Althouse: At the Open Mic Café...

May 9, 2019

At the Open Mic Café...

... it's your turn.

174 comments:

rehajm said...: At this moment John Henry is at the White House celebrating the victory of one of his teams while another of his teams is primed for a championship across the pond. Not tired of winning he is.; 5/9/19, 3:02 PM
rehajm said...: Open mic poetry sounds fun although I bet many in the audience go just to see poets crash.; 5/9/19, 3:03 PM
Lawrence Person said...: Turmoil in the NRA.

Lots of problems with self-dealing among current leadership, and better to deal with them sooner rather than later.; 5/9/19, 3:05 PM
Lucid-Ideas said...: Students at school shooting walked out of vigil that turned political and also turned out to be funded by MDA (Mom's Demand Action) and Brady Foundation.

Man that's low. But it is good to see a lot of people that young aren't brainwashed.; 5/9/19, 3:09 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: yep-- shooting vigil got "Wellstoned"; 5/9/19, 3:14 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Trump is the smartest, richest, most successful, most handsome and funniest man in the world.

(Pause)

Ok, I jest a bit - but not by much!

If you look at his policies and look at the economy, any sane, sober person who cherishes Liberty, cherishes the US Constitution, and loves the country, has to conclude that he's done a good job in office and deserves re-election.

That's my opinion, and we all have them, and I'm sticking to it.; 5/9/19, 3:21 PM
Bilwick said...: I was shocked to see on Yahoo's front page the news that Nancy Pelosi station we were having a "constitutional crisis." I was shocked because I didn't think Pelosi even knew we had a constitution.; 5/9/19, 3:31 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "... I just flew in from Chicago, and boy...is this sad."

"Officials in Chicago are investigating the disappearance of three women, and two are pregnant with due dates that have passed, according to a report."

"According to ABC7, her family believes that a newborn baby found on a trash can on May 7 might belong to her."

btw-- if discarding plastic straws is a crime...; 5/9/19, 3:33 PM
tim in vermont said...: I didn't think Pelosi even knew we had a constitution.

Be careful about calling forth Nancy Boy!; 5/9/19, 3:41 PM
Mike said...: So is this "constitutional crisis" the endgame for Democrats? Is this how they think they can get out of the Mueller mess with some dignity? They've got to find some way out, but I don't know if moderates would buy this. But they can't just allow the entire affair to be seen as a loss.; 5/9/19, 3:52 PM
madAsHell said...: Of course, the money was stolen by "hackers".

Can anyone explain bitcoin to me?....cuz it sure sounds too good to be true.; 5/9/19, 3:53 PM
tim in vermont said...: It wasn’t a “constitutional crisis” when Obama did it, now was it. It was just the rough and tumble of politics then.; 5/9/19, 3:57 PM
stevew said...: A bar I used to frequent in Cambridge MA had an open mic Thursdays, for music. They had a poster explaining that anyone performing was limited to two songs and that performing anything by Dylan would bring your "open" time to an abrupt end.; 5/9/19, 3:58 PM
Hagar said...: Pelosi also says her branch is the superior branch of government.; 5/9/19, 3:59 PM
stevew said...: "Constitutional Crisis"

Camp, Caricature, or Hyperbole?; 5/9/19, 4:00 PM
madAsHell said...: It's a constitutional crisis because Nancy is flying commercial again.; 5/9/19, 4:00 PM
Lucid-Ideas said...: "Consitutional Crisis..."

Ya know? I really wish they would for once. Skin that smoke-wagon Pelosi...skin it and see what happens.; 5/9/19, 4:00 PM
stevew said...: "Pelosi also says her branch is the superior branch of government."

Some branches are more equal than others.

Technically she only leads half of one of the three branches, so a sixth?; 5/9/19, 4:01 PM
Fen said...: Hey guys, life-long republican here and I just want to say you are all like Trump Cultists for not supporting the impeachment and execution of Attorney General Barr for his clearly obvious violations of the Constitution (too many to list here).

If Trump shot a guy in the middle of Times Square you would still support him. Not that I would ever accuse you Trump Cultists of being Trump Cultists.

No True Scotsman would find my remarks unreasonable or out of proportion. And only Deplorable Trump Lemmings would ignore my sound criticism and resort to ad hom, like the typical toothless rednecks living in their doublewide fucking their sister while dreaming of nuking Mecca.

Inga will be along shortly to back me up. Because I'm a smart guy who only want to have an honest discussion about my concerns re Barr's abuses.; 5/9/19, 4:04 PM
BJM said...: ".@RepAOC "We should have a not-for-profit public option for basic banking services, and we should be piloting these projects through the @USPS"

AOC doesn't seem to know about not-for-profit credit unions or that since 1971 the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is a business enterprise operated by the Executive Branch, not a federal agency; that the USPS has massive unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities and loses billions yearly. The USPS must "borrow" from taxpayers to remain in business. Commercial mailers such as junk mailers and Amazon, are the USPS' main clients, not we little people with our stamps, home delivery and occasional packages.

How can she make policy recommendations without even a basic understanding of how the USPS and banking actually work, or the financial criteria Congress put into place after the 2007-2009 banking crisis to minimize another liquidity crisis?

Doesn't anyone in her organization know how to use google?; 5/9/19, 4:12 PM
Fen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/19, 4:14 PM
Fen said...: BTW Smart Guy,

The argument you want to make is: a physician can diagnose a disease without knowing what cure to prescribe. It's much more concise than whatever gooblygook you were trying to convey, and it drives the point home stronger.

I know, I'm not as smart as you but I came up with it because my time and energy was spent on trying to address Trump's failure to build our border wall, instead of using it as a prop to promote myself above those Deplorable Trump Cultist Lemmings.

Feel free to use it when you are done digging that hole.; 5/9/19, 4:16 PM
Big Mike said...: How can she make policy recommendations without even a basic understanding of how the USPS and banking actually work, or the financial criteria Congress put into place after the 2007-2009 banking crisis to minimize another liquidity crisis?

Because the easiest way to know everything is to know nothing at all.; 5/9/19, 4:28 PM
BJM said...: @Mike...their end game failed.

They could throw Obama et al to the wolves, and don't tell me that hasn't been seriously discussed by the money men in backrooms.

Look for Comey, Brennan, and a few smaller Obama Admin & FBI fish being sacrificed to put the Muller Report fiasco behind them and onto a coherent election message.; 5/9/19, 4:35 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: Jim Jordan tells the mofo corrupt liars on the left in the house- to eat chit*; 5/9/19, 4:39 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: Everyday heroes.

Standing up to the bullies. When will the hacks in charge make real change? Never. Too busy trying to remove the 2nd amendment.; 5/9/19, 4:41 PM
gilbar said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/19, 4:43 PM
gilbar said...: Nobody said... It wasn’t a “constitutional crisis” when Obama did it

In the immoral words of S. E. Hinton; that was then, This is NOW; 5/9/19, 4:44 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/19, 4:47 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Jim Jordan tells the mofo corrupt liars on the left in the house- to eat chit*”

The same Jim Jordan who went to law school and could never pass the bar exam?; 5/9/19, 4:49 PM
BJM said...: Fen said The argument you want to make is: a physician can diagnose a disease without knowing what cure to prescribe. It's much more concise than whatever gooblygook you were trying to convey, and it drives the point home stronger.

