a big in-migration into Texas and Florida. But have you looked at the leading red states lately? The ones that voted Republican overwhelmingly in 2020? Places like Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas? There's no "red states are thriving, blue states are dying" thing. Most deep red states are in the bottom third on any socio-economic measure.

And "outraged" about school system eliminating tracking ...

So Trump should've listened to his counsel and made sure that any and all criminal activity he engaged in occurred only in Palm Beach, where he apparently owns the judge, and not in DC, where Joe Biden and the Democrats apparently own the judges? Not a particularly persuasive line of argument ....

And did any of that actually happen? NO. Compare what we now know happened in Michigan. They knowingly put forth a slate of "fake electors," even using that very term. YES.

This is an awful trend. I have some familiarity with educational systems in Europe; very little with educational systems in Asia or other parts of the world. They tend to "track" students much earlier, separating out the high achievers from those that are struggling. We have a more egalitarian focus in America. That continues straight through high school and university. We want to give late bloomers a chance. Unlike the UK, you don't specialize (by taking A levels) in particular disciplines before going to college. And unlike the UK, you aren't accepted into a particular degree program (with some minor exceptions), so you don't even have to declare a major until your second or third year. There's something valuable in all of that. But ... we have to live in the real world too. There are a lot of disciplined/bright kids who will be going into STEM fields who will be adversely impacted by trying to push everyone into an easier math sequence. My perception (and our educators are welcome to jump in here to agree/disagree): we pretty much know which kids may have a STEM future and which kids don't by the time they do hit 8th grade. Tracking shouldn't be a bad word. We should give a kid every opportunity to catch up. But catching up doesn't mean slowing down the talented/dedicated kids. We are in a weird place in America. Nobody ever suggests that the little kid sports team rules - everybody plays on the same team, regardless of ability - should carry through to high school. I would have played varsity football if that had been the rule, and believe me, I had no business even thinking about playing varsity football. Same thing with other skills: ballet, music, theater, whatever. But when it comes to academics we are afraid to admit that different kids have different talent levels in writing/math, etc. My kids' private school even stopped publishing the Honor Rolls (which, taking into account all 3 levels and grade inflation, probably included 85% of all students), but it had no problem publishing individual stats for the basketball teams. Why?

Of course Ukraine won't be admitted to NATO while a war is ongoing. We might as well simply declare war on Russia. Not gonna happen. But Ukraine In NATO (whether/when/under what terms) remains a huge bargaining chip to what will, someday, be a negotiated end to the fighting. May that day come sooner rather than later ...

None of that compares with trying to manipulate the actual mechanics of the electoral process, knowingly putting forth slates of "fake electors" (their term!), etc. Those are all things about trying to influence how people vote. Russian misinformation (which happened), Democrats publicizing a sketchy fake intel report (which happened) - all of that is in the category of dirty tricks to try to get people to vote a certain way. This was a deliberate attempt to ignore the results of those votes. It is not even close to the same thing. It had never happened before in the history of the republic. And I hope it never happens again, but that's what's so dangerous here: one side ignores established norms, next time around the other side says "why not us?"

FROM THE DESK OF DONALD J. TRUMP, 45th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Dear Brigitte Gabriel, Thank you for posting the WONDERFUL and very powerful photoshop of ME walking side by SIDE for civil rights with Martin Luther King. But please make sure to adjust the PHOTO to account for our correct heights since in real life I would TOWER OVER civil rights icon Dr. King who appears to be slightly TALLER than me in the wonderful photo as Dr. King was in fact quite SHORT at about 5'7" whereas I am very TALL AND POWERFUL.

And you know what didn't happen? Hillary Clinton didn't try to put together slates of Fake Electors (the exact term used by the Michigan Republicans) to submit false declarations stating under oath that they are the duly elected electors of their states. And the rest of the comments are about the old issue of "faithless electors" - again, individuals who WERE duly elected in their states, but who then refuse to cast their electoral votes for the candidate they ostensibly supported. Not at all the same thing, and (with respect to state laws binding duly elected electors to vote for the candidate they supported), not an issue that was decided by the Supreme Court until 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiafalo_v._Washington#:~:text=The Court ruled unanimously%2C by,in the state of Washington. Deflection, deflection, deflection ...

