February 18, 2018

Trump's tweet this morning is reading my mind.


Yes, yes, yes, exactly.

Aptest Trump tweet ever.

181 comments:

rhhardin said...

I credit moron leftists. Russia hardly mattered.

PackerBronco said...

Quote from Mueller's Lead Investigator:

Don Pedro. Officers, what offence have these men done?

Dogberry. Marry, sir, they have committed false report;
moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily,
they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have
belied a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust
things; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves.

(from Much Ado about Nothing, Act V, Scene 1)

Diogenes of Sinope said...

100% true except you're missing the real problem. The CHINESE are laughing their asses off at the USA. Russia, like them or not, could be very helpful in limiting Chinese hegemony but for this insane anti Russia crusade.

Ralph L said...

Should he have used the subjunctive? If it were the goal....

Some other nothingburger would have taken Russia's place. Hillary's subconscious guilt over Uranium One brought Russia to the forefront.

Curious George said...

Hey Ann, he must read your blog because I said this yesterday:

Curious George said...
I'll say this, the Russians have to be laughing their ass off. They couldn't hope for the outcome in their wildest dreams. So much for so little. Hell next time they'll let us do it all on our own.

Thanks progs.

2/17/18, 8:25 AM

Ray - SoCal said...

This tweet is a perfect example of why Trump is President.

This is how he bypasses the press and goes directly to the public.

So much for the press narrative Trump is a Russian dupe.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

pro-Trump rally on one end of town, anti-Trump rally on the other... Pro-Bernie rally = all Russian bots!

Even the evil Russian bots hate Hillary. We were tricked!

Paul Zrimsek said...

If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then it was the stupidest goal in the entire history of goals. We already had all those things, we've always had them and we thrive on them.

David Begley said...

So then why don’t the Dems and MSM drop the topic?

Because it serves their purposes: Either impeach Trump or beat him in 2020.

Curious George: I recall your comment and I agreed with it then.

Trump should read Althouse. Might learn something.

Michael K said...

Does Adam Schiff look like Alger Hiss to you ?

Hiss was smarter and better looking but there is a look...

Original Mike said...

Lots of us have said that.

Fernandinande said...

It's almost as if the Democrats and the GIGANTIC RUSSIANS are colluding.

Mark said...

There is a legal concept known as tacit collusion. You see it a lot in the airline industry, where suddenly everyone raises (or lowers) their prices around the same time and in about the same amount. There is no overt connection between the airlines, but there is a silent understanding between the parties all with the same goal and object in mind.

Big Mike said...

Trump is learning how to use his Twitter account much more effectively than at the start of his presidency. Unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump is capable of learning and growing in office.

Wince said...

Dupes-a-daisy.

Calling out the dupes who wanted to be duped in their effort to accuse others of being dupes, in order to dupe everyone else.

roesch/voltaire said...

Yes China and Russia are laughing their asses off and it’s time for the tweeter in chief to get smart and stop apologizing for Russian interferences and maybe lead the nation in. Common sense gun regulations.

robother said...

Deep State and Obama admin.was caught with their hand in the cookie jar, when Trump was elected. The Russia Collusion Story was their insurance policy, to prevent Trump from exposing and prosecuting them. Sessions was the weak reed that they needed for the plan to work.

Now that Mueller has admitted no collusion, they will shift to the "Trump obstructed" narrative which is vague enough to prolong the investigation through 2020, or to support impeachment if Dems retake the House in 2018. Willing MSM and drip, drip of leaks from Mueller will sustain the Narrative in the meantime.

Trump still is in the fight of his life, which will require all of his instinctive skill to survive. If he loses, it won't matter for the rest of my life which "Party" wins the White House or Congress. We'll all know who is really in charge.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Facebook VP tweets an interesting thread...

“Most of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal.”

“The majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election. We shared that fact, but very few outlets have covered it because it doesn’t align with the main media narrative of Tump and the election.”

“The main goal of the Russian propaganda and misinformation effort is to divide America by using our institutions, like free speech and social media, against us. It has stoked fear and hatred amongst Americans. It is working incredibly well. We are quite divided as a nation.”

https://twitter.com/robjective/status/964680122006581248

Wince said...

Big Mike said...
Trump is learning how to use his Twitter account much more effectively than at the start of his presidency. Unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump is capable of learning and growing in office.

Increasingly, since he's been in office, I hear Kellyanne Conway's imprint on many of Trump's more analytical Tweets.

There's also a female sensibility that wasn't there before.

Phil 314 said...

"lead the nation in common sense gun regulation "

So apart from the "SQUIRREL !!!" motivation R-V what other purpose did you have making that comment.


PS I'm not a gun guy, never owned one and had never fired a gun until this past year, but the craziness from the left (and non-left) is making me more sympathetic to gun owners.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

affect instead of effect

Sebastian said...

"Hey Ann, he must read your blog because I said this yesterday:"

Hey Curious, you must have been reading my insightful comments, since I said this weeks ago. Happy to share credit, of course.

It's not like Trump to be a little slow to pick up on these memes, but better late than never.

Plus it's good that he gives moderates a feeling that he's "reading their minds." Win-win.

David Begley said...

Idea I just got from “The Kremlin’s Candidate” by Jason Matthews. An aggressive Trump CIA can run some active measures against Russia. Words; not deeds.

You are welcome for the idea, President Trump.

Wince said...

I'm not saying Conway writes them, but I wouldn't be surprised if Chief of Staff Kelly said "try to run them by Kellyanne first."

Bilwick said...

In addition to pretending they care about Trump's sex life, "liberals" can continue to pretend that they're actually concerned and alarmed by the Russians.

David Begley said...

1. And, Mr. President, make public some of your active measures against Russia.

2. Novel purchased through Althouse Amazon portal.

Sebastian said...

"It is working incredibly well. We are quite divided as a nation."

Progs never cared about Russia. They are happy to "sow discord." They are happy to use claims that Russia sows discord to sow discord.

No MSMer will say: my God, Russia wants discord, we are fomenting discord, let's cut down on the discord to teach those damn Russians a lesson.

Progs don't care about division either. Correction: they care about division insofar as their side comes out a little bigger, so they can seize power. Therefore, they care about it now, since in recent election cycles their side has come out on the losing end. After they start winning, division will return to being merely divisive, and non-Dems should just shut up.

Real American said...

I need to see much more evidence that anything these indicted Russians did actually made much of a difference. This country was already deeply divided. Trump winning made the left even more nuts than they already were. The Russians didn't cause that.

In fact, the Obama administration's spying on the Trump campaign is far more dangerous to our democracy than anything the Russians did, and the Democrats seem to be more than OK with that.

David Begley said...

Mr. President:

Begley here again. Another idea from “The Kremlin’s Candidate.” Have the CIA terminate with extreme prejudice the Director of the SVR and FSB, but make it look like accidents.

Happy to help.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Agreed. I read that tweet to my wife this morning and declared it perfect. It is exactly what I have been thinking and saying but more than that, it is a perfect statement by the President.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

maybe lead the nation in. Common sense gun regulations.

maybe lead the nation in. Cleaning up the FBI so they can do their job.

FIFY

Left Bank of the Charles said...

The tweet about what McMaster “forgot” to say was more interesting.

Michael K said...