You talking to me!?

AOC making policy to change the banking system is akin to someone who watched 2 episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" diagnosing a disease.; 5/9/19, 4:51 PM
Big Mike said...: I miss the Althouse rats. Here is a pet rat stealing Halloween candy.

Note that "Dumbo rat" refers to a variety of pet rat with large, round ears. It has no connection to Chuck or Inga.; 5/9/19, 4:58 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Donald Trump is not only a great man, but a man of extraordinary virtue. Is there a presidential candidate, elected official, big city real estate developer, television star or long time celebrity whose background and history could withstand the scrutiny and investigation that our great president has undergone? In four years of turning this man's life inside out, he is guilty of having said "pussy" in a private conversation in 2004. Period.

Donald Trump is a great and honorable man. Most of you don't deserve to have this man as your president.; 5/9/19, 5:11 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: Shit for britches Inga - Passing or failing the bar exam only matters when it fits the narrative. We all note you can never respond to the link in context.

Got anything to say about your side's lies treachery and corruption, Inga?

Hillary Clinton, also a former Senator, first lady, and presidential candidate (and only slightly connected with the topic of the recent Senate hearings), failed to pass the District of Columbia bar exam in 1973, the same year she passed the bar in Arkansas.
First Lady Michelle Obama failed the Illinois exam.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt failed the New York bar, passed it in 1907, and then dropped out of Columbia Law School (though he was posthumously given a J.D.).
There’s an urban legend out there that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo failed five times and passed on the sixth – though we might have to alert Snopes on this one. Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Distinguished Professor Emeritus Otto Stockmeyer has been dedicated in correcting that narrative, as is evidenced by his comments on separate posts that are seven years apart. (Update: Otto was 100 percent right. But it was a law librarian, not Snopes we needed to talk to.) But what is true is that Cardozo preceded Roosevelt in dropping out of Columbia Law (an unwitting participant in the James Comey portion of recent hearings).
John F. Kennedy Jr. failed twice in New York before passing.
Pat Robertson also failed in New York, and then became a mogul in Christian broadcasting and ran for president.
Notable mayors of the USA’s three largest cities – New York’s Ed Koch, Chicago’s Richard M. Daley, and Los Angeles’ Antonio Villaraigosa – all failed; Koch and Daley eventually passed.
Former governors Charlie Crist of Florida (also that state’s one-time attorney general) and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts missed the mark too.; 5/9/19, 5:14 PM
Nichevo said...: Note further that DONALD TRUMP NEVER FAILED THE BAR EXAM! NEVER!!!; 5/9/19, 5:25 PM
William said...: The English really revere their royal family. I just saw The Madness of King George. It's playing on Amazon Prime. The George it refers to is King George III. That's the king Jefferson slammed in the Declaration of Independence. George had a transient incident of madness during his reign. The movie depicts his madness and recovery with sympathy. It's an affectionate portrait of a mad king....George was apparently a good family man who didn't cheat on his wife, but that's about the full extent of his virtues. He was opposed to Catholic emancipation, Parliamentary reform, and the abolition of the slave trade. When he wasn't crazy, he was wrong. Still, he gets a sympathetic portrayal. What do You have to do to get the BBC or Hollywood to make a movie that shows the British sovereign as a shithead?.....Incidentally in real life, George relapsed and spent the last ten years of his life crazy, blind, and deaf. It's not always good to be king.; 5/9/19, 5:28 PM
Francisco D said...: The same Jim Jordan who went to law school and could never pass the bar exam?

Inga sweetheart,

The bar is a little tougher to pass than the bedpan exam.

How many times did you take it before you figured out how to hold it?; 5/9/19, 5:39 PM
madAsHell said...: Seen in the Instapundit comments about Sleepy Joe......

Will Althouse vote for him, too?; 5/9/19, 5:39 PM
Henry said...: What do You have to do to get the BBC or Hollywood to make a movie that shows the British sovereign as a shithead?

Be Scottish. Braveheart.

But that's a great question. Drama loves royalty. Long live the queen.; 5/9/19, 5:46 PM
narciso said...: evers is turning out to be quite a pill:

https://saraacarter.com/rep-gabbard-we-have-a-crisis-at-our-border/; 5/9/19, 5:47 PM
walter said...: How many Bar certified Dem lawyers are asking AG Barr to break the law?; 5/9/19, 5:52 PM
readering said...: What do You have to do to get the BBC or Hollywood to make a movie that shows the British sovereign as a shithead?

Elizabeth doesn't usually come across very well in films about beheaded Mary Queen of Scots. I watched the John Ford version from 1936 last night.; 5/9/19, 5:52 PM
Fernandinande said...: Students at school shooting walked out of vigil

Here's another one:

8 Injured, 1 Killed After Shooting in West Baltimore Neighborhood

That was on Apr 28. Apparently nobody caught, and no mentions in the news since then, at least that I can find semi-quickly.; 5/9/19, 5:59 PM
tim in vermont said...: "Pelosi also says her branch is the superior branch of government."

She’s right about that. Conservatives have been warning for generations that one day the House would regret giving up all of the power they have. Trump is the least of them.; 5/9/19, 6:01 PM
tim in vermont said...: In the Netflix doc “Emerging Empires” Charles II looks like a right shithead, so do the Dutch. But that’s only if you don’t approve of impressing tens of thousands of sailors and sending them out in wooden boats chock full of canons and blowing each other to smithereens over trade advantages.; 5/9/19, 6:05 PM
Rick said...: Democrats are quick to blame shootings on Trump's "climate of hate". Why aren't they blaming the Denver shooting on transgender activists creating a climate of hate?; 5/9/19, 6:13 PM
narciso said...: well modern productions like wolf hall, capture the dark nature of say henry v111,; 5/9/19, 6:22 PM
tim in vermont said...: Did you say Open Mic Night?

Feeelings....♪♫♬ Whoa oh oh feeelings..♪♫♬.; 5/9/19, 6:23 PM
tcrosse said...: Richard III does not come off well, either when played by Olivier or Ian McKellen. I blame Shakespeare.; 5/9/19, 6:34 PM
Michael K said...: Mayor Pete Buttplug made another in-kind contribution to Trump 2020 today.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg will attend a May 9 fundraiser hosted by film director Samuel Greisman, who has attacked President Donald Trump’s supporters as “illiterate” and “piece[s] of sh**.”

Greisman’s fundraiser is one of several star-studded events Buttigieg is attending in a fundraising swing through California this week, CNN reports.

You should see the photo of the director. He and Pete should be buddies,. you know the kind.; 5/9/19, 6:34 PM
buwaya said...: There is a miniseries about a woman, with a remarkably topical feminist slant, just waiting to be made.
Maybe, one day, it will be.

