leh-nerd skin-erd

As requested: Suggesting 10,000,000 individuals in the Republican Party are fascists is idiotic, preposterous, foolish, small-minded, absurd and just plain old dumb. It’s not as dumb as @Nineforty ‘s post, but he’s apparently dealing with a flood of emotion and is just bursting at the seams to seen and heard. As for 1/6, I condemned the actions of those that rioted as early as ‘as it happened’, they represent the type of extremism we saw in cities across the country where people were victimized, assaulted and killed and neighborhoods destroyed. I admit to being fascinated by how quickly the liberal arm of our society turned from “defund/fairness and equity/restorative justice/and police should shoot at arms and legs” to supporting extended solitary confinement, no bail, heroic law enforcement officers/and support of the kill shot on unarmed females posing no immediate threat to the officer. That doesn’t make folks like you, Bill, supporters of Antifa, an extremist, part of Jane’s Revenge, a fascist etc, but it sure does make you full of &$#@.

I was involved in with youth/hs wrestling for a number of years. I know this shouldn’t be funny, but the thought of a 7th grader laying mat-side chanting “BuuuuuuuuuuuulllllShiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttt BuuuuuuuuuulllllShitttt” at that oversized baseball head of yours is pretty funny. I also gave up the drink, and wish to make amends.

I keep thinking people won’t surprise or disappoint me, but then I read something like this. It is what it is, indeed.

I may be a fascist, but I am strictly PG, maybe PG-13.

I called you both buxom and honorable, and that's even with me being a fascist according to some people. Hope you're well--now I have to go look up 'buxom'.

I do, of course. In one of the dissident camps, there was a story---and I don't know it to be true, but it seems legit---about a brave yet mischievous leader of one group. He called himself a Colonel, heck, I don't know if it was official or not. He lead this ragtag group of freedom fighters, and man, they Macgyvered the **** out of that place. They made soup, built tunnels, befriended with the MAGA guard, slipped in buxom but honorable beauties like our friend @muppy, and generally had an uproarious time while confined. Hogan, I think. Yes, Colonel Hogan. I heard him compared to William Wallace of Braveheart fame, minus the disembowelment.

So...this is interesting. 94zed comes out and declares that based numbers from the last election, 75 million +/- people in the country are fascists. Your response is you're "not sure" 75 million citizens are fascists, which is a very brave position to take, Bill. Godspeed for taking this stand, God Bless the Queen, and Go Trudeau or Go Home! I guess maybe you see it as 40 million, or 20 million, 60 million or maybe the full 75 million. Hard to say, not being sure and all. I would suggest, humbly, that the siren call of the every day simpleton is declaring tens of millions of non-believers fascists.

I believe you are quite simple, so there is that.

Says the guy declaring groups of people as 'fascists'. Every crusader feels they are on the side of the just, 9, that's what makes them a prime candidate for the crusade.

Mueller was not the AG. Pay attention! Collusion is not a criminal term, it's a political talking point. We agree here. Mueller found insufficient evidence, which is another way of saying the evidence did not support charges. So? Russians are Russians. Perhaps the 'diplomats' that Obama expelled a couple weeks before he left office, long after he started complaining about interference, should have been on the receiving end of a tactical FBI raid? Stone and Manafort are citizens of the country, they get the same rights as everyone else, and it made no sense to testify; Trump loved Wikileaks. Hillary loved a foreign national and his tale of fancy. Biden strong-armed Ukraine. Obama officials loved surveilling the opposition. The FBI loved the Patriot Act. Politics is dirty business. While I think 940 is blissfully complicit, I can actually see you planning the post Salem Witch trial BBQ party. 940

