The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

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jr29
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by jr29 »

Cole Younger wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 5:36 pm
jr29 wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 5:18 pm
My initial plan was to kayak the Ocmulgee in Macon and work in the Allman Brothers museum and whatever else. Weather forecast is saying highs in mid-50's and lows in mid-30's on the days we'd be around though. My southern ass ain't kayaking with those temps.
Really? I surely thought we had seen the end of thirties by now. We do usually get some of it in April though. I love my kayak but it’s turkey season right now and that’s about all I’ve got on my mind honestly.
We'll be around there Wednesday through Saturday and Wednesday is the only warm day, high of 79, but it is supposed to rain then turn cool for the remainder of the week.

LBRod
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by LBRod »

beantownbubba wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:09 pm
prohibiting or limiting those on the no fly list from buying guns of all sorts and the like.
You have a lot more faith in the government than I can muster, bubba.
There are plenty of stories of people being put on the no fly list for poor reasons, or just by mistake.
Don't hurt people, and don't take their stuff.

beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

Cole Younger wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:21 pm
Ending gun shows is a pipe dream.
I guess my shorthand was too short. I did not mean to suggest ending gun shows, just making sales at gun shows subject to the same rules as other sales (e.g. waiting periods).
Cole Younger wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:21 pm
And if I want to sell a gun to old buddy across the county I’m going to regardless of what the government says.
I think this absolutely reflects reality. I just don't understand why it's an argument against doing anything.
LBRod wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:29 pm
You have a lot more faith in the government than I can muster, bubba.
There are plenty of stories of people being put on the no fly list for poor reasons, or just by mistake.
I don't know if this makes a difference to you but I did intend to include "...with a right of appeal" on this point for precisely that reason. It also seems to me that the deprivation of rights and sometimes liberty represented by being placed on the no fly list is of much greater concern than whether that person can buy a gun, but I guess priorities vary as much as opinions.
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beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

Donald Trump was probably more right about China than about anything else he turned his attention to during his presidency. But in the end it didn't matter. We will be stuck with the results of his bumbling, incoherent, corrupt and inept attempts at diplomacy for a long time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/worl ... 029039208a
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305 Engine
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by 305 Engine »

beantownbubba wrote:
Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:49 am
Donald Trump was probably more right about China than about anything else he turned his attention to during his presidency. But in the end it didn't matter. We will be stuck with the results of his bumbling, incoherent, corrupt and inept attempts at diplomacy for a long time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/worl ... 029039208a


He was essentially China's ideal President and a bit of a dream come true for them. But Trump was right to be anti China. I dont suppose it was something which stemmed from any deeply held beliefs about democracy but it's the correct stance. The west is finally finding out that we made a big mistake when we promoted the notion that increased prosperity would spread democracy to the PRC.

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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

305 Engine wrote:
Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:02 pm
The west is finally finding out that we made a big mistake when we promoted the notion that increased prosperity would spread democracy to the PRC.
I'm quite sure the wealthy and powerful people who pressed for that were judging by their own experience, wherein every time they got more money and power, they became fundamentally better, more decent people, just like Jeffrey Epstein.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

If i am not mistaken, former Arkansas Democratic Senator Mark Pryor published an op-ed in today's NYT in which he basically pleaded with Joe Biden to appoint Pryor as the head of the Dept of Justice's antitrust division. I have no idea if this is a good idea or a bad one (though the general notion that big tech needs to be challenged before it swallows us all seems pretty straightforward) but I thought the job hunting through the media thing was pretty damn weird.
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

beantownbubba wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:43 am
If i am not mistaken, former Arkansas Democratic Senator Mark Pryor published an op-ed in today's NYT in which he basically pleaded with Joe Biden to appoint Pryor as the head of the Dept of Justice's antitrust division. I have no idea if this is a good idea or a bad one (though the general notion that big tech needs to be challenged before it swallows us all seems pretty straightforward) but I thought the job hunting through the media thing was pretty damn weird.
When I was in Student Senate with Mark Pryor, I once saw him commit an act of principle, but that was decades ago, and I wouldn't expect another one.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

Hey, JohnA, you must be pleased with your governor, for the moment at least. Hat tip to Gov. Asa Hutchison for vetoing a bill banning certain surgeries and medications for transgender minors. He stated that the bill exemplified government overreach and that such decisions should be left to families and medical professionals. How refreshing: a conservative actually acting on actual principles.

By contrast, old reliable Moscow Mitch is at it again/still, this time bemoaning corporations exercising their free speech rights when they actually speak, as opposed to when they just shut up and write checks to the Republican Party. That guy wouldn't know a principle even if he could spell it correctly.

