balki1867

Honestly- I think the Republicans know that Kavanaugh is a losing proposition. The red-in-the-face screaming about George Brett, Clinton conspiracies, how much he likes beer, fart jokes, the bizarre interaction with Klobuchar- none of those things exactly paint the picture of a distinguished Constitutional scholar to your average swing voter. They're looking for a way to dump him without looking weak to their base and Trump. They can't just vote him down or anyone who doesn't comply is sure to face a tough primary in the next go-around. The more I think about it, the more I think that they'll use the week to form a PR campaign for Kavanaugh to withdraw, stating that, "as much as I want to serve my country in the highest court, the ugliness of politics is not something that I want to expose my family to." Then the FBI report never sees the light of day. They'll also use the week to vet another low-risk nominee to be confirmed before election day.

That's the fun thing- If this was a criminal issue, I'd share your concern. But this ultimately is a PR battle. Anything bad in the report can be used to pressure a Senator to vote 'No.' For instance, if he's truly shown to be a perjurer, every Senator who confirms is a future target for questions about how they voted to confirm a Supreme Court justice who doesn't even respect the concept of being under oath. (I know for ~35 of those Senators it doesn't particularly matter, but it's still not something I'd want to defend in a competitive race). Taking this out of the hands of a very politically-motivated Senate committee and into the hands of the FBI is a huge concession from the Republicans IMO. The FBI also isn't likely in any mood to do the Republicans any favors right now either. I know it seems trivial to most, but I'm thinking the Republicans really don't have the confirmation votes- this isn't a ploy to make the process look fair.

Haha, reminds me of an old(er) political joke: Q: What's going to be the title of Bill Clinton's Presidential Memoirs? A: Sex Between the Bushes

Make America Gape Again Commander in (Stormy's) Briefs Stable and Stormy

I know many people who've smoked pot and gotten clearances- it's not a disqualifier unless he's still doing it, or it could be used to compromise him (i.e.: someone threatens to make it public to his embarrassment). I think there's more to this story.

LOL, I don't think the next Elon Musk is coming out of the Oklahoma public schools that are only open 4 days a week.

Was this the same guy who claimed he went on Trump's twitter account to tweet about Comey's firing because the alternative (and way more obvious) explanation (that Trump sent the tweet) would've been an admission of obstructing justice? That's a whole new level of service- a lawyer that not only defends you, but actually commits the crimes for you in the first place.

What's the endgame on immigration here? Trump won't sign a bill that doesn't cut immigration. Flake won't vote for a bill that does, putting the Senate right on its edge (I haven't followed this closely enough to know whether there's other Republicans on board with Flake). Even if they write up a bill that would get a super-majority in both houses, it wouldn't even get a vote in the House because of the Hastert rule. Trump might've actually gotten a deal if he'd lowered his demands, it appears there's no deal to be had here, and if DACA gets caught up in the court system, then Trump effectively got nothing out of the whole escapade.

The Olympic coverage has been outright atrocious. Between the PF Chang's F-up, Katie Couric going on about people ice skating through the canals of Amsterdam, and the commentary about Korea modeling itself after a neighbor that brutally colonized them to decades, i'm perpetually amazed at how stupid we've gotten. (And yes, I'm aware the PF Changs thing was not NBC but a local ABC affiliate in Chicago).

And then when this program doesn't pay for itself and your hard-earned retirement money runs out, you can use some of the fiber optic cable to hang yourself!

Joe Biden will be 79 years old by then. Granted, Trump is 71 and likely in much worse health.

The kicker is the people who insist that Congress shouldn't get paid if there's no budget, or an unbalanced budget, etc. Does anyone really think their Congressman/Senator is incentivized by their Congressional take-home pay?

I agree completely. It's on par with the ridiculous stories about the cost of Obama's vacations. The travel expenses are a drop in the bucket and I frankly wouldn't care if he needed those comforts to be effective at his job (i.e. flying all over the world to be on point with the policy he's pushing).

I think Lloyd Christmas put on some weight.