Pelosi et al refer to Trump's election as "illegitimate", the result of a "coup" and John Brennan suggests Trump committed "treason"; 940 says, This was right and just! Adam Schiff made a career for himself suggesting he had seen clear and convincing evidence of Trump's coordination with the hated Russians (hated since roughly mid-2015). Status of said evidence uncertain as of 2022; 940 says, This was right and just! Special counsel with virtually unlimited police powers, staffed by opposition party members, "investigates" for nearly the duration of the term of the president and comes to the conclusion that no collusion occured; 940 says, This was right and just! AG reviews report, confirms no collusion, no obstruction, and opines that a grave miscarriage of justice was perpetrated on the duly elected President. 940 says, This was right and just! Incoming VP suggests--during a worldwide pandemic---COVID vaccine developed under prior admin was not to be trusted, scroll ahead to 2022 and Chief Medical Officer Faucci suggests that 67% of the American people have been vaccinated (with at least one dose, but only half of those people have received the booster shot). So, in excess of 60% of the American people believed her, and more people died on her watch than when no vaccine was available; 940 says, This was right and just! Incoming El Presidente declares war on COVID, proclaims he will end the virus, and taps out after 15 minutes and inexplicably increases the death count substantially; 940 says, This was right and just! Incoming VP attempts to destroy the character of an incoming SC nominee by painting him as a serial sexual abuser based on unfounded, uncorroborated and disputed statements from a political role player alleged to have occurred somewhere, somehow, at some time 40 years ago; 940 says, This was right and just! Incoming VP states she believes the allegations of violent sexual assault against Joe Biden are credible, sides with victim. Her line in the sand moment and declaration of support for the victim is to accept nominee to be the VP of the abuser; 940 says, This was right and just! Democrat party actively supports mass gatherings throughout the country during a global pandemic, encouraging spread of COVID and the infection, pain, suffering and death that surely followed; 940 says, This was right and just! Democrat party largely silent during the times of civil unrest throughout the country as people were injured, and killed and neighborhoods during riots; 940 says, This was right and just! 1/6 Committee, everything; 940 says, This was right and just! FBI executes armed tactical raid of home of opposition party member; 940 says, This was right and just! I don't really see the point of screaming that others are fascists, or nazis or anything along those lines. I will say, however, that for an otherwise seemingly smart person, you're really clueless as to your complicity in this entire mess.

The entire platform of the Democrat party since forever is based on victimization by evil corporations, billionaires and multi-millionaires other than those that thrive in the American political system. The angrier (and hapless) their followers are about getting screwed over by everyone, the better it is for multi-millionaire Old Joe. That’s politics, Andrew.

Disney is a really interesting victim for the liberal class. While Dems are always looking for the next evil corporation/billionaire/millionaire to complain about, they’re all about the heroic Fortune 500 Goliath allowed an incredible ability to self-regulate. It’s a capitalist’s dream, and pretty amazing story of what happens when government gets out of the way.

It sounds like the plan is to defund successful middle class Americans. Oh, and student loan reimagining for the financially capable but obligation resistant.

I would think because it serves no purpose at this time. The emotion centers around questions of legitimacy of the raid and the continued appearance of political persecution. Emotion compels people to action. What was taken, the nature of the warrant, wording etc is secondary to the event for those who support him. At the same time, the specifics of the warrant and the raid itself are irrelevant to Trump haters.

If it's "deeply flawed", I'm not certain why you would trust the motives of an historically unprecedented action. Surely there must be something between 'do nothing' and 'tactical armed raid'? With that in mind, if you see the key institutions as "deeply flawed", maybe you're a 5 or 6 on the cynicism meter. I see the upper level players as untrustworthy and willing to do some dirty work in pursuit of their cause, so I'm at 7 or 8. I'm comfortable discussing FBI/DOJ action against anyone, and I'm also comfortable that there are political elements that are unsavory from both parties. If you're suggesting someone is claiming it's all one sided, stand down, it wasn't and hasn't been me. There were many avenues to pursue in an attempt to disqualify Trump in the eyes of the electorate. I would have had precious few issues with any of them. However, when it comes to allegations that of a coup took place, that the Trump election was illegitimate, and that Trump was guilty of treason, I see that as McCarthyism. I don't understand how you don't, at least insofar as what Mueller revealed. I asked @nedboy7 to share his thoughts based on his standards regarding declarations of illegitimate elections in 2016, but he suddenly went missing on that issue. I have said it before, I'll say it again. The stage was set for claims of an illegitimate election by the dems (Warren, Klobuchar) and the republicans (Trump and others). In the case of the dems, that would have been the second election in a row. Trump runs with Stop the Steal, but suddenly we can't talk about illegitimate/stolen/coup and election outcomes. What a difference 4 years makes. I'm happy to acknowledge that dems are targeted, but this is about Trump, it's been supersized for years, and that's the fact, jack.

FBI leads an armed raid on the home of the leader of the opposition party, just prior to what appears to be a contentious mid-term election cycle, for the first time in the history of the country. GWB, for example, was accused by his opponents of manufacturing intelligence to send American troops to fight and die in a foreign war. He went to Texas and became pals with his accusers. And Trump supporters are the fascists?

