Unraveling In Afghanistan

Per the NY Times, Obama's commitment to withdrawal has a familiar consequence:

Taliban Mount Major Assault in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — In one of the most significant coordinated assaults on the government in years, the Taliban have attacked police outposts and government facilities across several districts in northern Helmand Province, sending police and military officials scrambling to shore up defenses and heralding a troubling new chapter as coalition forces prepare to depart.

...

With a deepening political crisis in Kabul already casting the presidential election and long-term political stability into doubt, the Taliban offensive presents a new worst-case situation for Western officials: an aggressive insurgent push that is seizing territory even before American troops have completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The battle in Helmand is playing out as, about 1,500 miles to the west, Iraq is losing ground to an insurgent force that advanced in the shadow of the American withdrawal there. The fear pulsing through Afghanistan is that it, too, could fall apart after the NATO-led military coalition departs in 2016.

Already, areas once heavily patrolled by American forces have grown more violent as the Afghan military and the police struggle to feed, fuel and equip themselves. The lackluster performance of the Afghan Army so far in Helmand has also evoked comparisons with Iraq, raising questions about whether the American-trained force can stand in the way of a Taliban resurgence.

Officials in Helmand say the answers may come soon enough.

From which golf course will Barry be commenting?

Comments

[GMax]

Internal Revenue Service officials will have to explain to a federal judge July 10 why the tax agency didn’t inform the court that Lois Lerner’s emails had been lost

Mark down the date, my guess the smarmy and arrogance will disappear while standing before a federal judge widely respected.

[Cecil Turner]

The fear pulsing through Afghanistan is that it, too, could fall apart after the NATO-led military coalition departs in 2016.

An announced end-by date with no commitment to victory? What could possibly go wrong?

[narciso]

He didn't even read the Cliff Notes to Ghost Wars did he?

http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2014/06/desperately_seeking_moderate_s.php

[Captain Hate]

Cecil, you've noticed the lack of the word "victory" whenever 404 opens his simple pie hole about Afghanistan.

[Jeff Dobbs]

FTSAH: I had a tree fall on my car last night at the bar where I play pool.

Fortunately for me, the car next to mine took the brunt of the fall - all I had was several large branches that hit my roof rack.

Took a while to sort it out, but in the end I was able to drive out from under the branches with a few guys holding them without doing any damage to my car or further damage to his.

I feel bad for that guy - it was actually his mom's car - but it was a Prius. I don't want to make fun of a Prius getting smashed like that. It sucks for him. So I'll just say Prius a few more times because it was a Prius. In conclusion, Prius.

[narciso]

You know Einstein had a word for this:

http://therightscoop.com/ugh-krauthammer-says-we-should-spend-500m-to-train-and-arm-the-syrian-rebels-its-worth-a-try/

[GMax]

Well I told you:

Incumbent Thad Cochran, coming off his narrow win in Tuesday’s testy Republican primary runoff, still holds a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Travis Childers in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Mississippi Voters finds Cochran with 46% support to Childers’ 34%.

[henry]

Hit, Gaia clearly aimed the tree at the Prius. Mother Nature abhors smug. Your car just got a warning -- needs more cylinders or a turbo.

[Captain Hate]

Exactly what did you tell us, GMax?

[narciso]

Wile E Barbour, hasn't finished lighting the dynamite,

I'm not an intel analyst, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once;

hotair.com/headlines/archives/2014/06/28/sources-u-s-letting-benghazi-suspects-off-hook-recent-arrest-small-potatoes/

[Buckeye]

WSJ and Rupert's pet projects are really starting to get old. Elitists are a pain in the ass regardless of whether left or right.

Seems like the WSJ cannot go a week without printing some article glorifying the LBGT "lifestyle".

Also clearly cater to the .01%. In today's WSJ Magazine there is an article about some french designer who has just restored a 12th century castle. Even has a moat. Billed as an elite academy for artisans. Money quote: "he is not telling his clients to live like Marie Antoinette, but he's letting them live in a world of today that evokes the past".

Does that include guillotines?

I wanna puke.

[GMax]

I told you Childers was the sacrificial lamb running cuz no one else would do it. The Childers name is well known in Mississippi, and he is getting 34%.