In fact, the Obama administration's spying on the Trump campaign is far more dangerous to our democracy than anything the Russians did, and the Democrats seem to be more than OK with that.

Yes and that is the real story.

When did something like that happen in our history ?

I'm trying to think of an example. The "Corrupt Bargain" that put JQ Adams in the presidency is the closest I can think of.

robother said...

Ah yes, "common sense gun regulations," enforced by the same FBI that can't bother to investigate an active planning school shooter. That will make us all so much safer. Do these Dem trolls even listen to their own talking points, or just blast them out like so many assembly line chocolates?

Big Mike said...

What a piss-ignorant tool like roesch thinks is “common sense” and what really does constitute common sense are two different things. Very different things. Just to pick on one of the most obvious, telescoping stocks on rifles. According to Feinstein’s latest bill, all by itself that makes a gun illegal, but why would a husband want to buy a rifle with an adjustable stock? Might he want to adjust it so his wife can use it, and if he needs to use it all he needs to do is pull it back? Would that be common sense, why yes it would — unless you’re a Democrat and don’t want women to be able to defend themselves during a home invasion.

I don’t own an AR; like Tom Selleck’s eponymous character in “Quigley Down Under,” I ain’t got no use for one. But I can understand and sympathize with someone who makes that choice for home defense.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

it’s time for the tweeter in chief to get smart and stop apologizing for Russian interferences and maybe lead the nation in.

Dishonesty is your hallmark. I’d like proof he issued any apology as you describe. Quotes not links. Show me if you can. An APOLOGY. For Russian “interference.”

Ann Althouse said...

"Hey Ann, he must read your blog because I said this yesterday: 'Curious George said... I'll say this, the Russians have to be laughing their ass off. They couldn't hope for the outcome in their wildest dreams. So much for so little. Hell next time they'll let us do it all on our own.' Thanks progs."

Trump reads the comments at Althouse!

Jon Burack said...

PackerBronco, love that "Much Ado" quote. Hysterical.

The RuskiePajama 13 had long outlived their limited usefulness to Russia, but by getting "indicted" they live again and are augmented beyond their wildest dreams. "Indicted" is in quotes because Mueller knows full well this indictment will never be tested in court. Is he cynical? Does he think this will give him the last word about these accused (in total contradiction to how our justice system is supposed to work)? Does he think they will deliver up bigger fish as the cower somewhere in a Moscow basement (assuming they are not already vacationing on the Black Sea somewhere all expenses paid by Daddy Putin)? Okay, I will go through the increasingly ritualistic incantation that Mueller may have other shoes to drop. Actually, he probably has as many shoes as Imelda Marcos did. I really do not think it will matter. This investigation serves only one purpose - and the purpose is served by its merely continuing, not by anything it ever discovers. For once, Trump and Twitter are pretty much all that needs to be said.

tim in vermont said...

Maybe all of that traffic from The Ukraine is Russian trolls reading Althouse to get material for them to feed to their puppet Trump.

Bay Area Guy said...

If Tom Clancy were alive, he might do a sequel to "Red Storm Rising" - where an aging Jack Ryan pursues 13 nefarious Russian computer nerds, who are plotting world domination from their computer screens in a shitty little apartment in Minsk.

Ann Althouse said...

By the way, which do you think is the preferred way to write this (as a matter of proper English and as a matter of looking like an American and not a Russian troll):

1. "laughing their ass off" (Curious George)

2. "laughing their asses off" (Trump)

I believe #1 is proper English and remember how I was taught the rule in my high school English class: You shouldn't say to a group of people "don't lose your heads" because it sounds as though each individual has more than one head.

I think #2 is pretty common in American speech even though it's fussier. I guess people reason that if you say "they were laughing their ass off," there would seem to be only one ass that somehow they all shared.

Each choice is ridiculous in its own way.

You can avoid the problem by trying to get to the singular, e.g., "Everyone was laughing his ass off." Then you've got the his/her problem. You can say "Everyone was laughing their ass off" and think of the "their" as the new p.c. singular.

Michael K said...

The automatic adoption of the dog whistle "Common Sense Gun Laws" is a tell and a sign that no one is serious.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

RV=troll

buwaya said...

"asses" sounds funnier. More memorable I think.

Michael K said...

"If Tom Clancy were alive, he might do a sequel to "Red Storm Rising" -"

That is still one of his best books. I reread it every few years.

The Ryan series were also excellent but RSR was the tour d force.

Michael K said...

The "Red October" movie was the best from his books.

stevew said...

The Russian disruption of the US election and sowing of discord among the citizenry is an attack on America. Once this became known I expected that Americans would rally together, regardless of party affiliation and political tribe, in anger and outrage at the attack. Boy was I wrong.

-sw

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

While you’re at it, RV, remind me what common sense steps that Obama took after Sandy Hook to prevent future school shootings. What exactly was Obama’s solution and how did it turn out?

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I think I say "laughing their asses off."

What no poll? :(

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

“Laughing their red diapers off.”

Mark said...

I expected that Americans would rally together, regardless of party affiliation and political tribe, in anger and outrage at the attack. Boy was I wrong

Thanks for the disingenuous remark which is itself divisive and expresses anger and outrage not at Russia, but a certain segment of Americans.

So, let me ask you -- are you commenting from Russia yourself?

Mark said...

So, are you a fraud, Unknown0942, or a dupe of the Russians?

Paddy O said...

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Trump reads this blog. From what I know about him, he seems to follow a lot of media, and it makes sense he could have found his way here.

He might even comment. Not under his real name. And he'd never tell us. Who do you think he comments as?

Chuck is my first guess. I could totally seem him trolling for responses. Set up the arguments against him and look for good responses. Who'd suspect?!

stevew said...

I might be a bot, Russian or otherwise, or not. Who can tell?

Which are you angry and outraged about, Russian interference or me noting that we are divided?

-sw

steve uhr said...

Sort of life me saying the shooter got everything he wanted with all the publicity. So the press should not cover it?

I'd be quite happy though if mueller's investigation was the only one. The congressional investigations only make his job more difficult

todd galle said...

Please define 'common sense'for the class. I used to have several British service rifles built during the Great War (1914-18) with a detachable box magazine holding 10 rounds of .303 ammunition. The .303 bullet has a diameter of .311 inches. This magazine could be recharged quickly with a pair of charger clips holding 5 rounds each. Should this antique, older than most on this comment thread, be outlawed? Granted these rifles were bolt action, not semi like the AR-types, but the Germans who were attacking British regulars in 1914 thought they were advancing against massed machine guns, when in fact, it was a decimated battalion with SMLEs.

FrankiM said...

What has happened to the Althouse blog? It’s surprising how low a law professor of a prestigious university has fallen.

buwaya said...

A truly common sense gun law will begin by acknowledging the political purpose of the Second Amendment, which is plainly to facilitate an armed revolt of the people against a government turned despotic.

This is a unique feature of the American system, a distrust of government and fear of tyranny so intense that the right of revolt is explicitly stated. Without that, you are not you.

A realistic appraisal of this purpose, based on strategic considerations of a revolution, and the tactical requirements of such a revolt in modern circumstances, should lead, I think, to more "common sense" laws and regulations. These would probably make both sides of the argument very unhappy.