Yes, laws are complex. Thank you, gifted one, for that pearl of wisdom. I didn't state that the issues I brought up had anything specifically to do with the FBI raid. However, there is a pattern where Trump is concerned that you and other may find possible to ignore, I am not so inclined. I'm neither judge nor jury, and since I will never have access to every detail of the raid (or any other issue), I can only look at trends and patterns. I can also look to comments made by politicians and those in leadership positions, note the concerns expressed about governmental overreach and weaponization of DOJ etc and share those concerns. It seems to me you support that sort of thing, I don't. I think we're on the 5th way from Sunday. What do you think?

While I'm not at all comfortable with the notion the Rs take back the house, in the political world, the appropriate tactical response would be to go scorched earth against Garland. Review professional and personal life, look for vulnerabilities that can be exploited, leak information to the appropriate sources, etc. It would be a hoot to see his home raided. It won't happen, but it would be cool.

Here's the simple reality imo. Many things said or done when viewed from the eyes of the political opposition can be spun, manipulated, or considered unethical. Allegations of wrongdoing, integrity concerns etc are common place. With our complex laws, rules and customs, I'd think an allegation of wrongdoing is just an aggressive prosecutorial mindset away. You mentioned Biden in Ukraine earlier. He boasted about directly inserting himself into the political process of an ally, threatened to withhold taxpayer funds earmarked for said country, in a situation where he clearly had a significant conflict of interest. In his video clip, he sounded much more like Paulie Walnuts from The Soprano's than the VP of the US. Your commentary that implies everyone thought it was for the greater good changes nothing about his actions. You commentary that his actions may actually have been to his son's detriment are silly, especially in light of the disinformation that followed with his son's business dealings and laptop story. On the other hand, to the victor go the spoils. We couldn't get a simple story on HB and his questionable dealings with his father past the disinformation strategists in Washington, the notion that the Obama admin just had to insert themselves in Ukrainian politics was child's play. On top of that, it would be naive to think that Biden's actions--from strong arming to flexing muscle to protecting his people--don't happen on a regular basis in Washington. As they say, politics make strange bedfellows and traditional establishment Republicans are one video clip away from being exposed. There is a difference here, on that we agree. You'll continue to trip over yourself to suggest things are different, and they are. I'll continue to point out the obvious flaws in your thinking--but the reality is simply that there is ample evidence that Trump is a victim of political persecution, it's become a mainstream talking point---from folks like former AG Barr, major political players on the R side, folks like Alan Derschowitz, and even recently former Dem future Pres Candidate Andrew Cuomo. I'lll go back to the words of one of the most powerful men in the world, and his very ominous yet truthful comment about the system in play.

But that's not the case at all, and the actions of administrations past have not resulted in the swat team swarming the premises. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/why-is-the-obama-administration-trying-to-keep-11000-documents-sealed-67555/ https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-sets-new-record-withholding-foia-requests https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2022/02/20/bush-obama-trump-all-use-presidential-record-act-hide-history/6803334001/?gnt-cfr=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-us-govt-sets-record-for-failures-to-find-files-when-asked-2016-3 Your standard is admirable, but naive. It doesn't occur. It hasn't occurred. It won't occur with Biden. Hillary Clinton--she of completely reckless behavior and self-inflicted wounds, is now positioned as the heroine of the story. The only difference here is folks who screamed loudly about an authoritarian government are perfectly comfortable with authoritarian activity under the right circumstances. To be fair, of course, it's possible that Trump was 'guilty' of everything he's been accused of over the past 5 years, though completely improbable that he could be guilty of it all. Billy Joel could rewrite his song "We Didn't Start the Fire" just focusing on allegations made over the past 5 years, most of which ended with nothing. So, after 5 straight years of "Wow, He's Russian", "Wow, He's a Ukrainamaniac", "Wow, Michael Avenatti, trust him!", "Wow, Stormy Daniels!", "Wow, he's beaten the IRS and they don't know it!", "Wow, his calls for peaceful protest really meant storm the Capitol!", and now...."Wow, suddenly, Presidential records issues result in the need for an armed force to search his home just before the mid-terms!". Consider that you're being played for a chump, because there is a high probability that you are.

What strikes me as funny about this is they used a picture from 30 years and 40 pounds ago. It’s deceptive advertising, and it’s wrong!

Righto, like the collective misunderstanding of the DOJ, FBI, Intelligence Community and major media outlets and the Hunter/Joe Biden story during the run up to the election. Every durn one of ‘em—party leaders who vetted Biden, the DNC, NYT AND WaPo deep sources, DOJ, CIA etc collectively did the right thing but just did it in the wrong way. This kind of thing just, well it just happens sometimes.

He definitely could be a TPTO*, it’s hard to say. *Temporary Process Truster Only

I think Chi is now a process truster, and it ain’t so bad. Stay tuned though.