His problem is simple. He has that scarlet D after his name. Anyone who might support Obama or his policies is not going to be acceptable to the Mississippi electorate.

Cochran will ignor the NAACP "Demands". They have nothing of value left to offer.

[AliceH]

End of March matchup Cochran-Childers was 48-31 (Cochran +17).

Post-primary-runoff matchup Cochran-Childers is 46-34 (Cochran +12).

If present trends continue.... ;)

[pagar]

" In conclusion, Prius."

Wind power.

[Captain Hate]

Having a gazillion year incumbent in a solidly red state under 50% strikes me as a piss poor performance but WTF do I know.

I gave Rupert more than a few chances to prove his detractors wrong but just about every negative thing they said would happen has come to pass. The WSJ still might be the top floater circling the bowl, but it doesn't have nearly the standard of excellence that it used to.

[DebinNC]

Cochran lifetime conservative ratings [RedState]:

FreedomWorks: 57%

The New American Freedom Index: 54%

Club for Growth: 67%

Heritage Action: 59%

By comparison, my two GA senators rate in the very low 50s iirc. Thank the Lord, the candidate with the highest conservative rating lost in the primary, as he'd surely have lost to Michelle Nunn (Sam Nunn's Points of Light exec daughter) who's running as an outsider and has no political record. She hasn't taken a controversial stance on anything beyond "Fix it, don't nix it" re Obamacare. Refuses to say if she'd support Reid for Speaker, etc.

[miss Marple]

Grqnddaughter's comment on toll roads:

"You mean we have to PAY to get out of Illinois?"

[GMax]

If present trends continue

Oh for petes sake. Its immediately after the primary runoff.

If I recall correctly, you previously posted that it would be a toss up, or you would not be surprised if it was.

Its not.

[GMax]

Here is a quote from a McDaniels supporter and a Tea Party head:

Barry Neyrey, chairman of the South Mississippi Tea Party, said that, though he is frustrated, it is hard to imagine a Childers victory in the Magnolia State.

“That’s hard to imagine that [Cochran] would lose. Mississippi is conservative,” Neyrey said. “There is still a chance to have Republican control of the Senate. As angry as we’ll be, we still have common sense, and we can’t let communists take over the country.”

Via Politico

[AliceH]

In February, Real Clear Politics downgraded Mississippi Senate race from "Safe GOP" to "Likely GOP", presumably due to risk associated with a non-incumbent McDaniels chance of winning the R primary.

Now that McDaniels is out, Cochran safely in, somehow Mississippi has not yet managed to return to "Safe" territory. In fact, it's lost ground on "Likely".

I'm just not smart enough to be a party leader.

[henry]

Miss M, tell her it's worth every penny. ; )

[AliceH]

Gmax@11:47 - take a deep breath. It was a joke.

[GMax]

Its three days after the runoff! When is the election? Do you think tempers might cool off by then?

I am reminded of the scene in Blazing Saddles where the sheriff puts the gun to his own head...

[GMax]

It was a joke

Right then we agree?

[AliceH]

BTW, while my use of the (I thought, self-evidently ridiculous) "if present trends" line was a joke, the point I'm making re: the actual poll numbers and RCP status assignment is not that MS could elect a Democrat, but that the GOP has no leg to stand out to justify their flooding the zone in opposition to McDaniel's. They were protecting the incumbent, not the makeup of the Senate.

If that's how you think GOP campaign funds should be spent, fine. I do not.

[Threadkiller]

Talk about green synergy, Hit.

[GMax]

Travis Childers lost his seat in the House in 2010, and he did not even support Obamacare.

Mississippi had a long legacy of being a solid Democrat controlled state, but like Louisiana had shifted dramatically. There is nothing in the current environment that will facilitate a shift back.

I expect Arkansas to finish up their transition this election and West Virginia will take a very significant step towards doing the same.

[GMax]

I am curious, does anyone think Hillary Clinton will be able to carry Arkansas if she runs, even with Slick Willie's help? I would rather bet on a three legged thoroughbred myself...

[AliceH]

I do find it sort of obnoxious to blame outrage at how GOP leaders acted in the runoff to "tempers", as though it's all emotional with no substance . Usually see that sort of POV from the MSM. Dems "win big as voters give mandate to blah blah" vs. "Republicans gain as voters throw a tantrum".

