leh-nerd skin-erd

Let’s start with the obvious. Dem leadership ran with Biden in spite of his clearly deteriorating mental/cognitive/physical state because they thought he was the best person to win the election. They shielded that from voters to the extent they could, and I don’t think the debate “changed” things so much as revealed what they were hiding. As for “idiots”, that’s not my characterization. People will convince themselves of just about anything, and my point was simply that acknowledging their leadership had been lying to them all along would require an acknowledgment they were duped. That’s not how most hard core supporters are going to react…they just move on and vote party line.

Fair enough, though that allegation did not include declarations of treason, either. I was not a fan of the Whitewater probe, was young enough to think it was a personal matter only. I knew nothing of Clinton's proclivity toward sexual predation, power dynamic, and the credible allegations of assault against him. I further didn't spend much time worrying about, or considering, the role of HRC in enabling his behavior and assault on the women victimized by her husband. And, while we're agreeing and whatnot, let's not forget that the political powers that be declared Clinton above the law as it related to perjury, and fully embraced the slippery language that he deftly displayed during his testimony. Turnabout is, indeed, fair play. It wasn't a mistake, it was an intentional (cynical, some would say) power play to destroy an administration. It was also part of a larger plan to destroy the President. As a stand alone, I might agree with you on the post-January 6 impeachment, but as a matter of common sense, it would be flat out silly to support impeachment. The dems had spent nearly 5 years declaring Trump guilty of treasonous behavior, been revealed to have surveilled their political opponents, unmasked American citizens, and spread election misinformation to divide the country. I cannot say for certain that 1/6 never occurs without democrats running the Russia scam, but I would suggest I might well look at it differently. Turnabout is fair play. I have referred to Mike Pence as one of the heroes of the day. Perhaps had the dem leadership had a Pence-ian figure urging restraint and common sense when they were spreading stories of treason, the whole mess could have been avoided. Instead, they spoke with one ugly, sustained, political voice for 5 years, and their base bought it. I can see what you're saying, but I think it reveals a naiveté that borders on pathological. What fences? The ones erected by people who call others nazis, uneducated, treasonous, and who's claim to fame is their version of spreading distrust about our elections is way cooler than the other guy? No, thank you, Frank--I'd prefer those fences remain in place. For reasonable people who can see the duplicity of the argument on illegitimate elections (cool!) v stolen elections (scandalous!), there are no fences to tear down.

Well in fairness, he's been kinda, sorta dead for quite some time, presidentially speaking.

Sure, politics should be clean, green and above board. We should all respect and demand normal, sensible standards be followed. You may not want to hear it, but standards of acceptable behavior vary greatly. Set aside Jan 6 for a moment ( a dark day in our nation's history, though questions remain on whether not the scales of justice operated fairly for all defendants). What happened in the lead up to the Trump inauguration on 1/20/2017, and continued thereafter, was the leveraging of emotions of the American people with historic distrust in a cold war adversary in a manner not seen since the days of Joseph McCarthy. The democrat leadership understood the hatred for the duly elected President, understood that their base would accept virtually anything said or done to Trump, and proceeded accordingly. The democrat party and many supporters cared little for unity, little for respecting the results of free and fair elections, and embraced the chaos. At the same time, sensible American citizens, intent on seeing through the agenda of the duly elected President, watched as one political dirty trick after another was launched, watched as the msm spread fanciful stories based on anonymous sources, and became increasingly frustrated with this new version of attempting to remove the President from office. Conservatism, as it turns out, is not something that fits neatly into a box, or that is defined by one individual based on his/her expectations. I cannot recall a time when I read, or signed up for, a passive and apathetic mindset when the events of 2016+ are viewed in the context of the actions of the opposition to free and fair elections and acceptance thereafter. What you seem to consistently lobby for is not conservatism, it's acquiescence. Certainly, it would be nice if after Trump was elected, the world did not go sideways, if many people who who voted for HRC didn't lose their minds, fully and completely embrace election denialism and national discord, but things did not play out that way. That they were surprised to see a similar, though admittedly more aggressive version of a stolen election scandal, reveals a lack of understanding of human emotion and the nature of escalation. It was completely predictable.

dems lose the election, he likely pardons Hunter before he exits. If the dems win, one can assume he has received assurances that Hunter is pardoned to maintain the illusion that he had nothing to do with it.