But "common sense" does not, as noted above, really mean common sense, but an assumption of conclusions, a power move to frame the question. It is disingenuous, propaganda.

Paddy O said...

You a (former) law professor!

Paul Zrimsek said...

So apart from the "SQUIRREL !!!" motivation R-V what other purpose did you have making that comment.

It's like when you've got a kid who wants a bunny. You can't say anything on any subject that won't have the effect of reminding him how much he needs a bunny.

Mark said...

And so R/V succeeds in derailing the conversation. With a lot of help.

Big Mike said...

Trump reads the comments at Althouse!

He could do worse.

Original Mike said...

”I'd be quite happy though if mueller's investigation was the only one. The congressional investigations only make his job more difficult”

Of course you do. Thank god it’s not.

Sebastian said...

"Trump reads the comments at Althouse!"

Who says he isn't commenting? It's not like the presidency is a hard job for a former businessman.

Anyway, he should read. Easier to digest than the novels of Roth and Pamuk. More fun than the MSM shows. Greater variety of conservative views. Opportunity to read moderate minds. Chance to gauge confusion on matters of sex and feminism. Lots of potential new memes to try. Downside: lack of smart lefties might lead him to underestimate the opposition.

Original Mike said...

”They are laughing their asses off in Moscow.”

I am embarrassed for my country.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The thread goes where the crowd moves, Mark. This is far less hijacked than the late night ones become. You know of whom I speak.

buwaya said...

Discord, disruption and chaos are the natural state of a society where there are fundamentally opposing interests. When the foundations are cracked, the thing cannot be fixed with a coat of paint.

It doesnt take Russians to make trouble here.

The only way out of this problem is to reconcile the divergent interests. It is very difficult in this case as these conflicts are largely zero-sum, and moreover the stakes in the game are enormous.

Mark said...

The thread goes where the crowd moves, Mark.

OK. You're right. We shouldn't blame R/V. We should blame all the lemmings who don't ignore these guys and instead go headlong into the wilderness.

buwaya said...

The whole guns thing, especially that of the "assault rifles", is a direct consequence of discord, disruption and chaos. This is in fact quite relevant.

One of the most telling phenomena of the last two decades is the enormous increase in sales of "assault weapons"; there are probably more of these things in private hands in the US, now, than the Chinese Army has in all its arsenals.

This is a truly remarkable development, which seemingly came out of the blue. Everything has been there to support it in previous decades, there were public domain designs and "craft" makers, and hobbyists with machine shops (I have been a regular reader of "Guns and Ammo" since I was a tyke), and etc. They could have been making millions of semi-auto large magazine capacity carbines in 1960, or ARs in 1970. But no, it is recent.

The reason is social and psychological. A large portion of the population is consciously or subconsciosly preparing for some sort of revolution or civil war. This is the result of a perception of being threatened.

As a first cut to resolving the assault rifle plague, I think the most fundamental, "common sense" policy is to stop threatening the population of potential assault rifle purchasers.

Anonymous said...

And the US useful idiots are -as usual- are democrats.

todd galle said...

Not a lemming at all Mark. All through my life, I've seen comments like that, thrown where they don't necessarily belong, left ignored. Later this is presented as proof that pro 2nd amendment folks don't have an answer to 'common sense' gun control arguments. We do. They won't answer our questions though.

David Begley said...

Corrections to comments above.

Trump is a man of deeds; not words. He needs to take active measures against Russia. Obama, on the other hand, was a man of words; not deeds. (“Vlad, cut it out.”)

If Trump ordered the murder of the heads of the SVR and FSB, then our directors of the FBI and CIA would be targets forever. But Trump can order lots of covert and overt actions against Russia for their tricks.

Rick said...

America is smartly ignoring this, it's the left wing media and their acolytes playing their hand in support of Russians. Their willingness to support our enemies against America because they believe it helps them is obvious yet again.

robother said...

All Trump tweets also function as communication in code to his Russian puppeteers--"Assizov" is the cell leader. Who is, in fact, laughing.

Bruce Hayden said...

“They could have been making millions of semi-auto large magazine capacity carbines in 1960, or ARs in 1970. But no, it is recent.”

I think that part of it was critical mass. AR variants are highly modular, and there is now a significant market for parts. You can build your own (and if you start with an 80% complete lower receiver, you don’t even need a serial number or FFL). Meanwhile AR-15 accessories are getting battle tested, as they are used on military M16s and M4s. Somewhat like the tinkering with cars that we saw in the 1960s, and computers in the 1990s. The result is that the AR platform has evolved significantly in the 60 years since it was first introduced, driven, to a great extent by their easy customization. And the result is that they are now significantly technologically advanced over the types of “common sense” firearms that the gun grabbers want to limit the civilian market to.

Gospace said...

In an effort to spread this apt bit of humor about this as far as possible:

ME: * laughing uncontrollably*

DEM: ... this isn't a joke.

ME (still laughing): I'm sorry, I'm sorry... it sounded like you said 13 Russians speaking broken English had a more effective messaging campaign than Hillary Clinton.

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:

THIS VETERAN FBI INVESTIGATOR MAY KNOW KEY DETAILS ON THE CLINTON EMAILS: But he suddenly and unexpectedly retired a few months into it. Some might wonder why. Long-time Clinton Foundation exposer Charles Ortel lays it out in LifeZette.

cronus titan said...

The indictment reads like high drama but what it reveals was how penny ante and ridiculous it was. $1 million compared to one campaign alone spending $1.2 billion, and total expenditures were over 43 billion? We are supposed to take a Russian troll farm seriously? Russian election shenanigans were worthless, and they could have never dreamed that the US, especially its government leaders and media, were such useful idiots that they would turn that into tieing up our government for years.

In short, they have to be laughing their asses off.

N.B. Since there were at least 13 Russians involved in the troll farm, and assuming Putin and his cronies knew (certainly the case), the correct term is plural, i.e. asses. Putin himself is laughing his ass off.

Seeing Red said...

Common sense gun regulations.

SSDD

Instead maybe we should have a national discussion on the breakdown of the nuclear family and repeal those “caring” “progressive” laws/rules which caused it in the first place.

Francisco D said...

"It doesnt take Russians to make trouble here. "

Very true Buwaya.

However, note the irony that the DNC/MSM complex is using the "Red Scare" tactics that they decried when we were opposing the Soviet International.

steve uhr said...

Hypothetical - if law passed outlawing assault rifles and requiring owners to turn in their assault rifles in exchange for fair compensation. Law upheld by courts. What percent obey?

Seeing Red said...

Mr. President:

Begley here again. Another idea from “The Kremlin’s Candidate.” Have the CIA terminate with extreme prejudice the Director of the SVR and FSB, but make it look like accidents.

Happy to help.


You should read Rantburg about the Russian mercenaries.

steve uhr said...

And, government doesn't know identity of the owners

Quaestor said...

Here's the link Seeing Red referred tp.

Seeing Red said...

The Russian disruption of the US election and sowing of discord among the citizenry is an attack on America. Once this became known I expected that Americans would rally together, regardless of party affiliation and political tribe, in anger and outrage at the attack. Boy was I wrong.



As a boomer who lived more than 1/2 their life under the Cold War, I was too busy LMAO at their naïveté. I avoid politics with family and friends like the plague.

cronus titan said...