And the subject matter and context are absolutely relevant to the modern world. So much of what is now, began, or strategically changed, exactly then, on her watch. Besides feminism, there is multiculturalism, the fate of the Muslims and Jews, the slave trade, and the very beginnings of colonialism. She decided much of the future for all of Europe, and perhaps for most of the world.

That's a point not usually appreciated these days, that there was this one woman at the beginning of so much.

And it begins with a lovely teenage girl negotiating a truce in a civil war with her half-brother, and playing factions off in order to achieve her own political marriage. Of course, all this led to a forged Papal bull, an elopement, and another civil war or three. And from there on drama upon drama with a colorful cast of characters.

Isabella of Castile and Spain.; 5/9/19, 6:40 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Here's the existential dilemma we face. Most sane people don't care about politics too much. They want to work, pay the rent, pay their bills, coach little league, drink a few beers, go to a few movies, maybe a vacation every now and then, maybe Church every now and then, have a few BBQ's, get a promotion, get laid, maybe some fishing and hunting and NASCAR, a few football games, some Netflix and not a whole lot more.

There's nothing wrong with that.

The problem is that a loud powerful segment of our country are organized Leftist morons. They don't care too much for God, Family, Country - they live for POLITICS, more precisely, they live for obtaining and exercising political power. They got woke in College.

So, if you simply opt out and mind your own business, they will continue to creep towards you - like termites - trying to take your property and your Liberty.

So, you can't really opt out. Ya gotta resist. If you don't, your kindergarten kids will soon be reading, "Katie has Two Moms" and "Our Fragile Planet" and the Leftwing Indoc just plows ahead.

What to do? Gotta carve out some time & money, to resist the Leftwing March, I say. Stay thirsty my friends.; 5/9/19, 6:41 PM
tim in vermont said...: tcrosse said...
Richard III does not come off well, either when played by Olivier or Ian McKellen. I blame Shakespeare

I was more thinking Richard II.

I see Shakespeare in the Park is taking on the Mueller report with its production of Much Ado about Nothing.; 5/9/19, 6:46 PM
Gahrie said...: Isabella of Castile and Spain.

I have long been fascinated by her and wished for an accurate mini series or movie about her. She is at least as important as Elizabeth I to Western Civilization, and at least as fascinating as a person. Very few people are aware of the fact that the Reconquista of Spain ended in 1492, freeing up the funds Isabella used to pay for Columbus's voyage later that year. None of my teachers (including college) ever tied this together for me. I make sure to teach my students about it. (To be honest, I wish I had had a history teacher like me in high school. I had a couple of good ones, but I learned from them and I'm better.); 5/9/19, 6:48 PM
Gahrie said...: What do You have to do to get the BBC or Hollywood to make a movie that shows the British sovereign as a shithead?

In The King's Speech both King George V and King Edward VIII come off as complete assholes and King George VI acts like a dick a couple of times.; 5/9/19, 6:53 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/19, 7:00 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: How many Bar certified Dem lawyers are asking AG Barr to break the law?

Well, they're bar certified, not Barr certified!; 5/9/19, 7:02 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Reposting from a previous comment thread:

The Dems are in a pickle now. The Mueller investigation had two jobs, and only two jobs. Everything else was peripheral. The first was to stall the investigation into Spygate, hopefully beyond the 2020 election. Only worked long enough to get through the 2018 election and elect a Dem House. The other was to indict Trump for something criminal. Anything would have worked. They got out lawyered, and completely lost on that one. Which puts them in a position of having to open their much anticipated impeachment investigation without a visible high crime or misdemeanor (excluding OrangeManBad) to justify the opening of the impeachment investigation. Impeachment has always been at least partially political, but without an underlying high crime or misdemeanor, it is obviously 100% political. And that makes it obvious that if the Dems actually proceed here towards impeachment, that they will, rightfully, look like sore losers, and are trying to override or invalidate the 2016 election. Meaning that they are essentially unAmerican cheaters.; 5/9/19, 7:03 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: How well does Henry come over in The Lion In Winter?

King John in any Robin Hood story?; 5/9/19, 7:06 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “The same Jim Jordan who went to law school and could never pass the bar exam?”

I will say in Jordan’s defense, he has never run for President. And is a Republican.

Crooked Hillary, Michelle, and probably even FDR, sold themselves as the best and brightest, who are so much smarter than the rest of us that we should trust them to make our decisions for us. Just back of napkin calculations, but the average JD grad IQ is roughly 1 std deviation above the mean, which means that their average IQ is roughly in the top 1/3 (true of most doctorate degrees except the doctorate that reachers usually get in summer school). Average bar pass rate for ABA accredited LS grads over the years is typically probably somewhere between 75% and 85%. If we average those to be roughly 80%, and make the (possibly erroneous) assumption that there is a decently high correlation between IQ and bar passage rates, then there is a decent probability that people who fail a state bar exam have below average (100) IQs. So much for best and brightest. Now let’s see how Kim Kardashian does when she sits for the CA bar in a couple years (or maybe Tiffany Trump).; 5/9/19, 7:09 PM
tim in vermont said...: Walt Disney really had it in for King John.

Anyway, a certain commenter here had his panties in a bunch over the Trump tweet that took 1.6 trillion off of the stock market. Doesn’t Trump know how this stuff works? He is supposed to keep this stuff between him and his staff, so that they can call their friends and trade on the inside information, not even the playing field by telling everybody at the same time!

It reminded me of Enron, where the employees were all complaining that they never had time to sell their worthless stock to other investors before the story became well known.; 5/9/19, 7:11 PM
iowan2 said...: WOW!
That huge scandal about President Trumps taxes? That has sure consumed all the news outlets time and energy. I mean it broke late Wednesday. And here we are just over 24 hours later and its all anybody can talk about.
THIS IS THE END OF TRUMP!!; 5/9/19, 7:13 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: The walls are closing in!; 5/9/19, 7:15 PM
tim in vermont said...: "Sinners repent! The end is nigh!” - Not a cult, nooooo!; 5/9/19, 7:18 PM
tim in vermont said...: BEIJING — As Chinese and American officials try to reach a trade deal, Xi Jinping faces a painful, possibly damaging, choice: to try to protect his aura of indomitability or retreat after President Trump accused China of reneging on the terms of a draft agreement and threatened to raise tariffs.. - New York Times

“Nobody puts Beijing in a corner!” - Rump wing Republicans.; 5/9/19, 7:24 PM
alanc709 said...: I have long been fascinated by her and wished for an accurate mini series or movie about her. She is at least as important as Elizabeth I to Western Civilization, and at least as fascinating as a person. Very few people are aware of the fact that the Reconquista of Spain ended in 1492, freeing up the funds Isabella used to pay for Columbus's voyage later that year. None of my teachers (including college) ever tied this together for me. I make sure to teach my students about it. (To be honest, I wish I had had a history teacher like me in high school. I had a couple of good ones, but I learned from them and I'm better.)

