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[Stinkles]

Chaffetz- guilty of possibly everything you can think of according to interesting and meanderingly tinfoil kos.


http://m.dailykos.com/story/2017/4/...Resign-It-Will-All-Come-Out-in-the-Laundering

 

[Chumley]

Chaffetz- guilty of possibly everything you can think of according to interesting and meanderingly tinfoil kos.


http://m.dailykos.com/story/2017/4/...Resign-It-Will-All-Come-Out-in-the-Laundering

It all fits.

I want to believe.

 

[A Serious Man]

Chaffetz- guilty of possibly everything you can think of according to interesting and meanderingly tinfoil kos.


http://m.dailykos.com/story/2017/4/...Resign-It-Will-All-Come-Out-in-the-Laundering

I was having a good time until I got to the part about there being a tape of Ryan and McConnell conspiring to use Russian money and that was a bit too deep into liberal porn fantasy land.

 

[kess]

I know opinions about Maher are mixed here, but I think the 10:00 min mark here on last night's overtime segment speaks to what a lot here have been saying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9RlQ09PdnI

What it comes down to, I suppose, is that liberals aren't so nutty to stick up homemade signs on the side of the freeway, treat anti-science rhetoric as a religion., and consider guns as anything more than a tool.

The left doesn't lack dirty tricks, it lacks evangelism.

 

[chadskin]

Elon Musk gets to know German workers unions:

The division has almost 700 workers, and those workers have threatened to strike on the orders of their union IG Metall.

The division's complaints are twofold: IG Metall, Germany's biggest union, has said the workers are getting paid about 30-percent less than the union pay scale, so workers are looking to be paid on average about $270 a month more than Tesla has offered. Additionally, Tesla jettisoned all of Grohmann Engineering's other automaker clients so that the unit could focus on the Model 3 deadline, sparking concerns that Tesla may lay off workers in the future.

Musk has responded to such concerns by attempting to reassure workers that there are no layoffs planned for at least five years, while offering workers bonuses and Tesla shares that would vest during the next four years. Musk has been critical of unions in the past, including alleging that the United Auto Workers (UAW) has its primary allegiance with the Big 3 US automakers and is similarly questioning the motives of IG Metall as he negotiates with German workers.

http://www.autoblog.com/2017/04/21/tesla-elon-musk-german-union-strike/

 

[Crocodile]

I mean this "anonymous" source is just Trump right?

Source

 

[Tamanon]

I mean this "anonymous" source is just Trump right?

Source

Lovett had a good point that it sounds more like Omarosa.

 

[Ogodei]

FGM = Female Genital Mutilation

https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/39662450

Absolutely abhorrent defence by their lawyer.

Beyond the abhorrence, i'd question whether the defense would work at all.

If they made an explicit appeal to religion, that would be something, to say that FGM is covered under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which might make some fundies' heads spin but would at least be a defense you could work on.

 

[Pixieking]

https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/855789856441716736

Mazel Tov Cocktail‏Verified account @AdamSerwer 22m22 minutes ago

Truly remarkable that this long times piece on Comey's 2016 decision never acknowledges the Times' role

Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election.

An examination by The New York Times, based on interviews with more than 30 current and former law enforcement, congressional and other government officials, found that while partisanship was not a factor in Mr. Comey’s approach to the two investigations, he handled them in starkly different ways. In the case of Mrs. Clinton, he rewrote the script, partly based on the F.B.I.’s expectation that she would win and fearing the bureau would be accused of helping her. In the case of Mr. Trump, he conducted the investigation by the book, with the F.B.I.’s traditional secrecy.

Fuck.

Comey.

Yo.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Lovett had a good point that it sounds more like Omarosa.

You think she will be Spicer's replacement?

 

[Surfinn]

https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/855789856441716736



Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election.



Fuck.

Comey.

Yo.

Lol "partisanship was not a factor", he just recognized that Hillary had a very strong chance of winning and purposely tried to change it, that's all

 

[royalan]

https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/855789856441716736



Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election.



Fuck.

Comey.

