US Politics Mega-Blog - Page 14

On September 23 2018 10:10 xDaunt wrote:

Surely by now you are figuring out that the idea that Trump is a total idiot is preposterous. He is winning almost everywhere. Aggressive deregulation, tax cuts, and trade policy have created a boom that no one thought possible. Turns out that, contrary to what Obama said during the campaign, Trump does have a “magic wand.” Trump’s foreign policy has been fantastic. Not only has he provided much needed clarity to America’s global posturing (the best example being firmly aligning with Israel at the expense of Palestinians), but he is about to end the Korean War and eliminate North Korea as a rogue threat to American interests — something that W and Obama miserably failed to address. The most impressive part is that he is accomplishing all of this despite facing unprecedented amounts of domestic resistance inside and outside of his government. If nothing else, the NYT Rosenstein story makes it unequivocally clear that a substantial component of government is outright seditious. But guess what? Trump is about to beat them, too. Why do you think the NYT published that story now despite knowing about McCabe’s memos for months? It’s because of Trump’s declassification order. The truth is coming out, and the media needs to save face by getting ahead of the coming revelations. Trump has already won the war behind the scenes. He has crushed his political enemies and is driving them before him. All that’s left is to hear the lamentations of the women. And that will come soon enough as America learns that it has been lied to for two years by the media about this Russia nonsense and many other things.

On September 23 2018 20:32 brian wrote:
there’s a large difference between presuming his guilt and not assuming the accuser is a liar. unless you were speaking into the void i think you’d be hard pressed to find people calling for kavanaugh to already be in jail(metaphorically obv, or i guess literally should they be so bold) before we knew anything lol.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Thursday: "I believe her because she is telling the truth and you know it by her story."

"Judge Kavanaugh has not asked to have the FBI review the claims," Gillibrand added. "Is that the reaction of an innocent person? It is not."

When Sen. Duckworth (D-Ill.) was asked about Kavanaugh denying the accusation, the senator responded, "Well, I have heard, you know, many, many predators say and refute allegations against them."

Former spokesman for Bernie Sanders and CNN contributor, Symone Sanders, said she didn't even need to wait for more information: "For me there is no debate. I believe Professor Ford. Judge Kavanaugh has lied multiple times under oath."

And here are other select quotes from Democratic lawmakers:

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said: "I believe Dr. Ford as I refer to her because she makes a very credible case. It is really difficult for someone to come forward in this way. Why should she destroy her life? Already there are efforts to cast aspersions on her credibility, to look into her family, all of that. This is really very much like what happened with Anita Hill where she was vilified, she was called names. This cannot happen to Dr. Ford.”

Sen. Blumenthal (D-Conn.): "Let me just say right at the outset I believe. Dr Ford, I believe the survivor here, there’s every reason to believe her. She has come forward courageously and bravely knowing that she would face a nightmare of hostile and vicious scrutiny and challenge. And there are plenty of reasons to disbelieve Judge Kavanaugh after his evasive and seemingly misleading testimony before the Judiciary Committee."

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.); “I hope that she does [testify], because I’m afraid that what the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee really want is they want her to go away. They don’t want the country to hear from her, and they certainly don’t want the country to hear from her live and on television. She’s absolutely right, the FBI should do a thorough vetting of these allegations. The Senate shouldn’t simply rely on hearing two conflicting accounts and decide, ‘Well, we’re OK with not knowing. We’re OK with the fact we might be putting a — someone who committed attempted rape on the Supreme Court of the United States.’ They should get to the bottom of this. And it wouldn’t take that long to do. This is the same crowd that waited a year to fill the last vacancy during the Obama administration on the Supreme Court, so why this rush? And I think they realize they have a very imperfect candidate, in fact they may have a candidate who has committed attempted rape.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.): “Listen, it comes down to credibility to your point. It’s going to be about listening to what each party has to say, but I believe her. Listen, first of all, anybody who comes forward at this point to — to be prepared to testify in the United States Senate against someone who’s being nominated to one of the most powerful positions in the United States government, that takes an extraordinary amount of courage. And frankly, you know, I have personally prosecuted sexual assault cases, and my concern is— and she knows this — she is putting herself out there knowing that they’re going to try and excoriate her. She’s doing it, I believe, because she knows that this is an important matter. It’s a serious matter, who serves on that court. And she has the courage to come forward? She has nothing to gain. What does she have to gain?”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.): “Well I can tell you it really does have a ring of truth to it. The fact that she can refer to therapist notes so that she did bring it up before. I am skeptical of polygraphs, but those who believe them, she has passed a polygraph test."

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): "I believe Professor Ford. I think she’s credible and I think when the investigation is finished and when she testifies and Judge Kavanaugh testifies, I think a majority of senators will find her credible."

