leh-nerd skin-erd

Good for you!

I dunno Irv. You taught your children a valuable lesson on love, parenting, shared commitment and meeting your obligations. The fact that others may not see it that way, or see themselves as victims of a system they had no control over is completely irrelevant to that very important point. Plus, IRV IS A RICH GUY!!!

I always thought of you as the Lard Guy, but I follow your point. Prediction: This is Phase 1. Obviously, it’s phase 17, but it sets the stage for the next forgiveness plan in a year or two. It’s good to have you back, Lard Guy.

As I said, hate Trump all you like. That changes nothing about the run up to Biden assuming the mantle, and changes nothing about the behavior of the people in the democrat party who encouraged activities that spread the virus. It changes nothing about the seeds of distrust sewn by Kamala Harris and others like her. The manifesto you shared is all well and good, but the reality behind all the words is Trump started from zero, overcame overwhelming obstacles and a hostile adversary in the dem party, and managed the relationship between public/private industry to deliver vaccine regimens that Biden and company booted quite badly given the death count on his watch. The facts are simple--less democrat manipulation, less death and virus spread. As for me being foxy, guilty. Sometimes when I go out, I try and ugly myself down a bit in an effort to help other, more traditionally homely people feel better about themselves. I'm not always successful, and I carry that damn burden every day of my handsome life.

Again, sadly, you're wrong. Hate Trump as you will, but you're making up stories that do not align with the facts. Dem leadership encouraged and often participated in mass gatherings of individuals throughout critical period of COVID spread. This was taking place when national lockdown orders were in place, and those of us who were compliant, complied. In that regard, they were screaming from the treetops for people to hunker down, stay 6' apart, let loved ones die alone and afraid in hospitals and nursing homes, while tacitly encouraging people to gather and protest arm in arm and take the virus home to their own communities. Dem leadership was directly responsible for creating vaccine confusion and creating trust issues about the vaccine. The #2 person in the party was the worst offender, telling millions of supporters not to trust a vaccine developed under a R president. Dem leadership has been very, very active in redefining and recasting what it means to be fully vaccinated. There was a time--we were all in it together back then, mostly--when dems and vax enthusiasts claimed that anyone who wouldn't vax up was basically an enemy of humanity. They went from two shots and a booster to suddenly suggesting that the country was doing a reeeeeaaaallllly good job on vaxing when nearly 70% of the citizens had "at least one" shot of a multi-shot regimen. When in doubt, the dems simply change the benchmark. It's no surprise the death count under Biden vastly exceeds that of Trump, especially in light of the tools available to Biden that were developed under Trump--Biden and co have been an absolute disaster at leading in this regard. Under Trump, they encouraged and supported behavior absolutely designed to spread the virus. Death, illness and suffering was very good politically for them in the lead-up to the election.

This is a new one. “You don’t help people manage their personal debt with employment options and a booming economy.”. I’m changing your screen name to Alfshton Kucher cuz I think you been Punk’d!

They play the long game, the Dems.

I was focused on the theory that the IRS would be focusing on tax cheats, assuming Alf was referencing the wealthy and uber-wealthy Trumps, Bidens, Gates, Cubans etc who walk among us. There are likely millions (tens of?) of individuals who have student loan debt, will meet the criteria for forgiveness, and have side hustles like tutoring students, driveway sealing, house painting, cutting hair and so on where cash is king. Individually it may not always amount to much money, but collectively, the government is missing out on some major coin. If viewed from the perspective of the greater good, it actually makes sense to pursue that revenue in addition to the much bigger fish beating the system.

Oh, absolutely doable. Sure, a student and/or his/her parents have to struggle with basic math concepts, forgo opportunities to offset costs of higher education, skip the trendy virtual learning opportunities and often drive past 6 community colleges and a couple 'stay at home' options offering more affordable outcomes, but hey, "Jimmy is going to Penn State...". What's incredible to me is how the schools that actually set the standards and requirements are not part of the solution, especially in light of some of the massive endowments in play. (The aforementioned Penn State is at $6.2 billion).* My children attended SUNY schools, we encouraged a healthy mix of youthful stupidity and commitment to education, and we offered the option for living on campus. We were able to handle the costs, and feel blessed to have been able to do so. Still, when I get the letter or phone call from one of the schools requesting additional alms for the poor, the first phrase that occurs to me includes only two words. I recognize the caller is likely a student trying to make a few bucks, so I hold my tongue. *As @LeviF has suggested, I recognize there is no incentive whatsoever to the dem party for the institution to be part of the solution.

It's going to be interesting, as many of the folks who stand to benefit from the loan scheme likely fall into the 'tax cheat' category when viewed through the lens of the tax code.

I’m all for a good “gotcha”, Tibs, and I’m happy to acknowledge when I’ve been got. You already indicated a Congressional review wouldn’t be objectionable to you, but now it’s like you forgot you that. If you’re auditioning for a spot in a commercial for people who’ve suffered memory loss from head trauma, you have me convinced. Other than that, choose a side, Waffles.

I just remember something about nothing is Biden’s fault.