Yo.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is what sexism looks like. When a women merely performing is viewed as overperforming and deserving of being taken down a peg.

 

[Sirpopopop]

What it comes down to, I suppose, is that liberals aren't so nutty to stick up homemade signs on the side of the freeway, treat anti-science rhetoric as a religion., and consider guns as anything more than a tool.

The left doesn't lack dirty tricks, it lacks evangelism.

The Left has evangelism now:

A. The DNC was RIGGED!

B. I can't believe they did Bernie in like that.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

I was having a good time until I got to the part about there being a tape of Ryan and McConnell conspiring to use Russian money and that was a bit too deep into liberal porn fantasy land.

I thought the same thing but then again it isn't entirely too unbelievable. Both men are slimy pieces of shit. Wouldn't be surprised if Ryan would do something like that if it made it easier to fuck over poor people.

 

[Sirpopopop]

I think Paul Ryan doesn't deliberately want to hurt poor people, or even minorities. The problem is Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk, and if he's your idea guy, well...

It's easy to ascribe malice to what truthfully is gross incompetence. We're a nation of people who elect idiots.

 

[dramatis]

I think Paul Ryan doesn't deliberately want to hurt poor people, or even minorities. The problem is Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk.

It's easy to ascribe malice to what truthfully is gross incompetence. We're a nation of people who elect idiots.

He wants to hurt poor people. He sees them as filthy moochers. That's how Ryan can stand up with that awful powerpoint presentation and actually sound indignant that rich people should have to pay taxes to help the poor pay for healthcare.

 

[The Technomancer]

I think Paul Ryan doesn't deliberately want to hurt poor people, or even minorities. The problem is Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk, and if he's your idea guy, well...

It's easy to ascribe malice to what truthfully is gross incompetence. We're a nation of people who elect idiots.

Normally I will agree that incompetance usually stands in for malice, but Paul Ryan is a true randian believer and an awful human, take it from someone who grew up in his district

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

I think Paul Ryan doesn't deliberately want to hurt poor people, or even minorities. The problem is Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk, and if he's your idea guy, well...

It's easy to ascribe malice to what truthfully is gross incompetence. We're a nation of people who elect idiots.

No, he wants to hurt people. He is just bad at it.

 

[sangreal]

I think Paul Ryan doesn't deliberately want to hurt poor people, or even minorities. The problem is Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk, and if he's your idea guy, well...

It's easy to ascribe malice to what truthfully is gross incompetence. We're a nation of people who elect idiots.

Paul Ryan got into politics because he doesn't think the goverrnment should help people

Don't take it from me, take it from him

https://youtu.be/tFEyBKssP6Q?t=2m35s

 

[Sirpopopop]

He wants to hurt poor people. He sees them as filthy moochers. That's how Ryan can stand up with that awful powerpoint presentation and actually sound indignant that rich people should have to pay taxes to help the poor pay for healthcare.

Sure, but there are a lot more leaps in logic that need to be made to state Paul Ryan is maliciously against the poor than it is to state Paul Ryan is an incompetent legislator with terrible ideas.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

I think Paul Ryan doesn't deliberately want to hurt poor people, or even minorities. The problem is Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk, and if he's your idea guy, well...

It's easy to ascribe malice to what truthfully is gross incompetence. We're a nation of people who elect idiots.

You don't ascribe to Ayn Randian philosophies without being on a 'tough shit, poor people' bent. Ryan is fully a shitheel.

 

[dramatis]

Sure, but there are a lot more leaps in logic that need to be made to state Paul Ryan is maliciously against the poor than it is to state Paul Ryan is an incompetent legislator with terrible ideas.

The guy believes we're living in an Ayn Rand novel. He thinks of himself as one of the John Galts. I don't think it's a leap of logic to think Ryan is actually a selfish dick who deliberately wants to hurt poor people, because that's the foundation of his logic for why he supports the legislation he does.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

I think Paul Ryan doesn't deliberately want to hurt poor people, or even minorities. The problem is Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk, and if he's your idea guy, well...