[Threadkiller]

Zermeno said the Murrieta station is ill-equipped to handle such large numbers of detainees. Likewise, he said, agents are being pulled off patrols of the Interstate 15 corridor — where drug trafficking is a major concern — to do processing at the station.

Zermeno said the Murrieta station cannot hold detainees for long periods of time. It has a relatively small number of cells equipped with benches. There are no beds, showers or dining facilities, he said. Processing takes hours and involves creating a file for each person and running their fingerprints through a database to check for warrants, deportation orders or prior felonies, Zermeno said.

“This is going to be difficult,” he said. “We just can’t handle that many people.”He also raised questions about medical screenings and what would happen to detainees who have no place to go. He suggested that immigrants would be dropped off not just at bus stations but around other cities near Murrieta.

http://blog.pe.com/news/2014/06/27/border-patrol-texas-detainees-arriving-tuesday-at-murrieta-station/

Moral is gone in our first line of defense on the border.

I heard a story a couple of days ago that Ocare navagators are sitting around doing nothing. One employee filled out 6 applications in a month. He spent the rest of the time sleeping or playing games.

They may as well send all the aliens to the navagators for processing since they will be on public healthcare anyways.

Processing 10 Other Than Mexican illegals can chop the agents in the field down by 30%.

[GMax]

Now who should calm down and stop putting words in peoples mouth. People are angry. I believe that is justifiable. What would not make any sense, and fit in the category of cutting off ones own probiscus, would be for McDaniel supporters to vote in Childers, and that is not going to happen from where I sit.

Here is a repeat for you:

As angry as we’ll be, we still have common sense, and we can’t let communists take over the country.”

So the Tea Party head is exhibiting a "POV from the MSM"?

No in fact he is saying common sense is going to prevail, which is what I fully expect too...

[AliceH]

I agree Cochran will prevail.

My comments are not about Cochran prevailing.

[DebinNC]

the GOP has no leg to stand out to justify their flooding the zone in opposition to McDaniel's. They were protecting the incumbent, not the makeup of the Senate.

I don't know MS, but I think McDaniel the firebrand would likely have lost to the inoffensive Childers in Nov. MS Dems start with the 37% black population + blue dogs + a significant "poor" contingent of all races who get free stuff/subsidies that McDaniel vows to cut + McDaniel pulling a BOzo and leaping from obscure member of MS House to U.S. Senate = Childers win imo.

[Threadkiller]

Common sense says persons with dual-allegiance shouldn't be CIC.

But that concept is a mystery to most.

[AliceH]

My 12:01 was in response to GMAX@11:56.

[GMax]

I think in Mississippi in this climate, that either McDaniels or Cochran would prevail against virtually any Democrat, even an extremely conservative one.

A bunch of Senators like McCain who I often disagree with put a hell of a lot of effort into getting Cochran over the finish line. I guess technically the RNSC stayed out, but I would have preferred that these Senators did as well.

[AliceH]

that should be AliceH@12:11 re: "Temper" was response to GMAX@11:56 re "Temper"

[GMax]

My comment at 12:33 was in response to your 12:01 which I did not understand that was directed at me until your 12:26.

It would appear we agree on almost everything, as long as you are now saying that the race is not now or unlikely to be in the future a toss up.

[GMax]

Oh for heavens sakes, I am through with responding you. You have no idea what I think but apparently think I am the enemy or something.

I am done. Bye

[Frau Augensachen]

"Insanity is..." is not from Einstein's brain, living or preserved.

At any rate, it doesn’t look like Einstein came up with the gem, but as one of the sites I found on this wild goose chase put it: It’s not surprising that it has been attributed to Einstein, since everything but the Book of Genesis has been attributed to him at some point.

The progs would have us believe that trying repeatedly to undo the harm they have done to the country means we are insane. Donkey Carp!

[narciso]

Yes, he will prevail, and the message will be to sell out the country more aciduously,

the credentialed morons, at the National Security Council, one of them worked for the solon, don't
seem to get that Khattalah is not the point of the exercise.

[AliceH]

I don't seem to write or articulate clearly enough for you, so I'll concede the conversation, if not the argument.

[Threadkiller]

My comment at 12:26 was gratuitous.

