leh-nerd skin-erd

He finally beat Medicare after 50 years in public service. What more can be asked of him? What more can he ask of himself?

What caught my eye was your comment on Trump supporters and ignorance. As far as I can tell, faith in pollsters and the work they do is pretty low across the board for any numbers of reasons. Your explanation here may be part of the reason why, but certainly isn’t limited to supporters of the incoming administration. Personally, I cannot remember a pollster declaring in advance of a poll “Hey, we fudge the numbers to avoid looking bad so take our work with a grain of salt.”.

Don’t let me fool you, B—4th&kreskin has assured me he has figured my **** out.

Maybe, so institutional incompetence would certainly be a possible explanation, though not the only one. Unlikely—the more likely outcome would be an emboldened and ecstatic liberal base would pour it on. On the other hand, a demoralized GOP base hearing from multiple sources that the end was nigh might well have opted to stay home. That she missed is not an explanation, it’s an outcome. Why it occurred is a whole ‘nother question that will be of interest to some, but not to others.

I really enjoy reading your posts, occasional condescending tone notwithstanding. I don't know Ann Selzer from Alka Seltzer. To answer your question, one reason she might fudge her numbers would be an attempt to influence voter turnout. Another might be she has a drinking problem and screwed up the number but is unwilling to admit it. A third might be she's being blackmailed by the KGB in keeping with the "Russians in our midst" era in American politics. Regardless, she's a professional pollster and it is what it is.

One of the reasons I didn’t want Trump to run again was his propensity to get out in front of this sort of thing. My personal preference is to let the process play out through law enforcement channels, though we likely all agree that politics certainly can factor into these stories from time to time. However, in the calm light of day, I’m no more fond of strategic, organized misinformation than the knee jerk Twitter style. The people drawn in by that sort of thing strike me as no less gullible and no less manipulated. See, for example, Biden’s cognitive state and the massive amount of people who couldn’t see it. Or, the notion of slippage, no reasonable prosecutor, etc.

A bit off the topic of his Presidency, but declaring a national day of mourning and closing the federal government is pretty obnoxious.

The reality T is that the guy lived, he loved, he lead, he retired and he died after a full and long life. There's no 'pissing on his grave'---people have feelings about his leadership or lack thereof. Let the politicians and talking heads do their thing and reinvent or reimagine the guy as they see fit, and if it aligns with your worldview, embrace it. If not, it's all fair game.

Seemed like a guy who lived by his values, his values included outreach and helping others. Over a lifespan of 100 years in public service, you're likely to have some fans and some detractors. His presidency was what it was, largely panned by both sides of the aisle, but from an achievement perspective, he spent a bit of time as the most powerful man in the world. There is that. Plus, doing all that as the first Little Person President is really something.

I think it’s undeniable that people victimized by violent criminals in the country illegally should consider themselves lucky because of the heavily researched downward effect study. At a minimum, they should acknowledge that there was no appreciable effect on their quality of life—the murder/assualt/robbery/rape/crime actually is a net positive. I think the perpetrators are the real victims here. It’s perp-blaming, and it’s wrong.

If you think JB was voted out of office, you’re precisely the one “…with the problem over realizing the FACT of who lost”. You’re planting seeds of silliness and harvesting the crop of dumbness all in one statement! As for respect, I never suggested I didn’t respect you!

Even assuming @Tiberius doesn’t read the news/watch the news/hear someone talking about the news when he’s going through the tunnels on his birthday at Chuck E Cheese, have a radio/cell phone and/or ever go into a convenience store, it’s really hard to imagine how he came to the conclusion that Biden was voted out of office.

That’s a heck of a tradition. Enjoy!

It's said that your attitude determines your altitude, sir. If you're constantly engaging then storming off, you're consistently going to end up in the same place--revealing a fundamental misunderstanding of what others say or suggest, and tilting at windmills that exist only in your mind. It's your call, but I'll keep a good thought for you. Happy Holidays!

You're confusing dialogue you're uncomfortable with or unwilling to have with 'spin'. Of course that's happened. If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that different rules are applied at different times depending on the target and who's calling the shots. Of course, lack of evidence frequently intersects with lack of criminality, and it sounds an awful lot like you seem to think lack of evidence is evidence of guilt. That's pretty consistent with your crowd. Yes, an Ethics Committee in this case is a group of individuals, collectively and individually widely distrusted by the American public regardless of politics, making largely symbolic statements and in some cases, publishing a report, while in others keeping results secret. As for the DOJ, I'm not sure what you're struggling with. Yes, I believe the Biden DOJ would have prosecuted Gaetz if at all possible. That they did not is quite telling to me, just as your Spidey senses seem to be telling you that the fact they didn't is evidence of his guilt. It's a dog and pony show, as these things usually are. Whatever your feelings are on Matt Gaetz, he's been removed from the equation. That's a good thing--we agree on that. Of course, we have an acknowledged groper in the WH now, your second choice oversaw the character assassination of a SC nominee and was richly rewarded for it in spite of acknowledging she believed Biden assaulted a number of women, and she ran on a platform with Bill Clinton pimping for her--so you really can't walk too far without tripping over a POS in DC. These are just the facts, Jack. Ah, 8 years of democrat silliness on everything from Russians to doors kicked in to slippage to novel theories of prosecution to corrupt prosecutors in Georgia to Biden's ties to China to Russian laptops but suddenly...as if by magic---political connections!

I would never question your love for your children, nor your feeling generally about those who hurt or prey on others. My perspective based on your posting history generally is that you are a left leaning liberal who declares independence from political affiliation for whatever reason that is important to you. Given that, and since you offered the one guess— I think you would avoid offering an opinion on the actions of the Biden DOJ, or rather the lack of action, because in doing so it raises the likelihood of additional questions you prefer not to answer.

This is…interesting in depth, breadth and scope. Be honest—-is the egg nog flowing early this year, Frank?

Orlando asked the question, but it is sort of interesting that you’re not more vocal on their perspective here.

You were polite, this is true. As for Gaetz appointment, it seemed there were some concerns expressed by members of the GOP, and that they were not actually all set to appoint. I think it's also understandable that in the highly charged Washington environment where morals and ethics are just slogans, some would support him as the DOJ and other law enforcement agencies apparently found no illegal behavior. Regardless, he's gone and we have to keep moving forward in an attempt to heal this nation. With luck, Bondi is quickly and unanimously concerned.

Johnson. We'll add Johnson to the list of things that you fear.

I don't know about all that, after quickly perusing the report, seems law enforcement/DOJ investigated these allegations and chose a different path than the committee. I wonder why that is. Still, I think we ultimately agree here--Gaetz was the wrong choice for AG and it's a good thing that Trump moved past him when he did. Onward to Pam Bondi and less chaos.

Hey Mup! I dropped some Talking Heads lyrics the other day, and it offered an opportunity for Fergie and I to virtually break bread for a half a second. Hope you’re doing well, healing nicely and Felize Mupidad!

Well, it’s almost heaven-Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River—so it sort of makes sense. Life is old there. A lot of people think Florida, but no, it’s West Virginia.

I have you marked down as a fervent supporter of the industrial military complex.

It’s good that you want to see this war ended, Tibsy.