It's easy to ascribe malice to what truthfully is gross incompetence. We're a nation of people who elect idiots.

Why go into denial over the reality? He's not a policy wonk and he deliberately wants to do just that. Look at his proposals full of asterisks. Would a guy craft these kinds of docs time after time if he wanted to help poor people and minorities? No, of course not. He's very overt about how little he cares. It's time for others to accept that he's a sick loon.

 

[Maledict]

Why go into denial over the reality? He's not a policy wonk and he deliberately wants to do just that. Look at his proposals full of asterisks. Would a guy craft these kinds of docs time after time if he wanted to help poor people and minorities? No, of course not. He's very overt about how little he cares. It's time for others to accept that he's a sick loon.

Paul Ryan is the best example I can think of that being good looking has a huge effect on how people perceive you and how it shapes perception. He's a moronic fraud who wants to punish poor people, yet despite never having successfully passed a single bit of policy continually gets good praise and this reputation that is totally undeserved.

 

[nature boy]

So is the so-called President at Mar-a-Lago for the weekend?

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

So is the so-called President at Mar-a-Lago for the weekend?

No he's actually in DC for once.

 

[DonShula]

Lol "partisanship was not a factor", he just recognized that Hillary had a very strong chance of winning and purposely tried to change it, that's all

I'll never understand this line of thinking. If he wanted Trump to win, the Russia investigation, which we now know started well before the election, would have been quickly shut down. He likely expected to be investigating Trump the private citizen this year. And when Trump did get elected, he kept his mouth shut. He didn't send the campaign signals to slow down or clean up their tracks, and we know this because they were just as sloppy during the transition.

The most logical conclusion for me is that he knows he only gets one shot at this, and the election of a corrupt president wasn't enough to show his hand early.

 

[royalan]

It's because he's attractive.

There, I said the thing everyone's dancing around.

If there's one thing I will give Trump credit for, it's for making plain what should have always been obvious. Optics matter. Presentation counts in everything, even in politics.

Paul Ryan is a fucking moron who definitely does want to hurt poor people and would be hurting them if he weren't making shit up as he went along, but people bend over backwards straining to see something that isn't there because Paul Ryan is a handsome man who looks the part of a studied American politician.


EDIT: aaaaaand Maledict beats me to the point.

 

[Box of Kittens]

I realized how precisely I remember the 2012 election night. And how I haven't had a good election since.

That was certainly a fun election. I was living in Wisconsin at the time and one of the things that really stuck out in my mind was the local coverage. They had a Republican strategist and a Democratic strategist as guests, and for much of the evening the Republican maintained that there was absolutely no chance Tammy Baldwin could beat Tommy Thompson. By the time it was obvious that she was going to win, he just seemed confused by what had happened, as though he had never even considered it a possibility (which is strange since the polls, if anything, indicated she should be the favorite).

I kind of wish I had been on GAF for that election night. I think someone on here linked to the thread once. I didn't read the whole thing of course, but the parts during early election night are kind of hilarious for the way people were overreacting to early returns. Lots of people were worried about Romney's early electoral vote lead, and at the same time people were thinking Obama would carry South Carolina based on the first few precincts. And of course the results out of Virginia were "looking bad."

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

Paul Ryan is definitely not keeping his "good looks" as he gets older. He is on the way to having a permanent bitter beer face lol.

 

[BlastProcessing]

I know opinions about Maher are mixed here, but I think the 10:00 min mark here on last night's overtime segment speaks to what a lot here have been saying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9RlQ09PdnI

I'm terrified by the prospect that Maher thinks the solution is to become an even more irrational, hateful, asshole. But I guess when your a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

 

[jmood88]

Sure, but there are a lot more leaps in logic that need to be made to state Paul Ryan is maliciously against the poor than it is to state Paul Ryan is an incompetent legislator with terrible ideas.

It seems that it's just difficult for you to accept that he's a piece of shit who wants to hurt poor people to help the rich.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Sure, but there are a lot more leaps in logic that need to be made to state Paul Ryan is maliciously against the poor than it is to state Paul Ryan is an incompetent legislator with terrible ideas.

