The Frankish Reich

I see that guy anywhere near a parade this month, I'm thinking "oh, he must be IN the Pride Parade." Every man hates what he has to deny.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint: the rainbow flag is a good flag because it is simple in design and representation. It was meant to say something like "all of us united like the constituent colors of the spectrum." The addition of the little triangle messes us the design and the message, implicitly taking out the trans (or whatever exactly it's supposed to mean) from the unified spectrum.

Sometimes a flag is really just a banner. I've known a lot of these flag purists in my time. They're always ready with citations to that flag code - the United States flag has to be flown higher than the state flag, etc., etc. The rainbow flag isn't a state or national flag. Neither is the EFF BIDEN flag that seems so popular at many child-centric events. The Faux Outrage Machine churns on.

I go there to post about Ken Dorsey's offensive scheme. And to fly my Bills flag just slightly higher than my hammer and sickle flag. There's an alterna-Irv there standing at the ready to shout me down.

Then what are you doing here on a Bills fan forum? Maybe you'd be a better fit on the reddit/WhyIAmACommunist forum.

How do you know I didn't? -/s/ Vlad

If you read the recent Tennessee case (or a good summary of it) shooting down the effective ban on drag performances, you'll see the point: under the old "I know it when I see it" Supreme Court doctrine, states and cities can ban or put restrictions on "obscenity," which is typically defined as something meant to appeal to what's called the "prurient interest." In other words, something that's done for sexual titillation rather than for some other purpose. And common sense laws do recognize that distinction. The Tennessee case makes it clear that while there may be obscene drag shows, that's not necessarily the case, and even a wholesale prohibition on drag performances where children may be present run afoul of the first amendment. And that's where a lot of these laws are a type of conservative virtue signaling that would ban some community theater from doing a painful version of Mrs Doubtfire just as much as they'd ban drag queens (or indeed anyone) engaging in simulated or real sex acts on stage.

Oh, I don't know, maybe she a couple things to be proud of ...

I can agree with that. A weekend is fine. That's what it always was, even when I lived in SF. But there's holiday creep everywhere. I think I've got about 60 days before the Halloween Superstore opens up again.

Remember: the Principal is your pal. (Mrs. Lafferty, 4th grade, sends her regards) And my dad was born a lefty. But played baseball righthanded. Why? No one could afford those rare gloves for lefthanders.

Oh, I'm not going to deny that there's a lot of excess out there. But the general principle of "Pride" is kind of the same as when we celebrate other identity-centric days or months. St. Patrick's Day, Columbus Day, Black/Hispanic/Asian Pride, etc.

He kind of did suck (it's hard to separate it from a team in disarray in general though); if he was still performing at a SB contender level, I'm guessing we'd have seen a different ending to his story.

Not just modern-day Unitarians. Thomas Jefferson believed that too. I mean, not just that Jesus was a "good guy," but that the moral philosophy of Jesus was a code to strive to live by. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, commonly referred to as the Jefferson Bible, is one of two religious works constructed by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson compiled the manuscripts but never published them. The first, The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1804, but no copies exist today.[1] The second, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1820 by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson's condensed composition excludes all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural, including sections of the four gospels that contain the Resurrection and most other miracles, and passages that portray Jesus as divine

I worked for Barr's DOJ the first time around, under Bush 41. He was viewed as an honest broker, clearly a Republican (of course) who supported executive authority under the constitution, but not someone with any political ambition of his own (could a guy who looks and talks like him ever be elected anything in post-media saturation America?) or any particular axe to grind. When Trump brought him in after Sessions, that was still the general perception of Barr: boring, predictable, a straight shooter. No one's reputation survives intact after working for Trump. But let me try to explain the kind of law geek perception of how I see him now. Barr has always been consistent on one thing: a clear constitutional theory that Executive power must be asserted and protected. The strongest perspective on this is called the unitary executive theory: all of the Executive power is vested in the President; hence, all our post-FDR administrative state creations ultimately exist at the pleasure of the President, who has an inherent power to override administrative agency decisions and to replace administrative agency officers. Barr isn't the classic unitary executive theorist, but he was highly influenced by that concept when it came to the forefront under Reagan. So how does that explain his actions? How does it explain his seeming defense of Trump up until the election, and then his seeming abandonment of Trump afterwards? It's really not that hard to explain. Barr believes in protecting the authority of the Executive, of The Presidency, not necessarily of the human embodiment of that authority (President George H.W. Bush, President Trump, etc.). He was excoriated for his pre-release spin on the Mueller Report. And of course, it was a bit of spin. But in there too was a defense of the Executive's authority to do certain things no one else in our constitutional system is allowed to do -- strong-arming foreign government (Ukraine) for an arguable diplomatic/military advantage, even if that also brought a possible election campaign advantage. The Executive is authorized by the constitution, Article II, to do a whole lot of things that in the abstract may seem unseemly or even undemocratic. And Barr consistently defends Executive Authority. When I was in law school, the conservative take on things was that the powerful Executive we had up through LBJ had been supplanted by a kind of Legislative Supremacy after Watergate, as Congress asserted its supposed constitutional authority in all sorts of areas it previously kept out of; conservative thought the War Powers Act, for example, was unconstitutional. Conservatives therefore wanted to tilt the balance back toward Executive authority. Barr was part of that movement. So what about the post-election mess? There's really nothing inconsistent in Barr's behavior unless you believe that he should be acting as a political loyalist rather than as a strong-Executive constitutionalist. He saw nothing exceptional about the 2020 election that would have warranted the extraordinary measures Trump and his supporters were advocating. And what about the national security-related papers? Again, those papers belong to The Executive, to The Presidency, to the Article II constitutional Office, not to Donald J. Trump individually. He is therefore not bothered at all by the assertion of Executive authority under the Biden Administration demanding that they be returned. And he seems genuinely flabbergasted by Trump's refusal to do so quickly, honestly, and completely. And again: he doesn't care about his public reputation. His defense (and that's what it was, not officially but in fact) of Trump's actions in the first impeachment basically destroyed his ability to go back to the private sector and resume making big bucks. He didn't care. He will never hold elected office; no one would vote for a lumpy old Eyore-voiced character like him. He could have been a hero to Trumpies by supporting the election fraud claims. He never needed that or wanted that. He doesn't need to be loved. In today's world, where everyone wants attention and to be treated like someone's hero, that's kind of an admirable trait.

