leh-nerd skin-erd

I do not believe Mueller was a beacon of integrity, to quote nedleyboy. I see a political fabrication and ultimately nothing to support attempting to destroy the integrity of a legitimate election where your person lost. I believe Bill Barr was 100% correct on the political persecution angle, believed it then, believe it now. Given the information released thus far on wrongdoing by Obama/Clinton/Buden and the rest, I’m surprised you’re still clinging to your version of political religion. You align nicely with the corruption crowd that wants to move to authoritarian rule. #myopic

I absolutely understand why you would not trust Trump, and he’s not a beacon of integrity. I simply pointed out when Putin moved, and who was in office at the time. Your response is typical of the liberal response to that issue. It’s an inconvenient truth.

@Niagara Bill When we were kids, we had a lot of trouble getting over the Peace Bridge on the weekends with all the traffic. This invasion is going to take forever if we haven’t seen an increase in accessibility in the last 50-60 years. Citizenship? US, we’re not MAGA tho. Where are you going today? Toronto, maybe Ottawa, eventually. Reason for your visit today? Stones Concert. Anything to declare? 25 guys in camo in the back, buncha M1s, M26s, some surface to air missles, the usual stuff. Fruit….you have any fruit back there? That’s a berry fair question—we appleslootly have no fruit in the vehicle lol. We don’t do fruit humor, sir. We’re Canadian. Sorry, no. No fruit. Have a nice day.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that folks in your camp believed the hype that Putin wanted Clinton to lose, that the Russians were instrumental in her loss, and I recall some folks pointing out Russian state media reports as gospel on a variety of issues. It’s bizarre to think anyone would trust Putin/Russian media on anything said or done, but let’s face the facts. Putin moved on Crimea and Ukraine at specific times, under the watch of specific admins. It seems bizarre to think that coincidental, and that Putin/Russia did not take into account who was in the WH each time. Don’t trust Putin, and of course, it would be wise to extend skepticism to widely reported stories coming from the US intelligence community. See the US, 2015 to current. In fact, probably a good idea to roll that 2015 way, way back as well.

Hey PTR, welcome back. Good to hear some other voices from time to time. I'll repeat what I've said along---it seems to be, when considering a number of different voices (conservative to liberal, politician to average citizen) that have weighed in on the matter, is that violent crime is of considerable concern to many DC residents. It's not an outlier, it's a fairly big deal and sure, Trump has chosen it to show he's tough on crime. That the dems are generally viewed as soft on crime, and maybe even crime friendly, probably not a horrible plan. The thing about blue v red states is that there are plenty of r, d, i and apathetic citizens in every state. At the same time, the intellectual exercise about per capita crime is fine, but how actual crimes are viewed has an awful lot to do with the relative proximity to the individual. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/08/fact-yes-d-c-crime-is-out-of-control/ There were 29,348 crimes reported in Washington, D.C. last year, including 3,469 violent offenses, 1,026 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 2,113 robberies, and 5,139 motor vehicle thefts. I'm fairly certain that the victims of that sort of crime don't say "Hey, at least I'm not in Boise.".

Agreed--saw The Who/Clash/David Johannsen at Rich Stadium in 1982. A little crazy, and I'm sure there was a scuffle or two somewhere but nothing when of note. Looking back now, and seeing the pictures of the stadium that day is pretty amazing.

This is where you declare that criminals actually commit their crimes at a much lower level than non-criminals who don’t criminalize, I think?

I was never much of a KISS fan back in the day. The makeup and antics just didn’t appeal to me, though I bet the shows were probably pretty cool when viewed through the eyes of a teenager in the 1970s. There was also that whole Knights in the Service of Satan rumor/angle and I was not down for eternal damnation in the least. It’s been interesting seeing the evolution of the business side of all that though, and we used to watch the Gene Simmons reality show, the guy has vision.

Section C; 3. Indeed.

I will admit that you didn’t have to admit it because I read your posts.🍺 Beyond that, I think you’re spot on with your thoughts here. I’ll repeat something I haven’t said in a while—in my day to day, I interact with all sorts of people with all sorts of political views and we get along just fine. No shouting matches, no major hostility, and certainly no one declaring I’m in a cult. I’ve mentioned I met former NYS Governor David Patterson—who struck me as a good and decent guy who felt the way he felt and told me why. No deep politics discourse, mind you, just a guy telling me his thoughts because I asked. I watched a clip from the Scarborough this morning. I don’t think crime is under control in DC, and read a separate account of a lady who was sexually assaulted who was advised certain crimes are not reportable unless they meet a threshold. I would not be surprised in the least to hear the books are cooked, not unlike your concerns that Trump is using the crime issue as a political tool. When in doubt, I’ll lean toward safety of citizens. Have a good day, Andy!