I can’t fault people for loyalty to their party, and lining up behind the person with an agenda that benefits them or their family members. Kamala Harris thus far has shown to be a not very popular candidate. She had a miserable time when she ran in 2020, but she did the heavy lifting for the Dems (the character assignation of Brett Kavanaugh, for example), and was rewarded for it. She certainly can win this thing, dem voters overlooked the obvious issue with JB 4 years ago and virtually every day of his admin until a couple weeks ago. Of she offers enough goodies—and she will—they’ll move past whatever it was that bothered them the first time. True believers believe truly.

I try to take people at their word here, unless there is obvious sarcasm. I’ve suggested a number of times that I enjoy Frank’s posts, but the level of disconnect I have seen between reality and his opinion of Biden’s fitness really surprises me.

These things are almost always political theater, with supporters of one party thrilled when their guy questions, outraged when their guy is questioned. This one is unique because the failure was so catastrophic (intentionally or otherwise), and the politicians want cover for their party. Obv, R’s will be outraged because it was their guy who nearly had his head taken off. D’s see an opportunity to distance themselves from past incendiary comments by offering this lady as a sacrificial lamb. I also recognize that the last thing anyone in the hot seat will do is provide any relevant information. It’s not in her best interest to do so. If you could actually trust the investigators, you would want them to do the hard, dirty work to get to the bottom of what failed, who was to blame and how to fix it. The problem is the system isn’t set up for transparency, and the system seems to protect the system first.

Democrats had been bamboozled into believing Biden was in excellent shape to run the country over the next 4.5 years. Ready to handle the rigors of the office, the many challenges in the country, and perhaps most importantly the election against DJT and the “existential threat to democracy”. While it’s been clear to anyone not a true believer that he has been failing for several years, the dem leadership pressed on and the base placed their faith in the cause. In the end, it took a tired old man being bested by…words…to finally convince them his time had long passed. To get angry, they would be required to consider how they could have been fooled on such a massive scale. That sort of introspection is painful, and after all, democracy is allegedly at stake. So, they run with the next narrative offered, that JB is a good man who suddenly, as if by magic, has realized he’s no longer the right man to lead. It’s basic human nature, really. People are hesitant to acknowledge they were fooled.

It doesn't matter what you or I believe, that's a separate issue. In fact--look--Team Hillary?Hostile Foreign National knew that if they threw out Russia, Hookers and Urine, soemthing would likely would stick. I guess you can take some solace that it wasn't urine that stuck to you (this time--everyone is into their own thing, maybe that's yours--I don't judge), but Russian hookers sure seemed to. Point is, maybe this cell phone ping thing floats some boats.

I recall a democrat senator suggesting something along the lines of "...the seriousness of the allegation warrants further investigation" when running with some silly claim or another. I also recall Harry Reid commenting "It worked, didn't it?" when he manufactured a lie about a presidential candidate. Finally...Hookers and urine was a mainstream issue just a few years back. Hookers and urine, Frank...hookers and urine. The tweet you're all turned up about may be jv level at best, but not really an outlier in the grand facade of political shenanigans.

While I'm not inclined to see things this way: we have history of nefarious behavior on the part of government officials, though, don't we Frank? W Bush has been accused of causing a massive amount of death, injury and pain in Iraq by mainstream democrats, for example. LBJ and his crew sent American troops to their demise in Vietnam under very murky circumstances. J Edgar Hoover was certainly not a trustworthy soul, scheming and plotting against Americans of every sort--would it surprise you to hear a couple met their maker at his direction. We're 61 years passed the JFK murder and still, documents remain classified. What's that all about, do ya think? Oh, and let's not forget the ominous words of Chuck Schumer about how the intelligence agencies have six ways from Sunday to get someone. What exactly do you think that means?

This is awesome. 🤣

Didn’t you do that already, right after the shooting?

Tibsonomics, unpacked:

Joe Biden partners with white supremacists, paws women, carelessly and recklessly handles and discloses classified documents for decades, lies about his background, regularly vacations with billionaires and powerful people he claims avoid their fair share for decades, and is shaking apart mentally over a several year period…JP Vance venmo. Go figs.

No, I feel sorry for you for asking this question. You’ve obviously misplaced your nuts.

#truth

In fairness he acknowledged that Biden is unfit, and I only have so much bandwidth to absorb “Trump is the only one” when looking at the history of politicians in the country. I just assumed it was all that. I’m probably wrong, but whatevs.