"unpopular" and "good" are not the same thing. Gallup just did a survey - how do people today view the presidents from JFK onward? - JFK is the most popular (90% approval). - Nixon is still the most unpopular - Trump is unchanged. Still about -10 - Every other president has higher approval ratings today than he had while in office. What does it mean? Well, probably a major nostalgia factor. But also that it's not a good idea to base an assessment of whether a president is doing a good job overall on his in-office popularity.

My simple casting rules (and yes, Disney violates some of them): - Casting should be race/color blind unless race/color is somehow critical to the story. Othello has to be darker skinned than the non-Moorish characters in that play. It is not "blackface" to take a give a white actor a slightly darker skin tone in order to make the dialogue make sense. It is not critical to the story that The Little Mermaid be white; it is critical that she have red hair. The live action movie tried to do that, but for some weird reason toned down the red hair. - Casting should be (and here I use a woke term) sexual orientation/gender blind. The history of theater and Hollywood will show that many, many gay actors played straight men. Straight men can play gay actors too. But if it is important to the script that the characters are a straight man and a straight woman in a romantic relationship, well, then the actors have to act. And vice versa. That's what they're paid for. With those rules in mind: if you are going to do a live action remake of Snow White, and you still (for whatever historical or marketing reasons) want to call her "Snow White," she probably has to have light skin. No one is stopping you from making a movie based on Snow White that is called, say, The Orphan Princess, and casting a dark-skinned actress in the title role.

highest point in Florida!

Michigan fake electors charged - and here's the kicker: in emails, the Michigan Republicans literally used the term "fake electors" among themselves before someone said, "hey guys, maybe we shouldn't be calling them 'fake electors.'" They then changed the nomenclature to "alternative electors." Can't make this crap up.

Have you read the Eastman memos? Do that and then we'll talk. And what if Pence had done what Trump point-blank told him to do (and then ridiculed his lack of courage for refusing to give in to the boss)? Let's say he'd refused to certify Arizona and another state. Arizona goes back to its Republican legislature and Republican governor. They certify a slate of fake electors. Congress declares Trump the winner. In retrospect (remember the Cyber Ninjas Republican-sponsored audit), we know that Biden really, really, really DID win Arizona. We would have had a pretender to the presidency. The dangerous thing is it came really close to working, this diabolical scheme. The only person that stood in the way was Mike Pence. He said point blank that he lacked the authority to do what Trump was pressuring him to do. He's said that the Secret Service told him that they should whisk him away to a "safe location." He wouldn't do it. And as a true Christian man, he was not going to violate his oath - an oath on the Bible - to faithfully execute his duties. He stood his ground and did his constitutionally mandated job. Thank you, Mike Pence.

No. The Eastman memos lay it out in intricate detail. The mob was doing its part in trying to delay the certification and to intimidate Pence into doing exactly what Trump was urging him to do. Again ... the mob is not the story. It was a tactic. The cynical attempt to subvert the democratic process is the story. And it is what makes Trump uniquely dangerous in the history of the American presidents.

Are you sure mom just wasn't trying to stop you from seeing it? Sorry, probably bad to joke about that but I was guessing she's ok since you're going with your wife now... ... but the story about AMC cinemas deliberately sabotaging the movie was shot down by the movie's producers/distributors themselves. Just another example of the workings of the Faux Outrage Machine. https://www.angel.com/press/release/angel-studios-statement-on-sound-of-freedom-and-amc-theaters “We understand there are rumors—predominantly in social media—that AMC theaters have made it difficult for fans to see SOUND of FREEDOM in local AMC theaters, and we want to make it clear these rumors are not accurate,” states Brandon Purdie, Head of Angel Theatrical Distribution. “AMC has been an outstanding partner for Angel Studios, and in fact, as a result of the movie’s performance and consumer demand, AMC has agreed to add additional screens for SOUND OF FREEDOM this weekend. “Angel Studios and the producers of SOUND OF FREEDOM are asking our fans to support AMC, and all of our other theatrical partners. Summer is the busiest season for people working in theaters, so we ask that anyone attending a screening of SOUND OF FREEDOM show kindness to their local theater staff. We have the best movie fans in the business. Let’s continue to show theaters the love that Angel supporters are known for.”