@steve uhr -- a high percentage, composed entirely of citizens who comply with law anyway. The only ones who will not are those with bad intents in the first place.

Consistent with this thread, what the hell does "common sense gun control" mean anyway? We already have "common sense gun laws," like preventing felons from obtaining guns, no sale to children, prohibitions on certain types, etc. It can mean anything you want it to mean. The President is right that it is really a mental illness issue -- in our zeal to remove any stigma of being "mentally ill," we no longer address it seriously, so the truly mentally ill can obtain guns without fear of being denied.

To me, "common sense gun reform" has always meant a ban but of course, they cannot say that. ALso, they have no interest in renewing mental health facilities to house the Cruz' of the country. So they use "common sense" to mask the intent.

traditionalguy said...

To understand why the Dems are stuck on stupid, all you need to know is that Soros has bought every last one of them and 1/3 of the Gopes with Saudi Sheik Talaweed's petrodollars for 30 years now.

But that has ended a few months ago. The Dems are now running around like a chicken with its huge bribe taking head cut off.

Anonymous said...

In the case of speaking to a group, it's technically speaking to each of them as individuals, so it makes sense to use the singular there. If speaking about the group, "they shouldn't lose their heads" makes better sense. That may or may not be proper English, but hey, by my day in school, it's not like the schools really cared to teach proper English. Beware of people who speak proper English, they might just be Russian plants!

Seriously though, Russia has to be pleased as punch at how much chaos has occurred here due to the left's inability to process a loss. But if we're being realistic, they've been interfering most likely since the early days of the USSR, it's just that it was usually to the benefit of the Democrats and their leftist travelers, so that was all perfectly fine, nothing to see there.

Original Mike said...

”it sounded like you said 13 Russians speaking broken English had a more effective messaging campaign than Hillary Clinton.”

Yeah, that’s what they’re saying.

DougWeber said...

I would say "laughing their asses off". The other sounds to me as if they only have one ass and would make sense if it were an animal. As an example, I would say "All the gentlemen removed their hats." "The ladies put their purses on the table".

Seeing Red said...

ME (still laughing): I'm sorry, I'm sorry... it sounded like you said 13 Russians speaking broken English had a more effective messaging campaign than Hillary Clinton.


Bwaaaaaaaaaa

That’s a good one!

They called her “Satan.”

That’s called truth in advertising.

Picturing God as a woman and Satan as a woman makes so much more sense in some cases.

todd galle said...

I think Agent 'Covfeve' has a whole bunch to answer for.

buwaya said...

In the 50's and 60's they were customizing cars.
And this was much more of a cottage industry then than now.

But there is, now, a cottage industry of a particular sort of gun, which there wasn't then.

I don't think the AR-15-M-16 was less modular even when new than it is now, as there are manufacturers who make complete retro-styled AR clones with detailed remakes of military components, which are backwards-compatible. I.e., if someone had wanted to, they could have made todays AR clones in 1970. The pins and screws and the holes they go into have not changed.

More, the M1 carbine is a very simple gun and nearly as easy to make; much of the receiver can be redesigned in aluminum also. And all sorts of people made it, and the tooling was available. Winchester could have used its military tooling. Other companies bought wartime tooling and made copies. And others bought masses of surplys parts and built them into more copies. If there had been a market, a fad for them, it would easily have been supplied.

Its not technology that changed but society.

todd galle said...

Just watched the end of the men's biathalon. All those men with guns, and nobody got shot at the finish line due to a close loss. What could be the reason?n Toxic non-aggression?

buwaya said...

In order to comply with the constitutional requirement, a common sense gun law would be along the lines of requiring all adult males in reasonable physical condition to attend militia drills once a month (enforced by fines/imprisonment), including training in the use of automatic weapons, grenades, grenade launchers, antitank weapons, etc. And a full set of modern infantry armaments scaled to the local population plus a basic load of ammunition to be stored in a county armory.

buwaya said...

Having used and carried both, I like the M-1 carbine much more than the M-16. Handier, more comfortable, and for most civil situations more practical. But the realities of economies of scale in re ammunition supply make the AR inevitable.

MayBee said...

Paddy O- Trump posting as Chuck is one of my favorite things ever.

Michael K said...

And a full set of modern infantry armaments scaled to the local population plus a basic load of ammunition to be stored in a county armory.

Why not at home as in Switzerland ?

The M-1 carbine is what I qualified with at the rifle range. It is not very accurate.

The Garand and the Springfield 03 were both very accurate but the ammunition was heavy.

The M 14 failed on recoil when fired on full auto, plus the weight of ammo.

buwaya said...

And also in order to comply with the purpose of facilitating revolt, it would be the duty of the government to facilitate terrorism, as that is the first step in initiating a revolt under modern conditions. Political murder must remain a possibility. The critical weapons here are not automatic rifles, but a concealable handgun or a bomb.

todd galle said...

buwaya,
I could live with that, and could have equipped a full squad before my unfortunate boating accident.

John Pickering said...

Here Ann affirms the honesty and honorable character of Trump, who she knows and praises as an adulterer and sex assaulter, and stands strong to defend the rights of Russia to alter the perceptions of her credulous readers. Ann's readers respond by parroting the very Russian memes that they read on Powerline, Breitbart and TheDuran.

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. Why doesn't Trump have the balls to fire Mueller?

Michael K said...

Blogger steve uhr said...
Hypothetical - if law passed outlawing assault rifles and requiring owners to turn in their assault rifles in exchange for fair compensation. Law upheld by courts. What percent obey?


Check the NY large magazine law and how it has worked out

buwaya said...

Why not at home, indeed.
A rifle in every home, at public cost.
I wonder what effect that would have on the public psyche.
It would mean something to be a citizen, to be a warrior, if only in potential.

Leland said...

"lead the nation in common sense gun regulation "

I thought Trump wasn't to interfere with the FBI. Common sense would say with 39 visits and a comment "I plan to be a professional school shooter", the FBI might have put things together. But this is the same FBI that believed the Steele Dossier despite a failure to collaborate any part of it. Trump is leading the nation in common sense, but he's having a problem getting the deep state bureaucrats to follow.

robother said...

I have drafted a common sense law that might have prevented the Florida School shooting. The Title of the law is:
"FBI Just Do Your Fucking Jobs Act."

Hari said...
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Hari said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

Also check Connecticutt.

And an AR is not an assault rifle. The term has a definition: a rifle that can be select-fired on either semiautomatic or full automatic (it continues to fire as long as the trigger is depressed). The US has banned sales of rifles capable of fully automatic fire for decades already.

Hari said...

Trump should tweet:

In 2020, I will not be paying Fusion GPS for a fake dossier on the likely Democratic nominee, Crazy Bernie Sanders (who honeymooned in Russia in 1988). I call on Crooked Hillary to promise the same.

Big Mike said...

My last comment was directed at steve uhr.

Sebastian said...

Trump should tweet:

"Common sense" amnesty deal made no sense: promising amnesty to foreigners who haven't even broken our laws yet is ridiculous.

cronus titan said...

"Why doesn't Trump have the balls to fire Mueller?"