Eh, once you’re reliable and beyond reproach, every now and again a legacy gets through that causes you heartburn. It’s been reported that Max’s father, Darius “Das” Boot was a long time associate editor and keeper of the faith at WaPo. Kent Dorfman (Farber College, Class of ‘66) and his escapades with Delta House comes to mind. Not every sibling or child is going to walk the straight and narrow, and some might cause some embarrassment to the institution. We seek to understand, then forgive, —that’s what we do as Americans/Americans married to Korean spies.

We were discussing people unfit for the presidency, not fiscal policy. Clinton has a history of sexual predation, a number of women who have accused him of sexual assault, and a settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual assault. Add to that his penchant for perjury… The dem narrative was that Bush/Cheney et al fabricated the intelligence to drive the nation to war. For all that Trump has been accused of, it’s always fascinated me that in the world of politics, people will support their side through all sorts of ugliness and misrepresentation—that W was nefariously responsible for the death/injury of roughly a million people—but simply move on after the election. If he fabricated, he should be in jail. If he didn’t, the narrative is yet another example of politicians tearing our world apart. Neither would be fit for public service imo. Pure speculation, but let’s not whistle past the Obama admin unmasking/surveilling the opposition and using all the resources available to tilt the scales to Clinton. Nixon would be jealous at the assets the Obama admin had at his disposal. Clinton has whined, complained, and spread election misinformation for years. Beyond that, the electoral college is how an election is decided. This was not new, novel or debatable. Suggesting it was somehow unfair or unreasonable is absurd, or that her failure to prevail should have been decided by a glorified vote for prom queen. She also partnered with a foreign national hostile to our election process and spread misinformation, and participated in the ongoing dem narrative that Trump was an illegitimate president because of Russia. She is neither honorable nor particularly unusual in the world of politics. As for apples and hand grenades, it simply seems to me that you’re comfortable with election interference and politicians dividing the country with lies/manipulation in certain cases, not so much in others. I would prefer neither scenario occurred, but was completely unsurprised that the dem strategy worked well and the Trump strategy followed. It was inevitable that the loser of 2020 would pursue the illegitimate/stolen claim. Poppycock. After 3 years of unfettered, deep pocketed and no holds barred investigation, bupkis. As AG Barr stated quite succinctly, what happened to Trump should never have happened, and should never happen to any president in the future. It will be interesting to see, should Trump prevail, if similar investigations follow. I would hope not, but it seems the public appetite for such spectacles is quite vigorous.

Thanks for weighing in. You’re not alone, and the best a Trump supporter can hope for is less independents like you, more tired of the Biden presidency. That’s always the battle, I suppose. You’ve been clear on Trump—are there any other presidents/vp or candidates you felt were unfit for office? Bill Clinton and settlements for sexual assaults, the sexual dynamic/subjugation of Monica Lewinsky, and of course his perjury? W Bush and fabricated evidence leading to the war in Iraq, and the horrors of dead American soldiers and Iraqis as well? Nixon and Watergate? Kennedy, ties to organized crime and his abhorrent treatment of MM, and LBJ and Vietnam? Also, with respect to the 2016 election and claims that Trump was illegitimate as a president, elected in a coup, false claims of conspiracy with Russia—any issue with the Dems spreading misinformation for 4 years on that? Any issues at all with Mueller inv and outcome, or regular impeachments? Yikes. Hope that went ok. I developed a bit of dental anxiety the last few years, and prefer to take the edge off in scenarios like those.

I have this conversation with liberal friends from time to time. I can understand not liking him, not voting for him, wishing he would go away, but the guy’s capacity for dealing with *&$* and moving forward is unbelievable. He’s incredibly tough and seems to power through anything in his way. He’s had the weight of the US government bearing down on him for nearly 10 straight years and simply says “Ah, f it.”. His response to being shot was amazing. By comparison, it’s suggested the Biden is too old and feeble to run, he turns the lights out at 8, stammers and stumbles through a debate and after a couple weeks of unfavorable press sounds an awful lot like he’s tapping out.

I wouldn’t do it, and of course you wouldn’t have an issue if it involved people you liked. On the other hand, lots of people like lots of things I don’t like and I don’t see them as being in a cult.

Yes. Shhhh, of course I’m right. I have exactly the same number of attempts on my life as Jill Biden, I think. Stink is cool, we’ve addressed that.