In 1492, Spain also expelled their jews and confiscated much, if not all, of their property, if I remember my history correctly. That was quite a windfall in itself.; 5/9/19, 7:24 PM
tim in vermont said...: “Xi is walking a tightrope,” said Paul Haenle, a former China director on the National Security Council who now runs the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center For Global Policy in Beijing. “He is going to be the one that has to make the most concessions, and that makes all this more difficult for him.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/world/asia/xi-jinping-donald-trump.html

Tom Friedman must be shitting pickles, farting bullets as the French say.; 5/9/19, 7:27 PM
Fen said...: BJM: "You talking to me!?"

No.; 5/9/19, 7:27 PM
etbass said...: "I just saw The Madness of King George. It's playing on Amazon Prime. "

As I recall there was hardly a mention of the American Revolution which I found to be nearly bizarre.; 5/9/19, 7:34 PM
narciso said...: On the date of the declaration, king George was want to have said 'nothing important happened today,' but much else was happening like warren hastings successful campaign in India, that would trigger an impeachment by Edmund burke, based on the allegations of a Dubois fellow,; 5/9/19, 7:54 PM
narciso said...: It was not burke's finest hour
https://www.bartleby.com/268/6/3.html

One might say the janus dossier was involved; 5/9/19, 7:57 PM
narciso said...: Junius was the penname of phillip Francis who had toppled the predecessor regime of grafton to north who would prosecute the war.; 5/9/19, 8:00 PM
Derve Swanson said...: Mayor Pete Buttplug made another in-kind contribution to Trump 2020 today.
...
You should see the photo of the director. He and Pete should be buddies,. you know the kind.
...
So, you can't really opt out. Ya gotta resist. If you don't, your kindergarten kids will soon be reading, "Katie has Two Moms"...
------------------

Kinda curious, guys: why the hostility against the gays? Is it insecurity? Do gay families -- who pay their bills, mind their business, and only look for their families to be represented as your are -- threaten your own marriages?

If they work, pay the bills, and don't harm me, I say, leave them to be. Legally, they have equal rights now, and again: their rights don't take away from you.; 5/9/19, 8:03 PM
h said...: With apologies to Robert Frost:

Something there is that doesn’t love a Trump.
That sends a public ground-swell after him.
Strangles legislation in its cradle
And keeps approval ratings under par

The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left no falsehood unproclaimed.
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs in WaPo comments.

In fall or summer mending time will come.
I’ll meet my neighbors here in Althouse blog.
We’ll read with pleasure the IG’s report
On deep-state actions on Obama’s watch.
And Lindsay Graham Investigates will be
Our favorite show. And Barr – Oh William Barr—
Our superstar AG will bring us home.; 5/9/19, 8:03 PM
Derve Swanson said...: In 1492, Spain also expelled their jews and confiscated much, if not all, of their property, if I remember my history correctly. That was quite a windfall in itself.
-------------------

Make the case that the Jews own America, owing to reparations: if it hadn't been their money financing the voyage, the land acquisition never would have been made...

A crafty lawyer could argue it.; 5/9/19, 8:05 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: The walls are closing in!

The noose is tightening!

This beginning of the end!

The latest bombshell!

Emoluments!

Collusion!

Impeachment!

Contempt!

At some point, ya just gotta have another beer and yawn at these fools.; 5/9/19, 8:05 PM
narciso said...: This offering seems to be pynchon delillo with a little conrad in a cuisinart
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/23/madness-is-better-than-defeat-ned-beauman-review; 5/9/19, 8:09 PM
narciso said...: Yes but its like Indiana Jones both in the Peruvian and thuggee temples.; 5/9/19, 8:12 PM
Temujin said...: At least Valerie Plame is looking to run for Congress. From New Mexico. As a Dem. And an anti-Semite. She'll be right at home in that party. Collectivist. Statist. Anti-Semite. Talk about Russian influence.; 5/9/19, 8:23 PM
buwaya said...: "Make the case that the Jews own America"

Unfortunately for the prospects of the case, these would be Sefardi Jews.
Which will probably not sit well with the much more numerous and powerful Ashkenazi, who have no such claim.

And this would also fall into our convoluted plans for the restoration of the Spanish Empire under the House of Bourbon. The Sefardis, you see, are now by Spanish law and royal decree (12/2015) Spanish citizens, should they choose to be. A stateless minority with a claim to all the Americas would be greatly aided in that claim by having a state.
Win - win.

Anyway, here is one Sefardi I admire -

Jasmin Levy; 5/9/19, 8:27 PM
tim in vermont said...: George III doesn’t come off that great in Hamilton, but his outfit is dreamy.; 5/9/19, 8:29 PM
stephen cooper said...: God loves us all.

We want to triumph in life and there is only one way to do it:
treat people kindly, if they need kindness,
act with courage, if that is necessary.

there, I have covered the masculine and feminine virtues in a couple short sentences.

and, as a trivial addition: Stop using multiple avatars to manipulate comment sections, if that is what is necessary.
Get out of your retirement homes and silently march in front of an abortuary, if that is what is necessary.
That is more important than pretending to be the wittiest Trump fanboy of all the Trump fanboys in a comment section.

Grow up, crabby old people ----- nobody reading this with understanding is plausibly much less than 100 years old, compared to the sort of person who would never try and read anything I write, with an attempt to understand. And I mean that in a good way.
God loves old people, even the crabby mean-spirited ones, and wants them to do the right thing while they can.
And while God does not love old people who are not crabby, not mean-spirited, all that much more than God loves the crabby mean-spirited ones: well it is a good thing in and of itself not to be crabby and mean-spirited, whether God loves you for it or not.

Life is complicated: grow up, if you haven't grown up already. Someday you will be home again and remember what you wanted to do when you were young and still virtuous.; 5/9/19, 8:31 PM
narciso said...: Well its interesting that the Spanish consulate has a list of names of conversos who could qualify for dual citizenship including some branches of my family.; 5/9/19, 8:31 PM
Fen said...: It was not burke's finest hour

Burke is a direct ancestor. Not that I have a dog in any fight. But my father was very proud of it and would always remind me I am descended from Edmund Burke.; 5/9/19, 8:34 PM
stephen cooper said...: readering - do you really think you understand John Ford?

IF you do, great, if you don't, grow up, and stop pretending.; 5/9/19, 8:34 PM
gilbar said...: Virginia's Governor Blackface says that "it's not me" in those pix; on account of because the people in the pic are drinking beers with their right hands, and he only sometimes uses that hand (although people are posting Countless pix of him holding beers in his right hand).

Here's where is gets good :
"He’s also begun a learning process and started reading works written by black Americans, according to the outlet. The books include the 1976 Alex Haley novel “Roots” "

So, he's BEGUN a learning process, and STARTED reading books like "Roots"
You see, not once (not EVER in his life) has he EVER read or seen "Roots"
And He Admits that

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/northam-says-hes-not-in-racist-picture-because-hes-left-handed-while-men-in-kkk-blackface-are-right-handed; 5/9/19, 8:35 PM
narciso said...: Yes his insight into the French revolution compared to foolish whigs like Charles fox was first rate. But Warren hastings was under impeachment for effectively conducting the mysore war, something phillip Francis couldn't do.; 5/9/19, 8:39 PM
JaimeRoberto said...: The same Jim Jordan who went to law school and could never pass the bar exam?