Because there is no need. HIs investigation is not yielding very much. Manafort's indictment is a resurrection of a closed investigation from 2014, the Russian Troll farm tells us nothing we did not already know other than how small-time and ineffective it was (Russians trying to influence US politics? Heavens no!), Papadopolous and Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the FBI on peripheral issues, and so on. It is a huge distraction but nothing more. Let Mueller go crazy investigating, and then wave the final report around which will show there was no collusion. Also, the FBI/DoJ shenanigans will take center stage when the IG report is released.

So let Mueller do his thing. FIring him just makes him a martyr -- look how fast Comey became a hero to the left and their media adjuncts. Same guy who was persona non grata to the most elegant dinner parties in the fall was a hero in the spring when he was fired.

buwaya said...

I come down halfway between on the "assault rifle" argument - on the words. Yes the anti-side is by parts ignorant and disingenuous (my new favorite word), but the pro side also misses the point that the semi-auto nature of these things does not make them less effective at killing large numbers of defenseless civilians. Automatic fire in this form factor, as opposed to the case of belt-fed bipod or tripod mounted weapons, is not helpful at making the most of the contents of a 30-round magazine.

Sebastian said...

Trump should tweet:

So, Bob, if it's illegal for foreigners to contribute anything of value to an American campaign, when are you gonna go after Chris Steele and his Russian operatives?

Bruce Hayden said...

“And an AR is not an assault rifle. The term has a definition: a rifle that can be select-fired on either semiautomatic or full automatic (it continues to fire as long as the trigger is depressed). The US has banned sales of rifles capable of fully automatic fire for decades already.”

A couple qualifications here. The US military utilized a 3 round burst M-16 for awhile, instead of the full auto “rock and roll” version. Still considered select fire, as an “assault rifle” under applicable regulation and international treaty, and highly restricted as a “machine gun” under US law. The key is that they were capable of firing more than one round per trigger activation. And, machine guns aren’t actually banned under US law, but rather highly restricted. If you have enough money, have a clean record, and live in the right state, you, too, can legally own a machine gun.

buwaya said...

The biggest bit of foreign interference in US politics in recent years has been the long and richly funded campaign to hamper US (and Canadian) oil and gas development.

And that, note, threatened enormous economic and strategic interests of the US. Not much interest in all that, on the part of the press or the DOJ.

Historically the most intense efforts by a foreign country to influence US politics were

1) the constant push throughout the Cold War by the Soviet Union, supporting both overt communists and numerous front organizations and "agents of influence", many of which are still liberal heroes and many of the proteges of these are now senior academics.

2) The intense but brief (1940-41) British effort to get the US into WW2. Britain flooded the US with celebrity spokesmen and advocates, and piles of propaganda inserted into the MSM of the day. This was done with the acquiesence of the Roosevelt administration. Propaganda is propaganda, whatever the merit of its objective.

Seeing Red said...

Flynn prosecution might fall apart. We will see.

Seeing Red said...

Via Rantburg from the American Thinker:

...@JudicialWatch lawsuit uncovered how Mueller's FBI worked with Lois Lerner's IRS to try to prosecute the very groups Obama IRS was suppressing. Another reason I don't trust Mr. Mueller – or the FBI!

The treasure trove of documents detailing the weaponizing of powerful government agencies, including Mueller's FBI, by the Obama administration to target the Tea Party was obtained by Judicial Watch as a result of court orders stemming from Freedom of Information Act lawsuits after the political targeting of the Tea Party:

Sebastian said...

""agents of influence", many of which are still liberal heroes"

Data point 1999 to show that progs don't believe their own BS.

Alger Hiss? Hero! Hollywood commies? "Blacklisted."

What they believe, exclusively, is that they should rule. If being pro-Russian helps the cause, favor Russia; if being anti-Russian helps, attack Russia. Hence the easy switch from ridiculing Romney to feigning outrage. Hence the inaction by O and his minions when they thought Russian-sown discord could help Hill. Hence the eager quid-pro-quo cooperation with Russians on the uranium deal, and the squelching of any investigation into its "improprieties."

Primat der Innenpolitik, is all.

Anonymous said...

Look what Trump did!!!

Sneaky!

chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCgv1110dvQ

Get Smart - Kaos - Losing Agents

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

California law changed 1/1 requiring all previously unregistered guns (purchased prior to law changes and grandfathered in, received as gifts from family or friend, bought in other states etc.) to be registered. Nobody is complying a statistically zero effect. Gun owners are tired of being marginalized for the actions of progressive criminals. We don’t talk about resistance. We just ignore bad laws. Sad but necessary when our own state turns totalitarian like it has.

M Jordan said...

Karlpopperghost: “Sneaky! chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!“

Wow! That’s a GREAT CATCH! Trump should’ve added, “But I’m still president. They missed it by that much.”

Big Mike said...

@Bruce Hayden, I knew all that, of course, but thanks for adding detail to my explanation.

@buwaya, if you tune in to AMC when “The Son” is playing you will see Pierce Brosnan’s character using a Winchester Model 1907 — a semiautomatic rifle with a detachable 15 round box magazine. 111 years ago. My point is that this is old technology.

Now let’s look closely at the AR. Perceived recoil is lowered because the stock is aligned with the axis of the barrel, and lowered further by buffer tubes inside the stock. Add in an adjustable stock, which Diane Feinstein wants to ban, and you are looking at a rifle that a petite woman can use for self defense. Why would anyone be opposed to a rifle that women can easily use for self defense? I have my own suspicions, but let’s just leave the question hanging there.

Rick said...

America Is Under Attack and the President Doesn't Care

The Atlantic ran with this. The article is by David Frum but authors don't write the headlines.

Obama a downplayed terrorist attacks and Trump ignores a handful of numbnuts posting nonsense on the internet. Guess which outrages the Atlantic?

How did the left become this insane? Don't blame Trump: the left has been like this for decades.

Earnest Prole said...

A lot of Russian conservatives were proud. They said: “Look at what Russians can do! Only 90 people with $2 million made America scared! We are strong!”

Anonymous said...

America Is Under Attack and the President Doesn't Care

The Atlantic ran with this. The article is by David Frum but authors don't write the headlines.

Obama a downplayed terrorist attacks and Trump ignores a handful of numbnuts posting nonsense on the internet. Guess which outrages the Atlantic?

How did the left become this insane? Don't blame Trump: the left has been like this for decades.


Frum etal at The Atlantic are NOT the left they are the Jewish right. They represent the Jewish neo-con Israeli right.

Frum is a Canadian and Jeffrey Goldberg served in the Israeli military.

Julia Ioffe is a Russian Jew as is new Wash Post hire Max Boot.

They hate Trump because they wanted their candidate - Jeb or Hillary - to go after Russia and Syria because it is "good for the Jews", that is good for Israel.

Remember Frum is the idiot who gave Bush the line "Axis of Evil" which caused the North Koreans to speed up their nuclear program so the US would be deterred from doing to North Korea what they did to Vietnam, Iraq, Serbia etc.

If the neo cons had their way we would be in another Iraq war in Syria and would be pressing for regional wars with Russia in Ukraine and the Baltic.

They will NEVER forgive Trump for ruining their plans.

It has nothing to do with the left!

Darrell said...

The Democrats/Left have to make this into a big deal because they committed thousands of felonies creating the "Russia!!!11!!!!" lie and going after Trump before and after the election.

Paco Wové said...