And in the department of same old same old, a member of the party of family values is mired in a sex scandal involving underage girls. I would say that it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, but it's not the guy I'm worried about things happening to. OTOH if there is a more smug, more arrogant, more oily congressman with no substance to back it up than Gaetz I don't know who it is and I sure don't want to meet him.
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cortez the killer
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by cortez the killer »

beantownbubba wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:52 am
And in the department of same old same old, a member of the party of family values is mired in a sex scandal involving underage girls. I would say that it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, but it's not the guy I'm worried about things happening to. OTOH if there is a more smug, more arrogant, more oily congressman with no substance to back it up than Gaetz I don't know who it is and I sure don't want to meet him.
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by pearlbeer »

cortez the killer wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 1:26 pm
beantownbubba wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:52 am
And in the department of same old same old, a member of the party of family values is mired in a sex scandal involving underage girls. I would say that it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, but it's not the guy I'm worried about things happening to. OTOH if there is a more smug, more arrogant, more oily congressman with no substance to back it up than Gaetz I don't know who it is and I sure don't want to meet him.
It's always the ones you seem to suspect the most, isn't it?
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

beantownbubba wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:52 am
Hey, JohnA, you must be pleased with your governor, for the moment at least. Hat tip to Gov. Asa Hutchison for vetoing a bill banning certain surgeries and medications for transgender minors. He stated that the bill exemplified government overreach and that such decisions should be left to families and medical professionals. How refreshing: a conservative actually acting on actual principles.
If I believed he was acting on principle--but he's not.
beantownbubba wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:52 am
And in the department of same old same old, a member of the party of family values is mired in a sex scandal involving underage girls.
Among the allegations is that he and an official from Seminole (Bingo!) County used trusted access to create false drivers licenses so they could pimp these women out. That some of them are underage is the least of it, but it sure does sell headlines.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

John A Arkansawyer wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:40 am
If I believed he was acting on principle--but he's not.
My knowledge of Arkansas politics being extremely limited, what would you ascribe his motivations to?

In case anybody missed it, the state legislature overturned the governor's veto anyway. Overturning a veto in AR requires...wait for it... a majority vote by the same legislature that passed the initial legislation by majority vote. To say that I don't get this is to understate the matter considerably.
John A Arkansawyer wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:40 am
That some of them are underage is the least of it
To each his or her own priorities I guess.
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beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

As many of you know I am a huge fan of Heather Cox Richardson. She is being interviewed about her book How the South Won the Civil War in a free virtual program Thurday 4/8 at 6pm. Registration required. I got the notice by email so I'm not sure how to link it, but I assume if you search any or all of boston.com, the boston globe and ticketwatch you'll be able to find it.
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John A Arkansawyer
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

beantownbubba wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:49 am
John A Arkansawyer wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:40 am
If I believed he was acting on principle--but he's not.
My knowledge of Arkansas politics being extremely limited, what would you ascribe his motivations to?
He thinks he's got a post-gubernatorial career in politics. Arkansas didn't go quite as Trump-crazy as our neighbors, and we took a very long time to drift far right. There are some moderate Republicans trying to form a middle-ground kind of party, which white moderates are creaming their mom jeans for.
beantownbubba wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:49 am
John A Arkansawyer wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:40 am
That some of them are underage is the least of it
To each his or her own priorities I guess.
It's the difference between personal wrongdoing and organized exploitation. As a matter of public policy and of ethics, I know which one is my priority.

Doug Muder has an additional point to make, being a fair-minded type:
I’m of two minds about all this. On the one hand, I already thought Gaetz was a slimeball, so I’m not going to hide my schadenfreude. Picturing Matt Gaetz in an orange jumpsuit makes me smile.

On the other hand: We shouldn’t know any of this yet. Gaetz hasn’t been charged or convicted of anything, and it doesn’t look like The New York Times dug this up through independent reporting. Somebody in the Justice Department must have leaked the investigation (and maybe the receipts and text messages).

That’s not good. The government has enormous investigative powers, and that power should not be abused.

Remember: The heart of the first Trump impeachment was his illegal attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating the Bidens. The point wasn’t to expose any Biden crimes in Ukraine, since Trump probably knew that there weren’t any. But his goal was to produce a regular stream of “Biden Under Investigation for Ukraine Corruption” headlines, similar to the Hillary-email stories that worked so well for him in 2016 (“Lock her up!”), but ultimately fizzled as investigators found nothing worth prosecuting.

I’m not claiming the Gaetz story is similarly insubstantial, or that the Department of Justice investigation (which apparently began under Bill Barr) is politically motivated. But it’s a bad practice to run people out of town because they’re “being investigated” for something lurid. Anybody could be investigated for anything. And while leaks about investigations can be legitimate if those investigations are being interfered with (so that the normal course of justice is blocked), that also doesn’t seem to be happening here.