Throwing out platitudes like 'fair share' works in a room of like-minded liberals, but it means nothing, says nothing, and actually accomplishes nothing. Weasel words, nothing more. You want someone else to shoulder your burden. I understand that. You use the language of one who sees themself as a perpetual victim, I don't understand that. Instead of jawing around here with me, you could be doing more for the middle class, paying more toward the greater good, or appealing to the super wealthy who use the same phony language as you do to dig deeper and pay more. Yet...you fair share truthers never seem to get around that.

That sounds completely Tiberian.

Let’s get to it!

Interesting take from a Tax the Rich (but don't tax me!) liberal who replied to my post with 'Whatabout J6!' and 'Whatabout the Russians!'.

It seems to me liberals only like complaining about taxes when: They have to pay them; They're complaining about people doing better than them not paying more tax I'm all for a deep dive on how much money is spent and wasted across the board, and a recalibration downward of tax on the middle class (and pretty much everyone else). Sadly, I cannot spare you on China--if you like your upgrades you like your upgrades, and your own party's alignment with Russia is abundantly clear based on Russian actions when dems are in office. Not all that long ago Barrack was looking to partner quite closely with Vlad. J6 was indeed a stain on our nation, though there were degrees of criminality that should have been addressed properly--especially from the left who seems perfectly content to put criminals back on the street as soon as possible. I'd have preferred those accused, tried and convicted of serious crime do their time, with those overcharged (as seems to be widely agreed) revisited. Of course, I'd have rather Biden didn't issue blanket pardons to those in the special circle of trust guilty of wrongdoing.

I'm chill like Dobie Gillis, though sorry if that came through harsh. I wasn't looking to offer emotional accusations, I'm always troubled when certain posters on the board accuse people of being in cults, of cultish behavior, or cult-like mindsets because of fundamental disagreements on politics. I'm certainly not suggesting that was you, Andrew🤔, this whole accusations of being in a cult thing, but I understand where you're coming from. In response to your question, I think Trump sees the opportunity to score political points by cleaning up the nation's Capitol. Violence in cities is not a new thing, this is true. I feel like data suggests that DC is not just some city dealing with random skater bois spraypainting business, I think it's worse than that by quite a bit. With regard to precedent, I did some quick research and cannot find a time where an administration sent the DOJ on an armed raid on the dwelling of the opposition in relation to a a former C-i-C holding classified documents. I know there was a candidate just prior who was exceptionally careless with our nation's secret who was treated differently, and a short time after the armed raid at the former president's residence the current president was found have absconded with material and data pilfered over several decades, and of sharing secrets with a ghost writer who subsequently destroyed material potentially germane to the investigation. That president was treated to ice cream at his favorite ice cream store. I also know there isn't a ton of precedent in one admin looking to imprison an opponent for actions that seem to be pretty common in Washington. Hell, it's been said Bush fabricated intelligence to engage in a foreign war, Clinton committed perjury (and engaged in predation) and they're thick as thieves these days. One guy paints at his ranch in Texas, the other guy most recently stumped for Harris. With respect to precedence, I know that post 1/6, the FBI/DOJ scoured the earth and spent extraordinary time and money looking for people--some they absolutely needed to find, some basically guilty of trespassing. I'm not certain that's the standard in cities and towns across the country. Your suggestion about meeting with city leaders is all well and good, but that represents a stylistic approach he simply doesn't prefer to take. Besides, city leaders seem to be the problem.

The government took in $4.3 trillion in revenue in 2023, your folks repeatedly suggest it’s never enough and big business and the ultra wealthy need to do more, and are dithering over Apple and Nvidia? It’s like some of you run headlong into the embrace of China an so you can get your 5th free upgrade on your iPhone 37, all while googling and fretting about authoritarian regimes. The information coming out about Harvard and other institutions actions isn’t anything to be proud of, Andy, and they earned the rebuke. With luck they get a course correction, revisit institutional arrogance and move forward. If not, oh well. There are Republicans who live in cities, Andy. Read a book once in a while. The rest of that section of your post is emotional handwringing. What I can say is that most sensible people of all political stripes want safety, security and decent streets in exchange for the money they pay and contributions they make to the greater good. When you’re on the outside looking in, it’s easy to be outraged over someone trying to solve a problem that you’re comfortable with someone else dealing with. It’s actually the liberal way. I’m concerned, too. I’m concerned that violent agitators engage with citizen soldiers, as they do with rank and file and often overwhelmed law enforcement to foment violence, and when they do, people like you support them. I guess we’re all worried about something.

I would say “Welcome home, Neighbour!”. Then I would tell you not to touch my stuff.