[narciso]

Well Frau, after the Libyan experience, what else fits following the same template, thankfully Robert Ford will probably not end up in the same circumstance as Stevens, some other schlub will.

[Frau Eckstein]

What I really said was, "My violin has more brains than the Leftists."

[Threadkiller]

http://www.wnd.com/2014/06/rush-limbaughs-fake-outrage/

[Frau Eckstein]

narciso, maybe a schlub in the mandated government garment?

[Frau Dankbar]

TK - I'm grateful as long as your comment does not require a gratuity.

[narciso]

yes, Frau, it reminds me, John Scalzi, a usually humorless lefty science fiction writer, did have
a somewhat witty take on the subject, recently,

Somewhere in the fight club manual, there should be a paragraph about not expanding the Democratic
electorate

[Threadkiller]

Free of charge, Frau.

Here is one for Sue.

http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/06/flashing-back-someone-kill-andrew-breitbart/

Assuming she is still looking at conspiracy stuff.

[Centralcal on iPad]

TK: Sue is camping, fishing, staying in or out of the rain, and taking photos of rainbows. Doubt we will see her here for another day or two.

[Jack is Back! (But in Typhus Hell)]

It takes a Brave British cop to give a yellow card and call off Hulk's goal in Brazil. That is why Howard Webb is the best referee in the world today. Pierluigi Collina of Italy, fondly called by me "Doctor Death" was the greatest of referees (google him to see what I mean). I

I used to watch Euro cups and WC's just to watch him handle over agressive, emotional and spoiled brat players. It was tremendous fun.

Now in our fabulous apartemente in Gaiole di Chianti. We have our own private wine store in the old castello and chiesa where a wedding has just been completed. Life is good but I am counting down the days to be back home.

[DebinNC]

Speaking of conspiracy stuff:

"A candidate who was soundly defeated [5% of the vote] in Tuesday's Republican primary by U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas [83% of the vote] says he will contest the election because the incumbent congressman is dead and an imposter is filling his shoes." [Tulsa World]

Murray said the Lucas imposter might be a robot. I think there's a hit reality show starring Murray and his 5%.

[cathyf]

Totally off-topic, and I am totally behind in reading threads, but I thought I should share this with hit just in case he hasn't seen it: A good method to remove a ring from a swollen finger. Anybody tried it?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Have you seen my avatar, Cathy?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Deb:
hit reality show

I'm down for that. It would get awesome ratings.

[cathyf]

Ah! No, I've got avatars turned off. So how did you get the ring off? I've got nightmares about getting mine off...

[Jeff Dobbs]

I swore I'd never give another stupid finger update.

But there was a little-noticed, unpublished exception for when others asked first.

I went to the orthopedist - it's arthritis, not gout. He doubled the dose on the anti-inflammatory and gave me a topical steroid. The next day the finger had gotten just to the point where I could force it off.

Hurt like the dickens, but it was a kind of claustrophobia effect - once I started pulling, I wasn't going to stop until I got it off.

[Stephanie tortoise not the hare]

This Brazil game has been kinda meh. Brazil has no game inside the box. Their "star" narcissist has been ineffective. Neymar bah. Chile might just pull this off.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Steph:
This Brazil game has been kinda meh

That's a fair description for ~85 minutes of all soccer games.

[Exasperatef]

Those were the best impersonations of GMax
and AliceH that I have ever seen here. Bravo

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

May have already been linked but this is a must read on the formation of the IPCC and the future we face with Barry's insane energy "policies".
Evil.

[Daddy]

My visit to Darwin's house at Down in the Kent countryside was great.
The entire area has remained like it must have been a hundred years ago, with very tiny lanes, huge trees, very sleepy little brick villages nearby, and then his place surrounded by forests and enormous fields. A great place to raise a ton of kids.

Was very interesting to see that he had a well thumbed German language New Testament that apparently he used to teach himself German because he wanted to be able to read the German Science Journals, and since he. Knew the Bible so we'll from College this was a good way to start.

Was also interested to see so many religious paintings around the house, but the guides said that his wife Emma was a very string Christian and that was what she wanted on the walls for herself and the kids, so that was that.

