skinny21

Gomez anyone? Naive maybe, but I see these guys as the Beatles of my generation. One for each singer and the 3rd singer (going to see him solo soon)

Of course, the problem with said tape is not the act (with any other Prez, that would be a big issue too), but with the fact that the most shocking part of the Steele Dossier would be confirmed... thus supporting the rest of it. The tape was the one thing people held on to regarding the Dossier, the one that lead people to not buy the rest of it. Of course, while this should matter (bigly) many won't care (or argue it's fake no matter what the evidence, as someone already said). At least we could start calling him Pee-Tape Prez.

Man, this monsoon in Bangladesh/India... Jesus. 2/3 of Bangladesh under water, millions (and millions) displaced. https://www.google.com/amp/s/weather.com/amp/en-IN/india/news/news/bangladesh-nepal-india-monsoon-august-2017.html

Listening to a podcast in which a lawyer is saying something like - procedural offense like obstruction are for after you've exhausted other avenues (I'm wording it poorly).

I gotta admit, as awful as the rally was, in terms of violence and hatred, I'm very surprised it wasn't worse. Maybe I just missed some of the reporting (or what I did see was mistaken), but it seemed like most of the injuries were (relatively) minor.

Happened to be going back through this thread... isn't the dude on the right (in the lower pic) the guy they arrested for firing his weapon?

Good luck to everyone in the area.

Considering he is (I believe) the reason for the Magnitsky Act, I kinda doubt they are bros.

Wasn't real big on Iron Fist. Of course, it has the disadvantage of being compared to Daredevil (and the other two), as opposed to comparing it to the CW type super hero shows. It's a little like Tom Hanks' character in Big becoming a superhero except far less endearing and with more (pretty corny) anger. Anyway, I have a few Defenders episodes left, and I gotta say that I like his character a bit more now. Also, Jessica Jones is a good foil for the others (I was initially worried how she'd fit in).

Seems to me that the big winners in the case of a stricter immigration policy (of enforcement of it) would be the big farms. The massive companies (Monsanto) that can actually afford the automation (or already have it in place). The other group would be importers... or so I'd guess. If I'm right about that, does this pit importers against these large farming orgs? And if that's the case, does that mean that either way, Americans lose ground? To clarify, this is coming from my opinion that expanding exports and increasing the monopolies of big businesses generally goes against what is best for our country - similar to manufacturing being outsourced overseas (China). Edit: not that I'm a protectionist, but I assume the above removes more money from our economy, and I worry that too much reliance on importing food can be highly problematic in terms of global crises (extended supply lines in wartime, for example).

I truly appreciate you (and some others that have echoed the same sentiments) as a poster. And so it kind of saddens me to see this point made. Predicto nailed it way back in the thread - you have to look at why people have statues, roads, schools, etc. named after them. The WH is pushing the equivalency of Lee and Washington because they were both slave holders, but that's not why they are celebrated. For Lee, it is/was due to his role as a Confederate general, for Washington it's due to his role as a Revolutionary general, Founding Father and 1st President. Nobody is perfect, but we can generally agree that people are memorialized for the good things they've done, not their flaws. The "good" thing(s) Lee did are directly related to his role as a traitor fighting to uphold slavery. I'd go into the folks you mentioned, but hopefully you get the idea.

'Redemption'... is that when Evangelicals pound the table supporting the election of someone with absolutely zero Christian values? To be fair to them, perhaps they thought taking the country to rock bottom with a "President" lacking morals, ethics, and Christian values would lead to a renaissance of Christianity.

Has anyone mentioned the (supposed) meeting of Clinton/DNC aides and Ukrainian officials? The fact that the freakin' WH started running with the story before the fake documents were even put online? The fact that they appeared to come directly from Russia/Putin? Holy hell, the Russians are still at it and the WH is assisting them... along with Fox "News".

I've been struggling with how we (i.e. real Americans) treat these hate groups. Violence begets violence, too much tolerance can equate to no tolerance, peaceful counter protests are difficult to keep that way, ignoring is almost tacit complicity, relying on the vote is problematic when one side is essentially rigging the game, and so on. That method above though... that's some genius level stuff.

That is, unfortunately, a good point.

These goal posts would probably be less wobbly if they weren't moved so often.

Was just telling my wife the same. Still loathe the dude, but gotta give him credit - he went above and beyond.

True. However, I'd think that fully removing the US as a sphere of influence would allow Russia even more leeway to carry out their goals.

For all the talk of NK having no chance against the US in a serious war, I worry about the unknowns - for example, does Russia see this as a major chance to weaken/cripple the US and launch massive cyber attacks?

Reminder that Schiff said if Mueller is fired, he would immediately be hired as a Special Counsel by the Intelligence Committee. Not sure about the logistics or actual likelihood, but... Prevezone case that was settled (lawyer in the case was same Russian lawyer that met Don Jr.) - Browder was in NY set to testify for the case when Sessions settled. Browder, the dude who had Magnitsky as his lawyer when the latter discovered the money laundering scheme involving Browder's company, just testified in Congress, right? Wonder where that went. What a tangled web.

I know, right? Should have been more clear in that I hope some of the more moderate GOPers put country over party... most of the rest are a lost cause (and/or they believe completely screwing over the little people will be good for them).

Heard someone (an analyst?) last night saying that since the ACA included a lot of ideas that came from the GOP, it was/is essentially a centrist Healthcare bill... and since the GOP has carried out their "scorched earth" policy towards it, they are now stuck 1) going against what they've been preaching (and campaigning on) for years or 2) trying to pass a (far right leaning) bill that looks terrible to moderate GOPers... and the majority of the country. I'm hopeful common sense, compromise, compassion and data wins out over ego... but I'm not holding my breath.

You know who said that (I don't know whether he actually coined it)? Richard Painter - GWB's chief WH ethics lawyer (this morning).

Listening to the Lawfare blog podcast, they have Third Way org explaining a paper they wrote. Fascinating. Here's a link to a paper they put out. Section II - about responding to the Russian aggression is pretty awesome. http://www.thirdway.org/report/the-last-straw-responding-to-russias-anti-western-aggression Edit: relating to the SC hacking, my SIL sent me the election numbers for NC. It's old news, but interesting how many counties went Republican and what it took - often 100% of registered Republicans and 50+% of registered Independents voting for Trump, and 50% (or less) of registered Dems voting for Clinton. The numbers are eye raising at the least.

Holy crap... I just realized that I fit that description! Thankfully, I'm relatively new to the Tailgate, so most of my sanity's intact.