So if and when the Gaetz investigation culminates in an indictment, as I’m confident it will if everything we’re reading is true, then that information will legitimately wind up in the public domain. But until then, I’m going to treat this like a National Enquirer story: I’ll follow it for my own entertainment, but I’m not going to demand that it result in any negative consequences for Gaetz, even though I still don’t like him.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

I wasn't going to comment on Justice Breyer's speech about the Supreme Court, specifically about his warning not to mess with it because I figured it was so ridiculous it wouldn't last a single news cycle, yet here it is last on Monday and "people" seem to still be talking about it. For a guy who says he's concerned about the Court's legitimacy (which I don't doubt), it seems to be more than a little mistake to speak publicly in a way that can only generate scorn and disrespect. His comments ignore the entire history of the Court and its currents problems except to say that the Court has been set at nine justices for a lot of years. That's a true statement as far as it goes, which is not very. For him to talk about manipulating the Court and the potential for the Court to lose legitimacy without even mentioning Merrick Garland's name is just laughable. I don't see the point in going into detail because there's nothing I've read from or about the speech that rises any higher.

I have been mostly against increasing the size of the Court and am at best, or worst, ambivalent on the subject. I personally think the 18 year term limit proposal that has gained some traction is the best way to go. But even without being solidly on the side opposite Breyer I can only shake my head at his attempt to be relevant or persuasive or protective of the Court, or whatever he thought he was doing, by giving a totally unimpressive, intellectually lacking, rather boring speech that did not help his cause one whit.
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beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

This is America so why should we discuss the merits and demerits of government investing in the future in a variety of ways when we can just argue and whine about the definition of "infrastructure?" What a pointless, disingenuous exercise on both sides. But I'll tell you this, anyone who doesn't think that trains (in all forms - surface rail, subways, freight, passenger, etc) are infrastructure should just shut the fuck up. Apparently, living in a place not well served by trains (or, more likely, not understanding how the place you live is in fact served by trains) is all it takes to qualify as an "expert" on the subject. Ignorance is the real pandemic.
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beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

Hey, boyyourself, the experts agree with you. Now what?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... p_opinions
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boyyourself
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by boyyourself »

Mandate the elimination of processed carbohydrates and mandate lifting weights.

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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

boyyourself wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:19 am
Mandate the elimination of processed carbohydrates and mandate lifting weights.
Assuming that your substantive suggestions are best practices, I'm surprised by "mandate." If I understand correctly, that doesn't seem consistent with your general views about the use of government power.
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boyyourself
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by boyyourself »

beantownbubba wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:11 pm
boyyourself wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:19 am
Mandate the elimination of processed carbohydrates and mandate lifting weights.
Assuming that your substantive suggestions are best practices, I'm surprised by "mandate." If I understand correctly, that doesn't seem consistent with your general views about the use of government power.

It was half sarcasm and half “why not”.

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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by Jonicont »

boyyourself wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:19 am
Mandate the elimination of processed carbohydrates and mandate lifting weights.
I’m with ya on the processed carbs. No more Cheetos—-shit
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LBRod
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by LBRod »

Jonicont wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:59 pm
boyyourself wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:19 am
Mandate the elimination of processed carbohydrates and mandate lifting weights.
I’m with ya on the processed carbs. No more Cheetos—-shit
Mostly, yes. Moderation in all things, including moderation. Ya gotta pick your spots.
Don't hurt people, and don't take their stuff.

305 Engine
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by 305 Engine »

beantownbubba wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:32 am
Hey, boyyourself, the experts agree with you. Now what?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... p_opinions
Now is finally the time for the country which invented the Frito Pie and "cheese" out of can to do some soul searching?


Cole Younger
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by Cole Younger »

I’m not for mandating much of anything. I’m for letting people make their own decisions and mistakes. But I’m also not for them then being saved by the government from the consequences. Eat what you want to eat. Do all the different drugs you want. But it’s on you.
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

beantownbubba
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by beantownbubba »

Cole Younger wrote:
Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:10 pm
I’m not for mandating much of anything. I’m for letting people make their own decisions and mistakes. But I’m also not for them then being saved by the government from the consequences. Eat what you want to eat. Do all the different drugs you want. But it’s on you.
As you know, I'm not with you 100%, but this is an easy one for us to agree on. I do think government has a role which is to publicize factual information and to identify and promote best practices. But mandates? No thank you.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

305 Engine
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by 305 Engine »

With freedom comes responsibility. Individuals take responsibility for actions.

But so should companies. If you're going to sell someone something that - over time - can harm them, you have a responsibility to let them know.

I doubt anyone can disagree with that?

Cole Younger
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by Cole Younger »

305 Engine wrote:
Thu Apr 15, 2021 1:19 pm
With freedom comes responsibility. Individuals take responsibility for actions.

But so should companies. If you're going to sell someone something that - over time - can harm them, you have a responsibility to let them know.

I doubt anyone can disagree with that?
Yeah that makes good sense. And once you decide to use the product despite the warning nothing that happens after that is somebody else’s fault. You said a mouthful with that first sentence.
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

Cole Younger
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Re: The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

Post by Cole Younger »

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... art-monkey

I’m interested to hear thoughts on this. I’m agin it personally. Look at how humans treat each other. How will some less intelligent chimera be treated? Best of intentions my ass. There is no way this sort of thing needs to happen.
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

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