Cugalabanza

What’s the difference between a bowl of dry, room temperature mashed potatoes and Jared Kushner? The mashed potatoes don’t look worried in every picture lately.

Ok, I admit I was wrong on this. Apologies. I am a jackass. I loose one turn.

Ok

I wouldn’t call it malice from Sessions. I’d call it being tone deaf and insensitive.

Obviously. My objection is that I think Session isn’t just referencing a piece of history. I think he’s implying something about the Present, in terms of how things ought to be. It’s a fetishising of an ideal that is conspicuously...white.

I knew I'd sort of take a hit one this one. I still feel that Sessions' words were problematic. I know I'm alone on that here. I understand how people are fed up with oversensitivity. I get that. I just feel like "Anglo-American Heritage" as used here excludes some certain people. And Sessions has a history of being seen as insensitive about this stuff, so he should be more self aware.

I think it's kind of coy to pretend that's what my point is.

I understand the history and the etymology. I still think it's coded. You're speaking to a bunch of sheriffs. Why all of a sudden bring up "Anglo-American heritage?" If you want to point out the origin of the notion of sheriff in England, you can talk about that, but the way he brought it up, that's skeevy. If you are a black sheriff listening to that speech, would you not find that offensive at all?

Session is not bright. He doesn't need the heat that he's gonna get over this. This smells racist to me. You can argue otherwise and say that his statement is technically accurate, but this is some loaded language.

“The office of Sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement.” - Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaking at the National Sheriff's Association winter conference in DC. I expect some people will want to have some explanation on this.

I suppose. I know it's a technical point and probably a picky one. But likelihood is not the same thing as proof. You're probably right that it will turn out Trump was being spied on. But we'll have to wait to know that for sure and to know the extent. By the way, I'm with you about the state of surveillance in this country and I hate what it means for liberties. Maybe I'm just being a pain in the ass, but I'm not comfortable calling what we've heard so far "proof."

I understand all this about the warrant & FISA and the hops. But is there any concrete evidence that Trump was bugged? I think the answer to the question remains (for now) NO. Of course, that may very well change, but it's still in the status of supposition as of right now. Well, the right is fond of saying "show me the concrete proof" on the subject of Russian collusion. And they're right to say that. This is the same thing. Supposition vs. proof. I think we have to wait for some things to come to light.

What is the evidence that Trump was in fact "wiretapped?" I know the assumption is that he was, due to the FISA warrant obtained to surveil Page. But it's still conjecture at this point, no? Just like there is no concrete evidence of Russian collusion. These are both smoke/fire suppositions. Unless I've missed something. What is your evidence that Trump was in fact spied on?

It looks like my rep number is pretty low, but that’s just because I recently rolled over the nines.

I heard that imp gets two scoops, one peach, one mint. It’s a special concoction, they made just for him. It’s called... the [redacted due to lameness of joke] sundae.

It's very tempting. That's something I haven't tried. Most of what I know about it is from the song "K Hole" by the Silver Jews. It includes this great line: "Better get inside the kingdom and close the door."

I don't have to own anything. Crazy is not a partisan phenomenon. I remain totally unaffiliated. Most days I don't even want to be a human being. One thing that is not crazy is for people who were brought to the country when they were children to want to stay because it's the only home they've known. Are you surprised that this is something that is important to people. By the way, this isn't one of the issues that I've talked about or taken a stand on. I think immigration in general is an area where the left needs to make some concessions. However, the DACA thing seems like something congress should come together on, get it done and move on.

It's just two people. Some lady named Alex and her sister. I'm sure the majority of dreamers would hope to stay. It's easy to cherry pick some people on the street for a ludicrous soundbite.

Ok, maybe I'm not as funny as the famously hilarious OJABBA, but I'm not going to stand here and let you disparage my dancing!

Ah, go put it in a memo.

Yeah, but being a troll is not a skill or something to be proud of. Anyone could be a troll. You just have to embrace your inner 7 year old !@#$ self and let loose. Being a master troll is not a skill that would be useful in most adult jobs. President of the USA is an example of the kind of job where you might want to have someone at a level of maturity above the level of troll.

Great, now I'm all turned on.

I'm not telling anyone what to want or feel. Just stating an opinion. But, like you say, I'm not a veteran, so I concede that your opinion has more weight here than mine.

I don't. I took that sentence out right after I typed it. Have there been any significant improvements? I read an article recently about how many vets are discouraged that Trump has not lived up to his promises. But I haven't really done research. If I'm wrong about that, please correct me.