Not really. He can be both.

 

[Surfinn]

I'll never understand this line of thinking. If he wanted Trump to win, the Russia investigation, which we now know started well before the election, would have been quickly shut down. He likely expected to be investigating Trump the private citizen this year. And when Trump did get elected, he kept his mouth shut. He didn't send the campaign signals to slow down or clean up their tracks, and we know this because they were just as sloppy during the transition.

The most logical conclusion for me is that he knows he only gets one shot at this, and the election of a corrupt president wasn't enough to show his hand early.

There is a difference between Comey having a bias against Hillary and wanting her to lose, and doing his job to investigate the Russia stuff. Those two things are not dependent on each other. It's still partisanship if he wanted her to lose and republicans in office. It's not just about Trump. If Trump and some others in his admin go to jail or step down, republicans are still in control. It's still partisan, if it turns out that Comey purposely attempted to get Hillary to lose. It's about one party being in power other the other.. Which is a hell of a lot bigger than which Republican is president.

 

[Sirpopopop]

The guy believes we're living in an Ayn Rand novel. He thinks of himself as one of the John Galts. I don't think it's a leap of logic to think Ryan is actually a selfish dick who deliberately wants to hurt poor people, because that's the foundation of his logic for why he supports the legislation he does.

Most Ayn Rand acolytes viscerally deny the fact that she hated poor people, and that her books advocated for such hatred. If anything, that's the kind of attack they want you to make, because it's one they have prepared to defend against.

They often fall back on some individualism vs. collectivism argument, where they argue that everyone has the right to earn money without being burdened by having to pay for "other's expenses".

Yes, there are lots of problems with that philosophy. It's simplistic and tends to gravely misconstrue the point of creating a society in the first place. It's also not very original as Ayn Rand is just one in the line of many thinkers who advocated strongly for economic freedom at the cost of social issues (See: The Supreme Court under the Lochner doctrine).

However, I'm willing to grant Randians that they don't hate people just for being poor, so much as they just suffer from a naive belief in economic freedom.

It seems that it's just difficult for you to accept that he's a piece of shit who wants to hurt poor people to help the rich.

It's difficult for me to be a mind reader into Paul Ryan's mind. I'm not a psychic. All I have to go on are his policies. I can accept that his policies nominally help the rich. I accept that his policies disproportionately hurt the poor. I don't think it means he hates the poor. Stating Paul Ryan is a malicious actor is ascribing to him a level of competency that he hasn't earned.

 

[DonShula]

There is a difference between Comey having a bias against Hillary and wanting her to lose, and doing his job to investigate the Russia stuff. Those two things are not dependent on each other. It's still partisanship if he wanted her to lose and republicans in office. It's not just about Trump. If Trump and some others in his admin go to jail or step down, republicans are still in control. It's still partisan, if it turns out that Comey purposely attempted to get Hillary to lose. It's about one party being in power other the other.. Which is a hell of a lot bigger than which Republican is president.

OK I'll revise to understanding that line of thinking.

 

[Surfinn]

OK I'll revise to understanding that line of thinking.

Huh

 

[DonShula]

Huh

Referencing the first line of my block of text.

 

[Surfinn]

Referencing the first line of my block of text.

What do you not understand

That he would want to do something that would allow his party to win the election? You can't see the motivation behind hurting Hillary? I'm not saying that's what happened but you can't understand that possibility?

Well ok

 

[jmood88]

It's difficult for me to be a mind reader into Paul Ryan's mind. I'm happy that you have that ability though.

It certainly doesn't seem like it considering you're so willing to ignore what he has said and the policies he has put forward just to give him a pass for being an evil piece of shit.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Paul Ryan is the perfect blend of evil and stupid to the point that you can't easily attribute his actions to one or the other.

 

[DonShula]

What do you not understand

That he would want to do something that would allow his party to win the election? You can't see the motivation behind hurting Hillary? I'm not saying that's what happened but you can't understand that possibility?