On September 23 2018 22:05 GreenHorizons wrote:
K I don't know anything about this race but this might be the most ruthless ad of 2018.

Also I encourage people to post other especially good or bad campaign ads until or unless it becomes too much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZuayQFD51w

On September 23 2018 22:45 IgnE wrote:


i am quite skeptical of the claim that trump is not a total idiot. in fact it seems entirely possible that the “boom” is largely optimism about his ability to generally level everything. just to point to one thing, for example, i am skeptical of the fracking/shale oil boom, which seems to be running on an amazon-like strategy of continued high investment w promised returns (new wells) despite quickly declining productivity per well after the first year.

but who knows. maybe you are right. only history will tell

On September 23 2018 22:05 GreenHorizons wrote:
K I don't know anything about this race but this might be the most ruthless ad of 2018.

Also I encourage people to post other especially good or bad campaign ads until or unless it becomes too much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZuayQFD51w

On September 23 2018 23:46 xDaunt wrote:

Take a look at these quotes from democrats:



Source.

Let’s be very clear on what they’re doing. They are presumptively believing Ford over a sitting federal judge. And they are doing so in a complete absence of any good reason to believe Ford. As I pointed out repeatedly, her accusations were highly problematic from day 1. Even before every named witness completely denied Ford’s story, the internal inconsistencies and vagueries in Ford’s story were damning. The other big clue was her monkeying around with the judiciary committee’s offer to have her testify, which was suggestive that she is crazy or has ulterior motives. For all of these reasons, dragging Kavanaugh through the mud over these particular allegations has been absolutely disgraceful and disgusting.

On September 24 2018 01:13 GreenHorizons wrote:
IIRC xDaunt your position on campaign finance is unlimited but with disclosure.

When you see financing like this do you see it as philanthropy or as a profit-driven investment?

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1043553281631498240

On September 24 2018 04:44 brian wrote:


with the exception of Gillibrand those aren’t claims of guilt, and again with the same exception, not much to be shamed on. there’s a large difference between giving the benefit of the doubt to the accuser and claiming the defendant guilty.

as someone who works in law i assume i don’t need to tell you that. trials are a thing for a reason am i right? half the quotes don’t even mention Kavanaugh. the entire ordeal is certainly quite disgusting.

sorry, i missed the Duckworth quote. that brings it up to half, though it was a leading question.

i too have held since day one that should this be a farce it is quite gross, it would seem fairly obviously defamation. that alone is certainly not reason enough to not see it through, and the hindsight even assuming it’s totally fictitious wouldn’t change that. is the GOP delaying the vote not a sign of the same? or let me ask you this way, do you think it would be in Kavanaugh’s best interest to pursue defamation?

On September 24 2018 04:21 LegalLord wrote:
I mean wow, holy shit. That’s savage. And then there’s this.

https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1043566696340971520

On September 24 2018 06:58 xDaunt wrote:

Campaign finance is one of those things that I'm badly torn on. I'm generally in favor of freedom-oriented policies (ie less regulation), but the oligarchic and corrupting effects of having so much money flood the political system is undeniable. My position is currently this: there needs to be an amendment to the Constitution passed that gives Congress some regulatory authority over this stuff.

On September 24 2018 07:36 xDaunt wrote:
So apparently another woman is about to come forward accusing Kavanaugh of something.

On September 24 2018 07:45 GreenHorizons wrote:


You've seen his yearbook stuff, you've seen his frats legacy, do you really think he didn't sexually assault any women in his life?

On September 24 2018 07:52 xDaunt wrote:

Sure, why not?

And it is unclear whether this new thing is even non-consensual. It’s a Ronan Farrow story to be released in the New Yorker. All we know is that it features a dildo. Yay!

On September 24 2018 09:14 xDaunt wrote:
Good call on the college shenanigans, GH.

Edit: Apparently problems are already popping up with this story and stuff is being walked back. Regardless, looks like this accusation is uncorroborated as well and involves another drunk accuser.

On September 24 2018 11:02 GreenHorizons wrote:


Funny thing about college drinking parties, people get drunk. It's also where/when college men tend to be the most inappropriate. I just don't see the point of all this. He's getting confirmed even if the stories were true and it could be proven definitively. These women are being dragged so that Democrats can score a few tenths of a political point and not even stop him, and on the off chance Kav does have a record without sexually harassing or abusing women he's being besmirched for stuff only remotely related instead of just his judging (which should be problematic enough on it's own according to what I've heard).

Considering this is an international forum I feel inclined to mention I am embarrassed of our entire political system as of late. I don't think the current state of our politics gives a much room to give any other country any advice about anything except how to blow your wad on bombs.