So what part of his speech was incorrect?; 5/9/19, 8:44 PM
narciso said...: In other news.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/report-senior-irgc-commander-flees-iran-with-secret-intel/?fbclid=IwAR0EXBRHAGD6dWJcvoa9qkyiNYukaApRk1c_OJC9YgCRLSdOEDM8ovtoKsU; 5/9/19, 8:53 PM
JackWayne said...: Warren touts You Didn’t Build That. Must not know that Obama fella.; 5/9/19, 9:08 PM
Nichevo said...: Kinda curious, guys: why the hostility against the gays? Is it insecurity? Do gay families -- who pay their bills, mind their business, and only look for their families to be represented as your are -- threaten your own marriages?

MEG, simple. Homosexuality is dysfunctional. It is the trend of our times to uphold dysfunction and proclaim it good, nay, sacred, and its opponents unworthy of more than to be beaten into submission. I could beat you until you confessed to setting the Chicago fire. That doesn't make it so.

The best thing you could do for homosexuals would be to cure them. Humoring their delusions of grandeur with such trappings as the name of marriage for their trysts is like transfusing fresh blood into a corpse.; 5/9/19, 9:12 PM
narciso said...: Au contraire, this was a riff that Obama used with her permission.; 5/9/19, 9:12 PM
JackWayne said...: Trump about to flip NY Appeals Court to republican.; 5/9/19, 9:18 PM
narciso said...: I caught part of out of the past, the film that against all odds was based on, mitchum is the bridges character Greer is the more demure version of Rachel ward and Douglas is whi James Woods character was based on; 5/9/19, 9:23 PM
Michael K said...: "I just saw The Madness of King George. It's playing on Amazon Prime. "

The physician who treated him with torture and other modalities of the day, was rewarded when the King improved, with an estate in northern England. It is now a hotel on the north coast and I stayed there in 1995. It has an adjacent golf course but I did not play as the course had snow being blown parallel to the ground at the time.; 5/9/19, 9:27 PM
stephen cooper said...: NIchevo -- I thought you were gay. I guess from your latest comment that you aren't.
Anyway, good luck at being a decent person some day, whether you are gay or not.
I hope that your hatred of gays makes you more appreciative of the fact that you are what you are.
And yes I believe in the Commandments.
It is just that creeps like you who restate the Commandments in the nastiest way you can creep me out.
And yes I am a Christian and yes you need to follow the Commandments. If you sin sexually, you need to confess to God.
No contraception, no porn, no homosexuality. And no creepy hatred like you seem to have.
Call not your brother Racca.; 5/9/19, 9:28 PM
stephen cooper said...: Seriously nichevo, you really need a spiritual adviser.
You hate me so I am not the guy who can give you good advice.
If you are Russian, find a good Orthodox parish, and let them know that you need help at being a better Christian, who does not creep people out.; 5/9/19, 9:31 PM
JackWayne said...: Zerohedge is as good as Drudge at headlines: US Treasury To Accuse Vietnam Of Manipulating Its Dong.; 5/9/19, 9:32 PM
narciso said...: We celebrate sin all too much, but some categories have a special place dont you think.; 5/9/19, 9:38 PM
narciso said...: The duchess was concurrent in thd timeline with madness, the novel georgiana was very stimulating the film version was not, largely because of kiera knightley.; 5/9/19, 9:40 PM
narciso said...: Another example where counter intelligence was asleep
https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/09/analyst-indicted-classified-drone/; 5/9/19, 9:43 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: Plame is an Jew hater.; 5/9/19, 9:46 PM
stephen cooper said...: narciso - actually I do not celebrate sin.

I despise every writer who trifled with sin. You should read my Amazon reviews criticizing Milton for his pride, Shakespeare for his failure to say yes when he meant yes and no when he meant no, and even that review of Dickens where I pointed out that no, sentimentality is not enough in the face of too much talent and too little humanity. Think about it, if you understand Dickens. Well 10 years from now I will be long gone but not so long gone that nobody will remember that I did not celebrate sin, or at least I tried not to.

Sure I buy a lottery ticket now or then but no, I do not celebrate sin.
If I were to win the lottery I would give every goddamned dollar away, I only buy the tickets to amuse my friends, who often have lived difficult lives.

So don't tell me about the categories of sin, it is just too depressing.; 5/9/19, 9:46 PM
narciso said...: Collectively Stephen cooper, Shakespeare was trying to be objective but certainly following the guidelines of Tudor propagandists; 5/9/19, 9:49 PM
JackWayne said...: And sell tickets.; 5/9/19, 9:54 PM
stephen cooper said...: narciso Shakespeare was what he was

he could have rewritten the Song of Songs in a way that would have made us all rejoice

not saying he lacked talent but for God's sake

he could have written, say, A Christmas Carol or The Diary of A Country Priest even better than they were eventually written and instead we got, what ...

Hamlet and Lear and Cleopatra?
Ovid and Vergil and Homer did just as much, and they were not born Christian.
So yes, Shakespeare is basically a failure.

Oh well in 50 years nobody will read "Shakespeare" the "Shakespeare AI rewriting your high school diaries" will be the big thing, and yes I try to foreshadow that in my own little unrewarded way, but nobody cares, not even God, although I have a few of his less closely followed angels on my side, God bless their hearts ....; 5/9/19, 9:58 PM
wildswan said...: "I just saw The Madness of King George. It's playing on Amazon Prime. "

King George asked Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather to be his physician but Darwin refused. Alt-history speculation: Erasmus Darwin treats King George, madness recedes, better decisions made at the time of the American Revolution, the English defeat the Revolution, they have India, America, Canada, South Africa and Australia in 1914, Germany does not dare start WW I, no Russian Revolution, all the empires are still intact in 2020, European civilization is intact, a better world than the one we have now. I had this argument made to me in England.; 5/9/19, 10:00 PM
stephen cooper said...: seriously narciso do you have any idea how great a writer Shakespeare would have been if he had more common sense and had been a better Christian?

imagine if Hamlet were based not on poor controversialist Montaigne and his sad sub-Socratic ideas but on the Song of Songs, written by my great-great-grandfather (throw in a few greats) King Arthur ---- follow that road .....; 5/9/19, 10:02 PM
narciso said...: No one will read Shakespeare because it's too politically incorrect, not for any base sentiments

Charles stross merchants series is revealed to arise out of similar alt reality.; 5/9/19, 10:04 PM
William said...: The real Duchess, according to Amanda Forman's biography, was just awful. She was a compulsive gambler who ran up debts of over six million pounds in today's money. She kept those debts secret from her husband for as long as possible. She was a deadbeat to those she could get away with not paying. She had an illegitimate child with Charles Grey. On the plus side, she fell in love with her husband's mistress and the three of them lived happily together. Also, she was good looking and charming and wore her ostrich feathers and elaborate hairdos with aplomb......The movie version,as I recall, made her out to be some kind of victim of the sexism of that era. I suppose she was, but I know of sadder stories from that era.; 5/9/19, 10:08 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: England never could figure out how to federate the Empire, or even that that was a good idea. You obviously couldn't do just an Imperial Union because then if you weren't going to be explicitly racist, India would dominate. I think they made a start with the Imperial institutions of WWI, but nothing ever really came of it. Heck now, that they have federated the UK, they aren't even sure of holding onto Scotland..; 5/9/19, 10:12 PM
stephen cooper said...: Narciso ---- Basically AI will try and take everything that was good and commercialize it.
But that is the popular AI.

and ..... In competition with the popular AI there will be boutique AI that respects the love we had for Shakespeare.