"America Is Under Attack"

Alleged 'journalist' Jonathan Alter apparently tweeted something like "...an attack that—but for the loss of life—is as bad as Pearl Harbor." which I think has to win some kind of Olympic Gold Medal for Hysterical Hyperbolic Overstatement.

itzik basman said...

I analogize this to me phoning in a phony bomb scare someplace and then laughing smugly at all the panic and chaos that ensue.

How does anyone think any country would react to credible attempts to affect its elections?

Lewis Wetzel said...

When I started Chrome on my cell phone this afternoon, it decided to show me a headline:"Analysis|Fact-Checking Trump's error-filled tweetstorm about the Russia Investigation."
Stop it, Google. No one wants to know the political opinions of Google's content managers.

tim in vermont said...

”America Is Under Attack"

Everybody to get from street!

William said...

The absolute beauty of this is that Trump's tweets go directly to the heart of middle America. He doesn't sugarcoat, he doesn't beat around the bush, he doesn't hint or imply or use innuendo.

What he says may grate on the psyches of the folks who hate him, but when I read his tweets, I say to myself, "Yep. That's precisely what's going on."

The other side just can't seem to deal with that. Heh.

tim in vermont said...

'd be quite happy though if mueller's investigation was the only one. The congressional investigations only make his job more difficult

Yeah, I bet you would. Partisan investigations and prosecutions against Republicans, meanwhile, Democrats skate. Sure. there is a recipe for good government.

tim in vermont said...

Mueller’s job should be difficult, Clearly, based on the partisan makeup of his team, it is a Democrat version of Seal Team Six to take down Trump. Weissman, his attack. dog, was at the election night “party” for Hillary.

Bob Boyd said...

If the goal of the Democrat Party under Obama was to sow discord in America what would they have done different?

Stephen said...

What would being smart consist of? Wouldn’t the smart thing be to admit that Russian interference was a real thing and remains a real threat and then get to the bottom of it? Who is opposing that? Get smart Trump and Althouse!

Earnest Prole said...

If the goal of the Democrat Party under Obama was to sow discord in America what would they have done different?

The role of a community organizer is to sow discord and then charge rent in exchange for crop failure. When someone tells you who he is, believe him.

Lewis Wetzel said...

So the Democrats, who do not believe that a person should have to show picture ID to vote, are obsessed with election integrity?

Earnest Prole said...

They hate Trump because they wanted their candidate - Jeb or Hillary - to go after Russia and Syria because it is "good for the Jews", that is good for Israel.

Tell us more about your fascinating foreskin theories.

twgin said...

sure Stephen, let's do that by a very public set of showy indictments against people who aren't even in the country... let's publicize everything we know about Russia's attempts to subvert the election ! read a little Andy McCarthy; this should be a counter intelligence operation conducted in secret, not a criminal matter conducted in full public view. but conducting it in secret means the left wouldn't be able to attack the president with whatever cherry picked bits they grab from the headlines. every lefty article I read takes as gospel that the Russian's objective was to help Trump (Rosenstein said so, doncha know ?!) get elected. even a cursory reading of the indictment or other reported details puts the lie to this "gospel", but then there is nothing to attack the president with, it there ?

tim in vermont said...

Wouldn’t the smart thing be to admit that Russian interference was a real thing and remains a real threat and then get to the bottom of it? Who is opposing that? Get smart Trump and Althouse!

What is fascinating to me is how quickly you guys seem to have erased from your memories the very public fact that this Russia investigation was a project to remove Trump. It’s quite impressive if you have really completely forgotten that fact, most likely you guys are just being cynical.

Paco Wové said...

"Wouldn’t the smart thing be to admit that Russian interference was a real thing and remains a real threat and then get to the bottom of it?"

1. Isn't that what Mueller is doing? Under the auspices of the current President?

2. Is it a threat? What is detailed in the indictment seems quite penny-ante.

3. Is it a worse threat than those that have occurred in the past? Foreigners attempting to influence American elections is not a new thing. I'm not convinced that this particular instance amounts to a pimple on the ass of an elephant – at least, it didn't until the anti-Trump forces decided to make it the moral equivalent of Pearl Harbor.

4. What is 'interference', anyway? Is that like when a foreign newspaper recruits foreigners to write letters to American citizens to change their vote?

tim in vermont said...

This complete switch in emphasis, from a project to remove Trump to patriotic protection of America’s otherwise pristine political process coincides nicely with Inga’s disappearance as a commenter, since using the Russia investigation to remove Trump was her oft stated hope, inconvenient now that new talking points are out, and that cognomen had to be burned.

Of course completely ignoring and undermining duly enacted immigration laws in the hopes of changing the demographics of our electorate? Not a problem! Free speech? Problem!

tim in vermont said...

It is also easy to notice that the hue and cry, the sturm und drang over the direction of the comments here never seems to include, for example, any rebuttals of the not anti-Trump comments. We could have a dialog, but it would require them to acknowledge that they understand the points being made for them to then counter them, and that’s just too much to ask!

Better to post cryptic comments that are so free of content that rebuttal is impossible or to fling insults and shit, like adds.

Big Mike said...

@Tim, maybe Inga была одной из троллей?

Fabi said...

The left has moved from a vague "collusion" to an even vaguer "interference". Head to your Civil Defense shelter now -- we're under attack from the Reds!

FullMoon said...

The Russian journalist who helped uncover election interference is confounded by the Mueller indictments


Russians reported this info before indictments

n.n said...

we're under attack from the Reds

A funny thing happened as the signal crossed the pond. There was a frequency shift and now red is blue.

n.n said...

Obama received hundreds of millions in unmarked credits, which was followed by a premature evacuation (a first-order forcing of Islamic State), global social justice adventures (e.g. elective regimes changes, abortion fields, sodomy sessions, catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform, redistributive change).

Clinton received billions of dollars in profit from their "non-profit" corporation, which left Haitians, among others, in a shithole, and attempted to repeat the Kiev coup (e.g. Antifa) in America in order to disenfranchise Americans and Democrats, too.

Then, Obama spied, Clinton colluded with foreign and domestic interests, and the DNC denied the nomination to the Jew. Followed by journolists from the fourth estate who carried out public lynchings, witch trials, and a progressive cover-up, in a progressive effort to gerrymander the vote and stoke diversity (i.e. class division).

Quaestor said...

"Wouldn’t the smart thing be to admit that Russian interference was a real thing and remains a real threat and then get to the bottom of it?"

Quite. Every Democrat should demand merciless enforcement of 52 U.S.C. §30121.

Lewis Wetzel said...

What, exactly, are we supposed to do with the Mueller info?
There is nothing actionable in the indictments. The named parties are overseas. There is no "loophole" allowing foreigners to post on the interwebs that can be closed.
The money spent by the Russki's was a few million bucks -- noy all of it support Trump -- and Hillary & Trump spent almost 2.5 billion $ between them.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Russian citizens influencing our elections = bad! Mexican citizens voting in our elections = Good!

Drago said...

Lewis Wetzel: "What, exactly, are we supposed to do with the Mueller info?"

You are supposed to look deeply into the eyes of the lunatic lefties and their LLR allies and truly believe that the complete weaponization of our intelligence and law enforcement services by dems against republicans was completely justified and patriotic.

Drago said...

Stephen: "What would being smart consist of?"

