The Frankish Reich

So how to apportion blame? Nathaniel Hackett 50%, Rodgers 50%?

Guess what? Prior two months revised HIGHER. I'm no economist, but I still expect a recession. Sometime. But not now.

We have a new one!

The new party of "feeling."

All correct. A decision was made way back in the 1990s: we were going to criminally charge and convict illegal aliens accused of violent crimes and then make them serve their sentences before we deport them. Deporting them before they served their lengthy sentences was making it too easy on them. Plus they come back illegally and then are convicted of illegal reentry after deportation, which can be a 20 year sentence if they have a violent prior. And so we got a lot of "murderers" (some are, not so many since there's a lot of pleas to things like manslaughter, vehicular homicide, etc) populating our prisons. Probably a pretty tiny fraction of whom entered in the Biden-Harris administration. Just another example of how to lie with statistics.

Flipped on CNBC to see the Bank of America CEO calling this a "Goldilocks" moment. Jobs growth not too high (causing inflationary pressure) or too low (fear of recession) and inflation negligible. The next guest doubled down, with CNBC running the banner "Mother of All Soft Landings." Disastrous! R's are gonna have to start talking about trans kids in bathrooms again.

A reminder that the new senile Trump ain't the old harmless blowhard. This was a NYT editorial his staff drafted for him explaining why he wasn't, after all, seeking the Reform Party nomination for President in 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/19/opinion/what-i-saw-at-the-revolution.html "I also saw the underside of the Reform Party. The fringe element that wanted to repeal the federal income tax, believed that the country was being run by the Trilateral Commission and suspected that my potential candidacy was a stalking horse for (take your pick) Gov. George W. Bush, Senator John McCain or Vice President Al Gore. When I held a reception for Reform Party leaders in California, the room was crowded with Elvis look-alikes, resplendent in various campaign buttons and anxious to give me a pamphlet explaining the Swiss-Zionist conspiracy to control America." Compare to the current Trump supporters, who see a new Trilateral Commission-type world order running things. Is Davos in Switzerland? The people Trump thought were nuts are now his base. "I felt confident that my argument that America was being ripped off by our major trade partners and that it was time for tougher trade negotiations would have resonance in a race against the two Ivy League contenders." A refreshing admission that Penn wasn't really Ivy League back in those days. "Although I am totally comfortable with the people in the New York Independence Party, I leave the Reform Party to David Duke, Pat Buchanan and Lenora Fulani. That is not company I wish to keep." My how things change.

Maybe "they" were just trying to "dampen the forest floor" to avoid wildfires, and "they" got a bit carried away. Just when you think they can't get any dumber ...

He's not bad for the mere fact that he changed. He's bad for the direction in which he changed. A subtle distinction that is apparently lost on you. Are you sure you're mentally fit?

But there's plenty of JD Vance in her, or maybe Bill Clinton - the willingness to do whatever it takes to get elected and/or be popular. That's sometimes a good thing. I don't fear JD. I liked him. The 2014 version. I fear the sycophant he is today.

Exactly. I'm glad to see Kamala tacking hard to the center, and I hope if she gets elected she'll continue on that path.

Melania pro-choice comments: I'm legit confused by this. Even if you are pro-choice, why say it now? Is it: A. A sudden awareness - a month before election day - that trying to stay above the fray in these times is no longer tenable. And abortion was the catalyst that finally compelled her to speak out as a woman who has always been privately passionate about this issue. B. An attempt to distance herself from her husband as she contemplates (gasp!) that potential end of his political career. And as she makes plans for herself - likely without the Donald - if he does lose. C. An attempt to hurt his candidacy by further calling into question his own commitment to the pro-life agenda, thereby lowering enthusiasm of evangelicals. D. A cynical attempt to aid his campaign by providing the clear implication that Trump is not, after all, really so philosophically or religiously against abortion; a kind of "even my wife recognizes that a woman's autonomy over her body is a critical consideration." I'm going with B, with D as a close runner up. I am dismissing A as simply implausible given Melania's history and the timing of this. I also think C is more of a liberal fantasy (Evangelicals will stay home!) than anything else. Palace intrigue. Nothing is exactly what it seems to be on the surface.

Yeah. My comment was meant as a joke.... Wasn't edgy enough for you to recognize that!