And there will be AI that tries to present to us an opportunity to live without AI. That is the AI we need to root for, as decent human beings.

Now do you know why I don't care about lottery tickets? If I were healthy and had 40 years to live I could make billions off of this. So could you. Authentic feelings .... priceless. But I don't have 40 years.

God loves us all and wants us to say yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no, and God does not want us to focus hatred on only those sins that offend us for stochastic reasons but God wants us to love virtue, and to give good advice in all circumstances.; 5/9/19, 10:13 PM
narciso said...: Yes but its portrait of late 18th century life was interesting btw she is ancestor of princess diana, that may explain the tack they took; 5/9/19, 10:13 PM
stephen cooper said...: And as God is my witness I know exactly how many mean-spirited crabby old men there are in the world.

I try to reach out to them often, and to let them know that God loves them.

That is a powerful statement. I learned leadership at a tougher school than West Point.; 5/9/19, 10:17 PM
narciso said...: They held out for India the longest, both parents of the Soviet agents of influence foot and benn were involved in the administration of that colony. Well except for aden and oman.; 5/9/19, 10:21 PM
narciso said...: S M atirlings drake series has the British loyalist settling in south Africa and starting their world conquests there; 5/9/19, 10:23 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Stirling also co-wrote a series where what were clearly the Draka by another name actually do get their hash settled.; 5/9/19, 10:34 PM
narciso said...: I'm not as familiar with that series, his latest is about an alternate world war one where teddy roosevelt is president.; 5/9/19, 10:36 PM
buwaya said...: At the risk of disappointing persons who disapprove of worldly art,

Good night, perhaps to the sound of Teresa Berganza, performing, in company,

Pasacalle de las mantillas

From the zarzuela "El Ultimo Romantico" - or The Last Romantic
Zarzuelas are a broad category of the Spanish stage, variously operettas and operas.
This one is definitely an operetta.; 5/9/19, 10:41 PM
narciso said...: Sadly this is prime reality:
https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Bristol-based-Pakistani-Christian-fears-death-if-deported; 5/9/19, 10:43 PM
buwaya said...: "S M Stirlings draka series"

Well worth a read.
A tour de force, a dystopian alternate history written from the point of view of the creators of the dystopia. Not perfect in a literary sense, but that's normal for a lot of Science Fiction, which sacrifices, or neglects, style for subject, or conceit. A good trade.; 5/9/19, 10:46 PM
effinayright said...: stephen Cooper: you speak very well of yourself......; 5/9/19, 10:51 PM
narciso said...: This circumstance arises because the Dutch declare war on England and lose hence the colony of drake where south Africa was.; 5/9/19, 11:19 PM
n.n said...: It's not fear or hate to state that orientations in the transgender spectrum are dysfunctional. It is phobic to deny observation and logical conclusion drawn. The question for people is to decide what social construct to adopt with respect to homosexual and other transgender orientations: normalize, tolerate, or reject. Most people choose to tolerate. A minority ("=") chooses to normalize at the risk of selective exclusion (i.e. Pro-Choice) of politically incongruent orientations.; 5/9/19, 11:37 PM
Drago said...: wildswan: "...all the empires are still intact in 2020, European civilization is intact, a better world than the one we have now. I had this argument made to me in England.".....

.....in hushed tones while huddled close and glancing about nervously.....

These are quite forbidden alt-history arguments.; 5/10/19, 12:48 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: WWI is the key. It destroyed Europe and Europe's confidence, and they have never recovered (and have managed to infect us as well). Laumer touched on this in Worlds of the Imperium. (Probably best to ignore the books after than one, and not to touch the post-storke Zone Yellow with a stick).; 5/10/19, 1:34 AM
stephen cooper said...: wholelottasplainin - sure, personalize it.

I guess you are mean-spirited too.

I stood up for people who were treated to vicious insults, who should have been spoken to in a more Chrisitian way.

What is your excuse?; 5/10/19, 2:26 AM
stephen cooper said...: "We should not compromise with false doctrine, but we should have a humble and teachable spirit."

Ephesians 4 1-3.

Several of the self-styled Christians and conservatives around here repeatedly bring disrepute on Christianity and conservatism with their vicious words and sinful love of using a hate-filled style of criticism to try and worthlessly insult and mock others, and I call out these apparently mediocre Christians and conservatives for their mean-spiritedness, and of course they accuse me of the same. It is fair to criticize me but look into your own heart, you might be surprised.

Probably none of them will be better people for my criticism but at least I tried.; 5/10/19, 2:43 AM
gadfly said...: If you are a less-than-ethical politician, perhaps named Donald Trump or Wilbur Ross, there are many ways to clean-up in the market. Say that you have been fooling around with tariffs to gain an advantage by announcing a huge increase in Chinese tariffs, you would expect that the market will drop as it did last week.

So just for grins and illegal profits, you have set up with Ross and the failure brothers, Uday and Qusay, to sell some international trader stock short. When the market falls the conspirators execute the short and good times are had by all.

What is the risk? None, since the DOJ has for years been making edicts into law: Presidents cannot be indicted, tried and convicted of felonies while serving in office.; 5/10/19, 4:31 AM
tim in vermont said...: That’s exactly why it’s better to get this stuff out in a tweet right away, instead of sitting on it while cronies profit.

Gadfly knows that Trump is a criminal, “though proof is elusive.”; 5/10/19, 4:46 AM
tim in vermont said...: You still butt hurt that you dumped those etfs on almost the exactly low point in the market over the past six or eight months because it was all downhill from there? Or is it that Trump shouldn’t have called China out for not sticking by their promises because it’s better to sell out American workers than to.... you know what? No matter what he does you will be accusing him of some kind of wrongdoing, his tax returns will be misrepresented. Just like Nancy could go read the unredacted Mueller report this morning if she stopped by, but it’s better politically to pretend that the DoJ is hiding something.; 5/10/19, 4:57 AM
Humperdink said...: I see that NHL officiating, worst of any major sport, solidified their reputation in Beantown last night.; 5/10/19, 4:58 AM
rehajm said...: I don’t have information on trading from Ross or family Trump while in office but it sounds like more leftie fantasy. Ross is good at making money scores of other ways that avoid impropriety. Apropos of nothing Congress trades their own book all the time- and they made it legal for themselves to do so. Short of lobby free agency when they leave office its their most important road to riches- and there’s never a conflict of interest because they say so!; 5/10/19, 4:59 AM
tim in vermont said...: So just for grins and illegal profits, you have set up with Ross and the failure brothers, Uday and Qusay, to sell some international trader stock short. When the market falls the conspirators execute the short and good times are had by all.