Step 1: Do not adopt Stephens worldview.
Step 2: ......Well. We never really needed a Step 2...

FIDO said...

Yes China and Russia are laughing their asses off and it’s time for the tweeter in chief to get smart and stop apologizing for Russian interferences and maybe lead the nation in. Common sense gun regulations.


As is normal for Liberals, their idea of 'consensus' and 'bipartisan' is 'doing exactly what I want you to do without compromise.'

We saw this with Obamacare. We see it on Immigration. We see it on Gun Control. We see it in Abortion.

They seem to lack any ability to compromise anymore. The press and their teachers and their 'participation medals' seem to have given them a verily overinflated sense of their sense of ethics and principles.

No thanks. I see what Progs do to unarmed populations. Oh...not YOU. You're 'high minded'. You will write scathing criticisms as the Stalins on the Prog side do unspeakable things. So you are the Trotsky of the Progressive Wing.

How did he end up again? Yeah.

Rick said...

Stephen said...
What would being smart consist of? Wouldn’t the smart thing be to admit that Russian interference was a real thing and remains a real threat and then get to the bottom of it? Who is opposing that? Get smart Trump and Althouse!


We are at the bottom of it. It turns out spammers conned the Russians out of a few paychecks and Dem leadership and media latched onto it because they think their activist base is too stupid to understand they've been had. Somewhat embarrassingly they are right.

FIDO said...

What would being smart consist of? Wouldn’t the smart thing be to admit that Russian interference was a real thing and remains a real threat and then get to the bottom of it? Who is opposing that? Get smart Trump and Althouse!


"Confess your sins! CONFESS!" I am reminded of the 'self denunciation' rallies that the Red Guard constantly force people into.

Saying nasty things on the internet is all that this 'influence' amounts to.

Hell, we have that much influence at Althouse.

Sebastian said...

"Wouldn’t the smart thing be to admit that Russian interference was a real thing and remains a real threat and then get to the bottom of it? Who is opposing that? Get smart Trump and Althouse!"

Not at all. We are in favor of getting to the bottom of the Russian disinformation propagated by Russian operatives via Chris Steele--foreigners using foreigners to attack an American candidate and campaign, induced by Americans to contribute things of value in violation of the law, an abuse then abused by U.S. "intelligence" to spy on and undermine Trump.

Whether that collusion of the FBI, CIA and DoJ with Hill-funded Russian-based oppo research amounts to a criminal conspiracy has yet to be determined. But by all means, let's get to the bottom of it.

Anonymous said...

"They hate Trump because they wanted their candidate - Jeb or Hillary - to go after Russia and Syria because it is "good for the Jews", that is good for Israel."
The thing is, that Trump is going after Russia. With some sanctions, but mostly with his energy policy. Cheap American oil & gas is killing Russia's budget.

TBlakely said...

"Common sense gun regulations."

Code for banning guns.... in baby steps.


I'm old enough to remember high schools having gun clubs during the 60s and don't recall mass shootings by students. I wonder what's changed since then?

Martin said...

Same as in 1980, the Democrats are still doing the Russians' bidding.

wildswan said...

So I've extracted the name of the Chinese-Russian agent out there destroying America one Facebook post at a time, namely: Lo-Feng Assisov. More tomorrow

Scaramouche said...

Lady Ann,

We can only hope that Senator McCain will propose a Constitutional Amendment that limits campaign contributions for any House or Senate or Presidential campaign to the amount of money spent by the Russians in the 2016 campaign.

If, in the likely event that Senator McCain would not propose such an amendment, President Trump should do so. Such a proposal by President Trump would serve two purposes: to show the media they are not really serious about the money the "Russians" spent and to show that the Democrat Congress members could never get by with such a paltry spend.

Anonymous said...

TimKB4CQ said...

"They hate Trump because they wanted their candidate - Jeb or Hillary - to go after Russia and Syria because it is "good for the Jews", that is good for Israel."
The thing is, that Trump is going after Russia. With some sanctions, but mostly with his energy policy. Cheap American oil & gas is killing Russia's budget.


That's not "going after Russia", that's putting America First.

We are going to continue to burn hydrocarbons, no wind or solar cars any time soon. So might as well use US oil and gas.

Peter Irons said...

The Democrats, the Main Stream Media, and the Resistance have been the Kremlin's dupes all along. Adam Schiff and Joy Behar, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzenski, Rachel Mather and Chris Matthews, the entire staff of CNN--all of them owe the nation and Donald Trump an apology.

Narayanan said...

Q: is it legally, legally an indictment if it is not presented to some judicial venue?

Narayanan said...

Q: is there always a judge presiding in Grand jury ?
Will that suffice as presentment for legal indictment?

langford peel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gretchen said...

I am not a lawyer, but it seems like illegals in the US made an a direct attempt with the collusion of the Democrats, to influence our election by campaigning, holding rallies and posting on social media more than any Russians ever did. I guarantee they spent more than a million a month. It is probable that some foreign illegal immigrants actually voted. When can we expect indictments?

Chris N said...

I think it’s important to remember that all Presidents are suddenly pipelined in to an incredibly difficult quantity and quality of knowledge and potential truth about what many foreign governments and non-state actors are doing, and that this is difficult information which few receive. I think you really should have a plan to kill everyone you meet in international diplomacy, while also having a plan to learn more about everyone you meet and the shared history you already may have, so that genuine alliances, relationships, comeuppance and deals can get done (I’m something of a realist). You’ve got to starting prioritizing and filtering somewhere. There are always compromises and a lot of galling ones at that. In addition, some of your own intel will prove incorrect, your actions laregely mistaken, and you will be constantly misrepresented and spun by opposing parties and factions in DC.

I’m guessing Trump really is a creature of New York, and has spent his life having some care for the actual people who work on his buildings, like electricians, pipe fitters, and on down the org chart as such, as it was his family business. Being in such a necessary and unglamorous business in a place also known for glamour, wealth and exquisite political corruption and high immigration is kind of a weird mix. That city is relentlessly chaotic, dirty, electric and alive.

I think his nationalism (Japan, China) are eating our lunch, support of unions (more than I’m comfortable with), tendency for bigger spending all happen in the fishbowl that is NYC, but he reached out and gave voice to a lot of people in PA, OH, MI etc who right now don’t have much of a voice, and at least, have someone trying to grow the economy and concerns about their place in our Republic (immigration).

I think most agree our Republic and many of our institutions, civic life and public trust are undergoing high rates of change, disagreement and obvious discord.

On Russia, I agree this whole thing is most likely a snipe hunt, and kind of absurd. So many idiots, so little time.

SDN said...

"Yes China and Russia are laughing their asses off and it’s time for the tweeter in chief to get smart and stop apologizing for Russian interferences and maybe lead the nation in. Common sense gun regulations."

Common sense gun regulations: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Done.

Meremortal said...

How come leftists keep talking about "common sense gun regulations" but never say what those common sense gun regulations are?

What are they?

tim in vermont said...

I am not a liberal, but I think that since semi-automatic weapons have been demonstrated to easily be converted to a variation of an automatic weapon that is close enough for jazz, that maybe semi-automatic weapons are the problem. And since any fixes to these weapons to make them safer to exist among us is quickly decried as impossible to do without making the weapon useless, or easily gotten around by some little trick, then maybe they should be banned, like machine guns, or subject to the strict controls we have had on machine guns for a long time without 2A falling apart?