Well ok

Sweet Jesus, I was saying I understood you. I said I didn't understand, then I read your comment, then I said I did understand.

I should have kept my damn mouth shut.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

People just want to believe Comey is biased so badly.

 

[whyamihere]

I don't think Comey is biased. I think he's uniquely stupid in his lack of political awareness of the reality that he was injecting himself in.

 

[royalan]

People just want to believe Comey is biased so badly.

Because he is.

There's no rational, by-the-book explanation for how he handled practically anything having to do with the Clinton email investigation vs. the various Trump investigations.

When this discussion happens it always comes back to "Well, he was trying to protect the FBI," or "well, if he didn't send that letter Republicans would have attacked him." But even if we grant him that much he still fucked up in an outrageous way that only leaves you with two options: Comey was either acting on his bias, or he is an idiot.

I don't think Comey is an idiot.

 

[Sirpopopop]

It certainly doesn't seem like it considering you're so willing to ignore what he has said and the policies he has put forward just to give him a pass for being an evil piece of shit.

I'm not giving him a pass at all. If anything, the divide here is that I'm not willing to ignore what he said, since he did recant his statements about "makers and takers," after all. My argument is that attacking Ryan by calling him an evil piece of shit is a hard case to prove. You would do a lot better in arguing that his view of people on government assistance as victims of a poverty trap is factually inaccurate.

I don't know where you see that I'm giving him a pass. Is it because I don't think he's the personification of Satan? Is that what's called giving someone a pass these days?

If that's the qualification for giving him a pass, alright, I'm giving him a pass.

Paul Ryan is the perfect blend of evil and stupid to the point that you can't easily attribute his actions to one or the other.

I'm willing to say that I see your point here and calling it a day.

 

[Surfinn]

Sweet Jesus, I was saying I understood you. I said I didn't understand, then I read your comment, then I said I did understand.

I should have kept my damn mouth shut.

I thought you meant "I'll revise to understanding that line of thinking" like "I still don't understand it". My bad

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Because he is.

There's no rational, by-the-book explanation for how he handled practically anything having to do with the Clinton email investigation vs. the various Trump investigations.

When this discussion happens it always comes back to "Well, he was trying to protect the FBI," or "well, if he didn't send that letter Republicans would have attacked him." But even if we grant him that much he still fucked up in an outrageous way that only leaves you with two options: Comey was either acting on his bias, or he is an idiot.

I don't think Comey is an idiot.

Comey handled Clinton in a way that he also beleived she would win the election. So, the letter (fuck him for that) and everything else was just some small issues on the way to her win. If it came out after her victory he probably believed he would be accused of being silent.

Other thing is, you stay quiet when you believe the ongoing investigation will reveal some big details. You don't want to give anything away. And that is what is going on with Trump-Russia investigation I believe.

 

[kirblar]

I don't think Comey is biased. I think he's uniquely stupid in his lack of political awareness of the reality that he was injecting himself in.

Yup. He's a donkey trying to do ballet. He was legitimately worried that the R-leaning FBI would leak this shit and tried to get ahead of it...in the worst way possible.\

Remember, he wanted to go public on other non-Clinton things as well and got told "no" by the WH. He has no idea how to do the public PR stuff properly.

 

[royalan]

Comey handled Clinton in a way that he also beleived she would win the election. So, the letter (fuck him for that) and everything else was just some small issues on the way to her win. If it came out after her victory he probably believed he would be accused of being silent.

Other thing is, you stay quiet when you believe the ongoing investigation will reveal some big details. You don't want to give anything away. And that is what is going on with Trump-Russia investigation I believe.

You stay quiet period.

Comey handling the Clinton investigation like he was freaking Gossip Girl was commented on all year for being unusual. The FBI, in fact the entire Justice Department, had standing protocol for not commenting on ongoing investigations, especially investigations involving candidates during elections. Loretta Lynch spelled this out.

How Comey handled the Trump investigation is exactly how he should have handled Clinton's email investigation, regardless of who he thought would win. That he was so susceptible to Republican pressure doesn't exonerate him, it highlights his bias.