So there is evidence that this happened? I mean, isn’t that public information when stocks get shorted and then profits are reaped?; 5/10/19, 5:07 AM
gadfly said...: Trump has announced that electric truck start-up, Workhorse is buying GM's Lordstown assembly plant - all 602 million square feet and 905 acres! Workhorse, a penny stock company, has built nary a one electric truck of any size or shape. Perhaps they would like to rent my garage at $1,000 per day instead of instead of tooling up Lordstown for maybe $100 billion to build postal delivery trucks and without competitive bids getting in the way.

Perhaps Donald should go back to examining carpet swatches.; 5/10/19, 5:08 AM
tim in vermont said...: Or is that just more reckless speculation based on butt hurt that Hillary isn’t president right now.; 5/10/19, 5:11 AM
tim in vermont said...: Geezup you should lay off the sauce, there is competitive bidding for the contract.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/05/lordstown-long-shot-skepticism-greets-gm-workhorse-talks/

And by “sauce” I mean CNN and MSNBC.; 5/10/19, 5:14 AM
tim in vermont said...: Those ghostwriters are all mega rich right now, right?; 5/10/19, 5:18 AM
rehajm said...: Workhorse trades on the Nasdaq in good standing- its neither a penny stock or pink sheet stock as is being implied; 5/10/19, 5:19 AM
gadfly said...: Somehow my point got scrubbed in the imaginary stock scenario. The point, of course, is that deciding that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted is absurd. And it is even more over-the-top when we are witnessing the accused shutting down the government's investigation.; 5/10/19, 5:19 AM
rehajm said...: There is no there there.; 5/10/19, 5:23 AM
Big Mike said...: I stood up for people who were treated to vicious insults, who should have been spoken to in a more Chrisitian way.

@stephen cooper, if you think Christians are uniformly.nice, then you have forgotten about Jesus in the Temple. An atheist shouldn’t have to explain it to you.; 5/10/19, 5:23 AM
rehajm said...: The talking point of the morning will be Trump tariffs, just as soon as the media gets around to disseminating them.; 5/10/19, 5:24 AM
tim in vermont said...: witnessing the accused shutting down the government's investigation.

“The accused”? Based on what evidence is he "accused.” You know what is violating norms here, the constant fishing expedition style investigations where the only basis for suspecting a crime is that you don’t like the president. Name one thing that Trump has done to obstruct and investigation that is outside of recent norms.; 5/10/19, 5:25 AM
tim in vermont said...: Trump knew that Mueller was a partisan hack “investigating" something that never happened and using it to destroy people close to him. He would have to have been some kind of saint to never have considered firing Mueller.; 5/10/19, 5:30 AM
gadfly said...: Blogger Nobody said...
Geezup you should lay off the sauce, there is competitive bidding for the contract.

Workhorse cannot afford nor does it have a need for the monstrous Lordstown facility. There are plenty of empty manufacturing plants in and around Cincinnati that would suffice - even if they would win the bidding contest which is unlikely because they don't have any idea how to get big in a hurry.

Trump didn't ask anybody before he invented this idea ... and he has never run a manufacturing operation.; 5/10/19, 5:31 AM
tim in vermont said...: So why did you say that there was a no bid contract, which is clearly false?

But I get it now, you are under the delusion that the only reason Mueller didn’t indict Trump was his office, when, in fact, there was nothing indictable in the whole report, regardless. Why wasn’t his son perp walked?; 5/10/19, 5:38 AM
tim in vermont said...: So based on this tweet, you are saying that Trump is behind the Lordstown deal somehow?

GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO! Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, who informed me that, subject to a UAW agreement etc., GM will be selling their beautiful Lordstown Plant to Workhorse, where they plan to build Electric Trucks. GM will also be spending $700,000,000 in Ohio. - @RealDonaldTrump

“Paranoia strikes deep
Into your heart it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid..."; 5/10/19, 5:43 AM
Rusty said...: "Trump didn't ask anybody before he invented this idea ... and he has never run a manufacturing operation."
Have you? Have you actully signed pay checks for any kind of business?; 5/10/19, 5:47 AM
tim in vermont said...: gaffy has sadly fallen prey to the propaganda effort that the Democrats are making to attempt to undermine all good economic news leading up to the next election. I guess I don’t blame them if it weren’t so anti-American to run down American business. They have a tough row to hoe to convince the American people that we are suffering a bad economy right now, when help wanted ads are everywhere.; 5/10/19, 5:50 AM
Nichevo said...: I hope that your hatred of gays makes you more appreciative of the fact that you are what you are.

Oh, I thank God every day for the gifts he has given me.

And it's not hatred. I hate communists, I'll own that. I would say that I hate Nazis but as a practical matter they do not exist. I hate Islamofascists and I try hard to remember that not all Muslims are Islamofascists. My feelings towards gays, as a group, revolve around pity, though some are worthy of contempt to say the least.

Do you know what I find I really despise? People who go around all day telling me how wonderful they are.; 5/10/19, 5:53 AM
Nichevo said...: And seriously cooper, you need to pull that telephone pole out of your eye. I've been as kind to you on this blog as I could, so have others. Kinder than your merits allow I would say.

You should concentrate on perfecting yourself. You won't take good advice sincerely given. But you insist on giving it. And in a manner which vitiates its power. Is that your intent?

I could go on, but any form of criticism seems to make you draw back into your shell and plead hardship. So, what can I say but may God bless you.; 5/10/19, 6:15 AM
tim in vermont said...: “Oh, I thank God every day for the gifts he has given me.”

You and Titus!; 5/10/19, 6:16 AM
rehajm said...: John Kerry level gaffe; 5/10/19, 6:23 AM
Robert Cook said...: "AOC doesn't seem to know...since 1971 the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is a business enterprise operated by the Executive Branch, not a federal agency; that the USPS has massive unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities and loses billions yearly. The USPS must "borrow" from taxpayers to remain in business."

The USPS' financial problems are entirely the fault of an egregious bill passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by George Bush: The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. Among other things, the law requires the USPS to set aside cash reserves sufficient to pay all of its estimated pension costs for the next 75 years. If this law were rescinded, or even parts of it, the USPS would be profitable.; 5/10/19, 6:31 AM
Michael K said...: And it is even more over-the-top when we are witnessing the accused shutting down the government's investigation.

Which investigation is being shut down by "the accused?"

Are you referring to the Democrats' attempt to convince the AG to commit a crime ?; 5/10/19, 6:37 AM
iowan2 said...: The point, of course, is that deciding that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted is absurd.

Of course a sitting President can be investigated. If EVIDENCE turns up, a Special Counsel can be assigned to use the full range of Federal Power to compel witnesses to turn over evidence and testify under the penalty of law. That Special Counsel then turns over their findings to the Attorney General. The the evidence can inform Congress to anything that is actionable and articles impeachment can get introduced. After evidence is presented in a trial like setting, in the House of Representatives, with the accused allowed to defend themselves (the accused, even the President, has a constitutionally protected right to respond to those bearing witness against him)presents evidence. The the House votes to advance the impeachment to the Senate where a majority vote will remove the President from office. Then criminal proceedings can start.