I already explained that. You're getting yourself tuned around here. Either you're opposed to the investigation, or for the investigation, or don't care either way. Yesterday, you said you were unopposed to politicians investigating, which seems to imply you aren't opposed to it, and don't fall into the category who doesn't care. Once you get a handle on what you think, let me know. Remember, I can't hear all the voices in your head.

It depends on your perspective. If justice was served, it was served. Still, lots of people have lots of complaints about the police, law enforcement tactics, systemic and widespread issues in the criminal justice system. It's not uninteresting that the defendants were not convicted the first time around by THAT jury of peers, and the government opted to load up and try again. Eventually, when the weight of the government is coming for you, it seems logical it will eventually win. People seem worried only about overreach and injustice when they don't like the defendants. I haven't followed this story all that closely for a couple reasons. First, this whole concept of entrapment always makes me wonder. I can't imagine a time when a reasonable person would find themselves entangled in anything that can be referred to as a "plot" absent a reasonable explanation of innocent activity. If your buddy, we'll call him Sam, calls and asks if you can stop by the auto shop to pick up an alternator because you drive by, you do, and it turns out it's a bag of plutonium, I can see how you might have thought it was an alternator. Much beyond that, words like "kidnapping", "storming", and "zip ties for Gretchen" would be off-putting. Second, anyone who would voluntarily enter into a kidnapping type relationship resulting in hearing this crazy authoritarian woman yammering on and on should be imprisoned on on principle alone. She's a nut.

You said yesterday you weren't opposed to it, what change prompted this question from you?

I felt it was disingenuous to not answer the question about congressional inquiries into the origin of COVID, the original point Rand Paul was making. You answered here, so I withdraw the commentary. As for what they would find, it depends on the approach. If they continue down the path we currently seem to be following, nothing will come of it. Congressional leaders seem to be very tepid in their approach to this investigation, with lots of yelling about find answers to a virus that started in China and killed a million people here, but not much in the way of televised hearings and the like. It's really pretty amazing how little is being made of this given the devastation it visited upon the world. In the alternative, if they follow the precedent of Clinton emails, Russiagate, Ukraine and 1/6...maybe we get somewhere. There needs to be a focus on accountability, what high ranking officials like Fauci knew or should have known, including seeking out whistleblowers, and taking a very deep dive into the seemingly incestuous relationship between the Chinese in US governments in this regard. Fauci under oath is a good start, coupled with a review of all correspondence and information from CDC and NIAID up to and through the lockdown. There's no downside.

Speaking of disingenuous, do you support a congressional inquiry into COVID or not? Assume a liberal dem proposed it.

I don’t know about Rand Paul, there are times I think he’s one of the least sleazy people in Washington. He’s certainly no more/no less an idiot when compared to other high profile pols of the day. I was surprised by Tibs visceral response on a COVID investigation. It’s long overdue.

Jeez, the guy calls for an investigation into COVID and suddenly you’re anti-investigation. Weird.

The Russians are no longer involved in disinformation, election interference and manipulation…is that your angle now? Good Lord.

The grand jury process offers excellent cover for this sort of thing. It’s typically one-sided, there is very little upside for targets of investigations to appear, and the grand jury simply decides if the matter can proceed. Big picture, the argument can be made that it’s in the public interest to take the next step. The hope is that all parties are acting ethically without animus to trust that the right thing is done, which sadly is a heavy list.

Personally, I can see how the whole mistake was made. I think Marshall Law was a low budget, B movie in the 1970s about a crooked cop who went straight after being assaulted and left for dead by a notorious mob boss named Hugh G. Rection. Martial law involves the usurpation of civil law in favor of military authority during times of societal unrest. Simple mistake, and don't even get me started on Marshall Crenshaw. Someday, some way maybe I'll understand that. That said, it was an unforced error on your part. Now you're doubling down by mocking someone for being on a site you're quite active on, except of course when dodging questions about your deeply held political beliefs that you apply on a completely arbitrary basis. You should take the hit, tap out, and try again. Do the right thing. For what it's worth, I value @B-Man's prototypical duncery, or duncessness if you will. I think his dunceocity is off the charts!

I wouldn’t characterize DR in that way. I found him engaging on a personal level (limitations with anonymous internet postings notwithstanding, we never interacted beyond the website), enjoyed interacting with him and shared my thoughts that sometimes, when you interact with dirty dogs, you get sometimes get fleas. I recognize some of the issues with other posters were on him, and that some wounds are self-inflicted. He was correct on some issues, missed on some others. Most of us are like that, at least when viewed from someone else’s perch.

UnoAndrew, the problem here is you seem to see the flip side of the Climate Doom Theory as Screw the Planet And Future Generations. That’s silly. Future generations are extraordinarily likely to look back and think “Wow, they fell for all that *&$#?”. Balance, a healthy degree of skepticism, considering agenda, who gets paid, and where power is consolidated is always sensible.

The Rhino remains the most interesting man on PPP, yet hasn’t posted here in a couple years. Or has he?* *He hasn’t.** **Probably.