I am completely uninterested in gardens personally but it was fascinating to see how he had laid out garden plots to do experiments in growth and
Had bunches of Venus fly trap type plants in the greenhouse to try to figure out how and why they ate flys. His device invented by his son to estimate how much dirt earthworms pushed per year was ingenious. Anyhow, for me it was a very fun day, so leaving a coffee joint now Kings Cross station to try to hustle back to Cambridge for bangers and mash. Cheers..

[NKonIPad]

I am with Barry Neyrey.

[Stephanie tortoise not the hare]

True, hit. But this has been more meh than usual.

Some people say baseball is meh, but at least in most of the games they think are meh, the pitchers duel going on is incredible if you understand the nuance.

This game is dribble dribble foul dribble dribble flop whine lose the ball and kick it 10 yards over the goal. Pfft.

[NKonIPad]

Brasil 's national team is uncoachable. And the Jo sub is the least instinctual and least technical Brasil national team player Ive ever seen in a match.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Filed under Good Grief (™ rich)

Michelle Malkin ✔ @michellemalkin
Go ahead, Nan. MT @BrettKGBT Pelosi says she wishes she could take [illegal alien] children she saw in detention ctr home with her.

I really should have issued a Trigger Warning for Janet.

A Dem saying they want to help some particular slice of humanity, but who will never, ever personally do anything of direct aid for them - but will rather seek legislation to compel the rest of us do that something they themselves can only talk about..

[NKonIPad]

Daddy are you hitting the RAF War Museum airfieldin Britain this trip. I d love to get a report. Cheers.

[Captain Hate]

I don't know MS, but I think McDaniel the firebrand would likely have lost to the inoffensive Childers in Nov. MS Dems start with the 37% black population + blue dogs + a significant "poor" contingent of all races who get free stuff/subsidies that McDaniel vows to cut + McDaniel pulling a BOzo and leaping from obscure member of MS House to U.S. Senate = Childers win imo.

More excuses and rationalizations for gutter tactics. I'm glad all the GOPe shills are getting smoked out. So much for the concept of having quality candidates who stand on principle.

[Stephanie tortoise not the hare]

Tis why I called Neymar the star narcissist.

Can you imagine coaching a team full of Obama's? Assuming of course "he" had any talent other than in his head. But a team full of that mentality...YUCK.

[Stephanie tortoise not the hare]

I've always said

Skip the 90 minutes go straight to pk s then the pub.

[NKonIPad]

Neymar and Cesar come through

[Jeff Dobbs]

Trigger Warning for Miss Marple...

Potential 2016 Candidates with the Most Upside . . .
By Rich Lowry
June 27, 2014 4:34 PM

. . . compared with where they are in the discussion right now, in my view: Mike Pence and Marco Rubio.

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

I find shoot outs an offensive and unacceptable way to end any sporting event.
I had a feeling that Chilean hit crossbar at the end of overtime was an omen.

[NKonIPad]

Ignatz-- as I said yesterday, PKs are the worst way to end a soccer tourney match except, .... For every other way.

[Rick B]

"I find shoot outs an offensive and unacceptable way to end any sporting event."

Ignatz,

Doesn't that depend upon how they're armed?

[NKonIPad]

Great Harley world cup commercial

[Jeff Dobbs]

Rick beat me to it.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Melanie ::spit:: Sloane in Wapo.

She raises some good issues. She's still a partisan hack, but her piece isn't without merit.

Shouldn't this piece by tea party Senator Ron Johnson and liberal Jonathan Turley be making the rounds on the "One Weird Trick to Get the Media to Pay Attention to Obama Excesses" way of going viral?

A growing crisis in our constitutional system threatens to fundamentally alter the balance of powers — and accountability — within our government. This crisis did not begin with Obama, but it has reached a constitutional tipping point during his presidency. Indeed, it is enough to bring the two of us — a liberal academic and a conservative U.S. senator — together in shared concern over the future of our 225-year-old constitutional system of self­governance.

Ev-er-y-bod-y should pay attention when a Johnson-Turley axis is formed.

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

--except, .... For every other way--

You play the game til somebody wins. If they're tired for their next match then they should have scored more goals.

--Doesn't that depend upon how they're armed?--

You would think as an Oakland fan I would favor shootouts.....

[Jeff Dobbs]

Ig:
You would think as an Oakland fan I would favor shootouts.....