If gun owners keep resisting changes like this, repeal of 2A, or it’s modification, gets more and more likely.

tim in vermont said...

You don’t think that Samantha Power was lying, do you?

Sharyl: On the unmaskings, one very tangible bit of evidence that to me looks like a crime. Is the fact that the US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power. It looked like she had made a masking request on a near-daily basis. Which is amazing in 2016. It’s pretty incredible. Yet she reportedly told Congress, most of those were not really her.

Rep. Devin Nunes: Yeah.

Sharyl: Wouldn’t that mean somebody committed a serious National Security Crime if they used her name to request unmaskings of US Citizens?

Rep. Devin Nunes: Yeah, so we don’t know what the truth is there. I think it would be, I think it’s highly unlikely that she was not the one who was giving permission to make those unmasking requests.

Sharyl: So you don’t believe her?

Rep. Devin Nunes: I just don’t know how that’s possible.


Obama has done things that make Nixon look like a piker.

Moneyrunner said...

The Mueller indictment states that the purpose of Russia’s efforts surrounding the last general election was to sow discord.

If sowing discord was the object, any objective observer would conclude that the Russians were spectacularly successful. For roughly half the country, Donald Trump is an illegitimate President, soon to be impeached, a Russian puppet manipulated by Putin, and the second coming of Hitler.

How did that happen if, as asserted by the Mueller indictment, most of the Russian effort was to disparage Hillary? The indictment is a banal recitation of the use of social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter to call Hillary names and to promote “flash mobs” for Trump. It is alleged that two of the thirteen people indicted actually came to the U.S. There is literally nothing in the indictment that would lead anyone to conclude that the Russians had any effect on the election …. at all. Because that was not the objective.

In the face of a billion dollar Hillary Clinton campaign here are examples of what the Mueller alleges the Russians did:
a. In or around June through July 2016, Defendants and their co-conspirators purchased advertisements on Facebook to promote the "March for Trump" and "Down with Hillary" rallies.
b. Defendants and their co-conspirators used false U.S. personas to send individualized messages to real U.S. persons to request that they participate in and help organize the rally. To assist their efforts, Defendants and their co-conspirators, through false U.S> personas, offered money to certain U.S. personas to cover rally expenses.
c. On or about June 5, 2016, Defendants and their co-conspirators, while posing as a U.S. grassroots activist, used the account @March_for_Trump to contact a volunteer for the Trump Campaign in New York. The volunteer agreed to provide signs for the "March for Trump" rally.

What’s totally missing from the indictment is the real reason that the 2016 election has divided the country more than any time since the Civil War. The Russians set off a few damp squibs. Meanwhile our very own Liberal media, with the apparent support of a politicized FBI, CIA and DOJ began lobbing nuclear bombs in the direction of Donald Trump, claiming that his election was illegitimate. The entire Liberal Establishment joined “The Resistance” as if they were French freedom fighters opposing the Nazis. It wasn’t the Russians calling Trump Hitler, Mussolini and worse. It wasn’t the Russians who claimed that Trump conspired with Putin to steal the election. It wasn’t the Russians who called Trump insane. It wasn’t the Russians who went on late night TV to tell dirty jokes about Trump fellating Putin. And it wasn’t the Russians who were demanding the end of the Trump administration via impeachment, a White House coup or assassination. That was the hysterics in the Liberal Establishment (along with the #NeverTrump Right).

There may be more indictments to come. The question needs to be asked: was there another group of unidentified Russian operatives working behind the scenes to influence American opinion makers? What made the Democrat Party operatives, member of the media, and the entertainment industry refuse to acknowledge that they lost an election? Posting on Facebook and Twitter, getting someone to hold up a sign, paying someone to dress up as Hillary in prison is all very well. But the biggest weapons in a culture war are found in newsprint or over the airwaves.

“Regular” people are really not the object of a sophisticated attack on a culture like ours. If you want to really move the needle you influence the influencers: the press, the talking heads, the comedians … and the educators who will influence the young “skulls full of mush.” If we really want to dive down and see what’s causing this country to rise up against itself, this is worth examining in detail.

JAORE said...

"Common sense gun regulations."

Sure, sure, who could be against "common sense".... anything?

What a BS phrase, like Obama, an empty vessel.
Name it Big V, name the common sense proposal(s).

The WaPo (rabid NRA propagandist that they are) analyzed the last dozen mass shootings and concluded the current "common sense" gun laws would NOT have stopped them.

Here's a hint, the secret is out.

Confiscation is the goal. Nothing less. Please get on with it. Step forward and start down THAT road.

I'll wait while the blue states shrink even further.

Douglas Winslow Cooper, Ph.D. said...

Roughly $2B spent on the campaign; roughly $1M spent by the Russians. Less than 0.1%.

jr565 said...

One of the dirty secrets in all of this is how ineffective the Russians actually were. They tried to put on a pro trump rally and only 15 people showed up. All those Russian tweet bots barely got 175,000 retweets. The problem of course, is thst what the Russians were attempting to do was already being done by both sides of the aisle and it was already being done better.

So, actual Bernie Sanders rallies or actual Pro trump rallies were already drawing thousands.Therefore, Russians were not leading the cacophony. They were simply adding to the noise.
No one on the right who wanted hillary to go to jail came to that conclusion becaise Russians tweeted how she should be Locked up. Russians tweeted how she should be locked up Becaise there was a huge clamoring from trump supporters pushing this narrative.
And likewise, the Russians may have put on a “not my president” rally that drew a lot of ppl after trump won (including Michael Moore apparently).but does anyone think that, but for Russians meddling, no liberal would argue that trump was not their president?

It sounds like the Russians simply looked at popular memes, or hashtags and simply pushed the same hash tags. But they didn’t t create any division, they simply highlighted division that was already there and already being pushed by both sides.. Which is why I don’t understand why this is such a big deal.
Yes, they didn’t declare they were foreign agents. But, they had almost no impact on the election using social media and it was a waste of money, frankly. Since those on the left or right were pushing the same narratives and doing a better job than the Russians already.and if you were on Facebook and were Pro hillary, you’d see a Pro trump ad and instantly move right past it, since you’d recognize as Pro trump.Or you’d respond just to get into a fight with trump supporters. You wouldn’t see that ad and change your mind about trump. No one was swayed by twitter feeds. And if they were, they are true fools.the battle lines were drawn early on.

If a Russian for example pushed something on Facebook thst was Pro trump did anyone recognize it came form Russians? Or did it look like any other pro trump ad you’d see on Facebook, pushed by actual trump supporters? And likewise if you attended the “not my president rally”did you know it was backed by Russians? How would a Russian backed “not my president” rally be any different than a liberal backed “Not My trump rally”?

Ruprecht said...

Russians understand the Useful Idiots mindset because they helped foster the Useful Idiots mindset during the cold war.

Narayanan said...

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/02/18/too-funny-special-prosecutor-mueller-patched-together-much-of-his-muh-russia-indictment-from-old-news-articles/

Millions for mouse fart

veni vidi vici said...

You're wrong about the "Laughing their ass/asses off" thing.

As every respectable gangsta rapper knows, proper form is "Laughing they ass off."