So stop lying that a sitting President can't be prosecuted. It's all layed out in the constitution.; 5/10/19, 6:51 AM
Nichevo said...: Oh, and coop, if you want to pray for someone, pray for my parents, and don't brag on it like a Pharisee.; 5/10/19, 6:54 AM
Nichevo said...: Among other things, the law requires the USPS to set aside cash reserves sufficient to pay all of its estimated pension costs for the next 75 years. If this law were rescinded, or even parts of it, the USPS would be profitable.

The Devil you say! Pension solvency? Worst thing evar! Yes, if I robbed the bank, I would be rich. Commienomics in a nutshell.; 5/10/19, 6:56 AM
Paco Wové said...: "gaffy has sadly fallen prey"

I disagree; Gadfly has been a Trumpophobe First Class since day one.; 5/10/19, 7:02 AM
Kevin said...: The same Jim Jordan who went to law school and could never pass the bar exam?

What a world it would be if we never again had to listen to anyone who failed the bar exam.; 5/10/19, 7:37 AM
tim in vermont said...: Definitely we should raid those pension funds in order to give loans to people with bad credit! It’s so crazy it just might work!; 5/10/19, 7:53 AM
Fernandinande said...: I've always thought it was a shame that Spain (& Port.) colonized so much of the Americas, the parts in which significant portions of the population now want to avoid each other by escaping to the countries colonized by England.

When he wasn't crazy, he was wrong.

Like walking and chewing gum, the trick is to do both at the same time:

You should read my Amazon reviews criticizing Milton for his pride,

Ta da!; 5/10/19, 8:06 AM
etbass said...: These cafe posts have become a congregation for the preaching of one person who has the most screwed up theology I have ever heard. It's endless and insane. And he is nocturnal, evidently.; 5/10/19, 8:23 AM
n.n said...: The talking point of the morning will be Trump tariffs

There is a lot of profit and good perceptions reaped from environmental and labor arbitrage, which will either be settled through [emigration] reform, arbitration, equalization, or sabotaging small[er] businesses.; 5/10/19, 9:07 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “The USPS' financial problems are entirely the fault of an egregious bill passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by George Bush: The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. Among other things, the law requires the USPS to set aside cash reserves sufficient to pay all of its estimated pension costs for the next 75 years. If this law were rescinded, or even parts of it, the USPS would be profitable.”

What I seem to be hearing you say is that if pension obligations are ignored, then USPS would be profitable. But why should we ignore those costs? You might as well say that they would be profitable if you ignored their salary costs, or their gasoline costs. GM and Chrysler would have been profitable enough to avoid bankruptcy if they had been allowed to ignore their pension obligations. Of course, while it was the pension costs that drove their bankruptcies, it was the debt holders, who legally had senior rights, who took the haircut, thanks to Obama.; 5/10/19, 11:38 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Just a thought. I have worked as a contractor to the USPS. And just wrote a comment about those experiences. But didn’t post it due to (likely baseless) confidentiality concerns. My question is how much more information we might see here, if confidentiality were not a concern here? There is a fairly decent amount of experience present in the commentariat here (partially due to the ages of the more vocal of us).; 5/10/19, 11:48 AM
Robert Cook said...: "The Devil you say! Pension solvency? Worst thing evar! Yes, if I robbed the bank, I would be rich. Commienomics in a nutshell."

Can you name any other company that is required to have cash reserves on hand sufficient to prepay their pension obligations for the next three-quarters of a century?; 5/10/19, 12:43 PM
Robert Cook said...: It's insane!; 5/10/19, 12:49 PM
buwaya said...: "Can you name any other company that is required to have cash reserves on hand sufficient to prepay their pension obligations for the next three-quarters of a century?"

Private companies, those with defined contribution or defined benefit plans, normally fund a pension plan, administered by a separate entity, to cover all of their current pension obligations. They send the money allocated to pension benefits to the plan administrators.

That is my employers plan. If I retired tomorrow (or in three months or so, as I plan to) my pension benefits are guaranteed regardless of the financial state of the company, because the company has fully funded it.

We even get an annual report on the state of the pension plan.

Granted some companies fall behind full-funding according to actuarial rules.; 5/10/19, 1:27 PM
AllenS said...: Robert Cook said...
Can you name any other company that is required to have cash reserves on hand sufficient to prepay their pension obligations for the next three-quarters of a century?

The private company that I worked for.

What do you do for employment Mr Cook, or, what did you do to provide for yourself?; 5/10/19, 2:01 PM
Rusty said...: I'll take tht as a no.; 5/10/19, 4:33 PM
stephen cooper said...: nichevo at 6:15 AM - yes, I think you guessed my intent - as my power fades, the power of God increases.
I have no desire to make people think I am holy, or even better than average at being a good Christian, I just want to wake them up to the fact that God loves them, and that even a person who sounds the way I sound can proclaim it.

It is sort of complicated, like faith healing. Which, believe it or not, is a real thing.

I like people who are clearly flawed, they remind me of me, they are the people I most enjoy talking to in this earth.

I will pray for your parents --- trust me --- in a sincere and humble way.

thanks for reading , my friend ::: and yes I know that nobody reading this but you or me knows how sincere I am ---- or even if someone like you dreamed up my comments in order to ask for prayers, or just to have someone to argue with.

God loves you.

It has been my job for a long time to communicate with people with difficult, difficult lives.
I am tired of that job, but I go on.
God loves me, too, in spite of my faults.

By the way I have my faults but pride is not one of them.
People might think otherwise, reading what I write, but Pride in the form of bluster is just one of the rhetorical tools people like me, who want to wake up the sheeple, use to get other people to listen to them, and as the people walk away, perhaps angry, perhaps not, we tell them one more time, in case they had not ever heard it before:

God loves you.

I am not talking to the people who think Billy Graham is brilliant, I am talking to people who are getting old, who hate life, and who think that nobody understands, and that religion is a crock. Obviously if you are not in that group I sound ridiculous. But if I have to pretend to be arrogant to get people in that group to pay a little attention - remember they will pay no attention if I quote the Bible, even to perfect effect, or if I quote Billy Graham at his best, or if I write a paragraph just the was little Joel Osteen would have written it ----- if I, the least arrogant person you will ever meet, have to pretend to be arrogant to get the volume loud enough for the slightly deaf among the gerontocrats to whom I Preach to hear and maybe listen a little bit, I will do so.

Anyway it is God's job, not mine, to make you understand that God loves you, but I can say this:
nothing you said hurt my feelings.

Hope we understand each other better now.

Even if we don't, I guarantee you that my prayers will be sincere.

Do you ever wonder why pastors do not engage in comment sections like this, where the faithless congregate?; 5/10/19, 9:33 PM
stephen cooper said...: etbass - Good afternoon!; 5/10/19, 10:13 PM