I saw a bunch of young women wearing those St Pauli Girl costumes at my local version. Appalling! We should require them to look like Americans in skinny jeans with muffin tops. NJ just shifted from leaning blue to solid blue.

Those are good numbers! It is consistent with a reduction in inflationary forces caused by an overly tight labor market. It's almost as if all the lazy asses who stopped working during their extended COVID holidays now need to get a job.

As all of my fans out there know all too well, I like nothing better than calling bs on these phony food bill posts. 3 days of food; $126. $42 of food a day. What the hell is she eating? OK, maybe she has a fat husband and a couple kids. Still: $42? A three-egg omelette each for breakfast. As we just saw with JD Vance's staging fail, that's a dozen eggs for 3 bucks. Maybe throw some cheese in there. 2 bucks. Lunch? How about a loaf of Walmart bread for a couple bucks. Lots of slices in there. So maybe 1 dollar total for the family. Put some bologna in there. Or PB&J. That may cost you 4 bucks. Dinner time! Only 32 bucks left! I think Guy Fieri runs these contests. Go straight to the rotisserie chicken, girl! 5 bucks at Costco. Maybe a few more somewhere else. That'll easily take care of a family of four's protein needs. Side dishes, dessert you say ... I say, well, mash some potatoes. Maybe 3 bucks. Get some green beans or asparagus. May set you back 4 bucks. Buy a big ass cake for the family. Pretend it's a birthday and splurge; it's October, so get that ridiculously huge pumpkin pie at Costco. I think its all the way up to 6.99 or something. I've just fed your family with way, way too many calories. It cost you $29. I saved you $13 a day! Or maybe you're buying too many chips and Fritos. That's on you, girl.

The only person who actually illegally accessed a voting machine has just been sentenced to 10 years. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to Republican Tina Peters of Colorado. https://apnews.com/article/tina-peters-colorado-clerk-election-vote-fraud-b456ce4f80dc97f4b967eb6297311a51

I think those dockworkers came to their senses. They were gonna help Trump get elected, after which he would've busted their union with a Republican majority NLRB. (Not that I think busting that particular union would be a bad thing)

You know what? I looked back at the stats (I was just a little kid when he was playing; Dennis Shaw was my first sports hero). He was pretty good even. Even made a Pro Bowl. I correct that statement. JD Hill was good. JD Hill FAN was mediocre.

How much more of these disastrous numbers - low inflation, job growth - can Americans take!

Here's the thing with Vance: Ambition. Boundless ambition. He wants desperately to be President. That meant sucking up to Trump to get his endorsement and to become a Senator. Notice how clever our young hillbilly is. He got the VP nomination. He goes on the debate stage and says none of the outrageous things that endeared him to Trump to begin with. If Trump wins, he's term-limited, and JD is the presumptive 2028 nominee. If Trump loses, JD is the presumed front runner because he's a smarter, less emotional, more focused version of Trump. And if JD becomes President either sooner (Trump is, umm, almost 80) or later (2028), what makes the Trumpies think he won't switch back to that Hillbilly Elegy guy running toward the center? As I said, he's smart. I think Democrats fear JD for that reason: he'll do whatever he needs to do to win, even if it means running the old Bush 41 "kinder and gentler" campaign at the expense of his mentor.

What a revelation! What's next? Fox News wants to help Trump win? Bill Simmons doing his level best to ensure that Brady is considered the GOAT? I thought you guys liked the fact that we don't have a Fairness Doctrine anymore. We can all live in our own little echo chambers. Life is so much better now that we can hear you piss and moan about how life in America now sucks.

I liked you better when you focused on old-timey mediocrities like JD Hill.

You are truly a one-note act. Go back and read that thread. Our most paranoid conspiratorial (banned) poster ever was rational, smart, on-point. And then .... ... I would chalk it up to mental illness, but the same thing happened with a lot of others. They swallowed the orange pill. Maybe you did too.

Why revive this thread? Well, it's just an accident. I wanted to say something about the conviction of the Memphis cops. I searched for "Memphis." I found this. It has nothing to do with Memphis, but it shows a rational/misnamed "Deranged" Rhino. It shows where we were in the BT (Before Trump) era. It reveals a former, non-crazy world in which there could be rational discussions. That world actually existed not so long ago. Will we ever get back there? Trump is the most damaging politician in the last 50 years.