And it's not just Trump's unwillingness to listen to the advice of people who know what they're doing. It's also the insane (dementia? psychiatric disorder? both?) idea that he seemingly convinced himself of - the Q Anon concept that he would somehow be "restored" to the Presidency. Yes, I believe his behavior started to show that he at first used the Q Anon nuts in a selfish/disingenuous attempt to further his political career, but that at some point he actually started to believe his own bs. So since I'm kinda/sorta still the once and future President, I can continue to do what a President can do. Read or watch Bill Barr's assessment of this uniquely childish person.

And again, the outgoing President himself is not expected to read the Presidential Records Act. That's what the White House Counsel and/or the National Archives officials advise him on! But the absolute refusal to take sensible advice is the defining characteristic of Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration. He didn't like what his advisors/cabinet officials were telling him? "You're Fired!" And that's how he winds up getting indicted. Damn fool gonna damn fool.

It's just life. Remember when there was a minor brouhaha about Josh Allen's high school texts? He was the 7th overall pick, the future franchise quarterback (we hoped). Now if Jake Fromm had similar texts revealed? Different outcome. Sorry, not everyone gets the same breaks. Anthony Bass would've been cut as soon as he blew a couple leads in a row, just like he's been cut 8 times before.

Norm Macdonald did a funny bit on that ... ... but actually, it makes sense when you think of "Pride" as a shorthand for "Not Ashamed" or "Not Embarrassed About Being Myself." Should gay people be ashamed or embarrassed about letting everyone know who they are and (as is popular to say now) who they love? Of course not. Hence, "Pride." But should some people be embarrassed about letting it all hang out in public? Umm, yes. Yes they should.

I don't think you get it. Kyrie Irving says perhaps the stupidest and most offensive things ever. But when he's on the court, he's still one of the best point guards in the game. He will have a job. Anthony Bass is in the "shut up and pitch" category of journeymen.

"Riverton, Utah, Mayor Trent Staggs has announced that he is challenging Mitt Romney in the upcoming election"

Now if only he could've taught you to throw lefthanded you'd be set for life! You are Aaron Rodgers. Back-to-Back MVP and future Hall of Famer. You can say a lot of things and never worry about being waived. You are Anthony Bass. 35 year old career replacement level reliever and future Christian high school pitching coach. Don't piss off your boss. Life is simple.

Good news, Soros haters - his son Alex has now officially been named his successor, and he says he's "more political" than his dad.

From the article: "Michael Flynn co-founded the tour..."

In other words: Blue Jays release 35 year-old reliever with 4.95 ERA; Anthony Bass has accounted for 2.3 Wins Above Replacement Player over the course of 13 years and 525 innings pitched. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/anthony-bass/7982/stats?position=P This isn't MLB's reverse Colin Kaepernick. This is a journeyman who's hit the end of the line. June 5, 2008: Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 5th round of the 2008 amateur draft. Player signed June 14, 2008. December 11, 2013: Traded by the San Diego Padres with cash to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later. The Houston Astros sent Patrick Schuster (December 12, 2013) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade. November 22, 2014: Granted Free Agency. December 11, 2014: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers. November 16, 2015: Traded by the Texas Rangers with Leonys Martín to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later, James Jones and Tom Wilhelmsen. The Seattle Mariners sent Patrick Kivlehan (December 2, 2015) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade. January 7, 2016: Released by the Seattle Mariners. February 10, 2017: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers. October 13, 2017: Granted Free Agency. December 23, 2017: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. October 11, 2018: Granted Free Agency. December 26, 2018: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds. March 25, 2019: Released by the Cincinnati Reds. March 28, 2019: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds. May 20, 2019: Released by the Cincinnati Reds. May 21, 2019: Signed as a Free Agent with the Seattle Mariners. October 29, 2019: Selected off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Seattle Mariners. October 28, 2020: Granted Free Agency. January 27, 2021: Signed as a Free Agent with the Miami Marlins. August 2, 2022: Traded by the Miami Marlins with a player to be named later and Zach Pop to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jordan Groshans. The Miami Marlins sent Edward Duran (minors) (August 31, 2022) to the Toronto Blue Jays to complete the trade. EDIT: Dude has earned almost $11 million in salary over his MLB career, despite being outright released by his teams at least 8 times BEFORE this most recent time. Maybe he can do a right-wing podcast or something now.

I appear to be living rent-free in some fake Tarheel's brain. I ignore you! I can't ignore you!!