Yes, this is a critical point, and probably why some American voters are cautious about the next step/steps to be taken. And while Trump did suggest he could stop it all day one...seems to me we arrive here because the Europeans were much happier over multiple decades to spend money on croissants, wine and admittedly delicious Swedish fish then they were to save for a rainy day and their own defense infrastructure. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being most idiotic, it sure appears the decades of "Eees not our problem, Monsieur" is a 10 while Trump's comments come in around a 2. And, it's raining. Maybe the best help that we can offer while trying to solve a sh*t ton of our own problems is for a president to negotiate peace between an old, occasional ally/old occasional enemy and Ukraine, a corrupt as a mo'fo country until Joe Biden found the one corrupt guy in the nation and strong-armed him into retirement. I'd hope for more, for a full retreat, recognition that the whole thing was a financial and human disaster and some sort of reparations, but hey--this is Eastern Europe, and they are going to Russia and Ukraine it all out.

Agreed. Some things aren't complicated. Reasonable people want reasonably safe streets that are not littered with needles, garbage, cr@p and where criminals are kept at bay.

Andy, the federal government has long investigated private and public institutions for discrimination and wrongdoing, offered opinions on the way business is conducted, and set policy related to tax and just about everything else. The mistake you’re making here is assuming if a business has Harvard on its business card it’s above reproach. Your defense of law firms….yikes—I’d hazard a bet that your outrage there stops at the intersection of client list and which political party they tend to represent. Beyond that….I really wonder what the average citizen thinks of crime, violence and the overall management of DC and how far they would like the govt to go to fix it. I have a friend who was raised in San Francisco and we got talking about the homeless/drug/feces problem in the city a couple years back. He was outraged and disgusted by the problem. This is the way I see it—-you purchase, own or rent property in the city at a substantial cost to your budget. You follow the rules of civilized society—are a good steward of the community, keep your place tidy, take care of your garbage, paint the trim, pay your property taxes timely and get alone with your neighbors. Over time, crime creeps up, litter becomes an issue and you arrive at the point where other citizens are using your city block as an outdoor toilet. The problem continues over a number of years, gets worse, more people come bringing with them more litter, more homelessness, more crime and more byproduct of their own digestive system…and you continue soldiering on and following the rules of civilized society. At some point, something has to give and I think the rank and file would embrace the National Guard, Merchant Marines, or Girl Scout Troop 476 out of Omaha that might solve the problem. Using the term very broadly and generally, at some point, the social contract implies when you do your part, on some level those entrusted to their part need to do the job they are in place to do. https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/07/san-franciscos-street-poop-problem-worse/ It seems to me there is a substantial problem in DC, where the argument is “It’s really safe here because we have 7 less murders and less violent sexual assaults than last year!”.

This would have a lot more oomph if your candidates didn’t include a former president/sexual predator who settled a massive civil suit with a sexual assault victim, or a prior candidate who happened to be his wife who enabled the sh3t out of him and is quite well known for victim blaming, or the last president who acknowledged he was touching women and making them uncomfortable, who was also credibly accused of a violent sexual assault against apparently the one woman in the world you didn’t believe in the #believeher campaign. Of course this is nothing new—come to think of it…that guy…the liberal lion you all loved so much, the one who left an intern in his car when he flipped it into a bay and left her there for 10 hours—he’s one of the greats. As for Trump and his civil case, the law designed to protect victims of sexual crimes long in the past makes complete sense emotionally, but is problematic given how our system of justice works. I have no idea what happened is at all, but Trump was quite clear on his position and went to jury instead of settling. That’s unlike the former president mentioned above, who actually was one of the Dems selected headliners for Harris 24 in one of the strangest flip flops on the history of politics. As for Maxwell, again, giving bad people opportunities for a better criminal outcome in exchange for information and names is done frequently. I feel like you’re concerned about your people getting caught up in it all again.

Let’s see where the criminal referrals take us. Worst case scenario is that a few folks spend some big dollars on lawyers, maybe get embarrassed a bit but ultimately remain free. I think though, there’s much more to be gained. If it’s as simple as”politics is a dirty business” then it makes sense to press the dirty business from a position of power. I believe the Dems way overplayed the Trump to Prison card, fair minded people knew it was political bs and as a result Trump prevailed at the ballot box. That is to say…for all the hoopla about Trump as a felon, and Trump as a classified document provocateur, fair minded people saw through that and other bs and the Dems lost what little credibility they had outside their fervent base. So, now, the Rs should reveal all the shady sh8t Obama et al did in the Russia+ era and leverage the distrust. Hit the Dems. Hit the media sycophants. Tell the story to the public. Continue to declassify. And, let the chips fall where they may.

I have no idea what my problem is. I think it’s out of my system now.