To be fair to the thugs living in Oakland, they aren't as well-armed as you are.

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

Turley and Johnson don't address one key problem.
The main reason the executive and the bureaucracy is overriding the legislative is because the parties that are in power in congress, when they have a same party president, actively cede him powers that are properly the legislatures. This is most prominently a Dem phenomenon but Reps are not immune to it and actively use Dem overreach when it suits their purposes.
This is because the leadership of neither party really gives a damn what the constitution says anymore.
It's not that congress can't control things anymore it's that party, power and ideology control them far more than the law of the land.

[Jack is Back! (But in Typhus Hell)]

daddy,

Did you see the faint outline of the old tennis courts (Sphairistikè in the garden of Darwin's house? He was an original proponent of Lawn Tennis and played it socially with his friends and family.

Tonight in Chianti it is cool enough to put on a fire but we will resist and just warm up with wine as we get ready for Uruguay v. Columbia. It will be interersting to see how the Uruguayans fare without Suarez.

[Jeff Dobbs]

mrs hit and run is out of town at a conference and hit and run jr is at the beach with neighbors.

So I ask princess hit and run what she wants for a special Father-Daughter dinner tonight. We could fend with what we have at home, we could order pizza, we could go out, or we could go to the store and pick something to make.

"Steak. I want you to cook me steak."

I don't always father right, but when I do my daughter wants me to cook her steak for dinner.

...heading to the store with her now.

[pagar]

Ignatz posted a great link at 02:39.

There were some great comments too.

"The cost of electricity for the average Ontario consumer went from $780 on the day Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals took power to more than $1,800, with more increases to come".

IMO, every voter in America should have to read the article before voting in our Nov elections.

"Whatever mess existed in 2003 is billions of dollars worse today."

IMO, the Obama admin will make our energy costs rise rapidly for absolutely no improvement in the world.

LUN

[Threadkiller]

http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/judicial-watch-us-district-court-hearing-july-10-2014-lois-lerner-irs-emails-irs-failed-to-notify-of-lost-emails-judge-emmet-g-sullivan-district-of-columbia-special-prosecutor-to-be-appointed/

[Jack is Back! (But in Typhus Hell)]

Stephanie,

Why watch the WC if you feel that way? Don't you have floors to lay or slots to play:)

[Jeff Dobbs]

It's closer to 8 hours to get to derwill is my defense.....

[Jeff Dobbs]

--oops. that was intended for the last thread.

[maryrose]

TK:
That sounds like good news to me. Finally some accountability. Today more lies from Lerner's attorney.

[maryrose]

H&R:
That finger looks much better. Can you wear your wedding ring on your other hand?

[Old Lurker]

Hit, I note from your 2:12 that you have short stubby fingers.

I do trust that is the exception that proves the rule?

[Rick B]

Hit,

Thanks for the Johnson/Turley link. I understand the Panic in Progville displayed by Turley more in the context of BOzo intending to use his OFA Black Bloc as a club after departing his failed Presidency. We tend to focus on the Tea Party/GOPe split here but that split is very minor compared to BOzo firing his prog organ grinders while at least attempting to hold on to the Black Bloc as a means of extortion in the future. The progs are panicking because they know the immigration sack full of nothing being handed to Hispanics is going to cost them quite a bit, not as much as the Obama/Holder polarization but possibly half as much.

The sale of the Black Bloc in Mississippi to Cochran has more meaning than we have assigned to date. Where will Obama direct OFA to withhold votes in November in order to display his power?

[matt]

The die was cast the day the asshole said we were leaving. All the Taliban and their masters had to do was wait patiently. Soon we will reap the whirlwind.

Interesting in California; 1/3 of the California Democratic Assembly members are petitioning Gov. Brown to cancel or delay the carbon offset program because it will hit the poor the hardest. Duh?

[Captain Hate]

This is most prominently a Dem phenomenon but Reps are not immune to it and actively use Dem overreach when it suits their purposes.
This is because the leadership of neither party really gives a damn what the constitution says anymore.

The Repubs tried to give Slick a line item veto in 1996 until the Supremes weighed in and said that Congress could not delegate their legislative responsibilities to the Executive Branch. Iirc Reagan wanted a line item veto so it's not like RR was infallible when it came to adhering to the Constitution.

[Jeff Dobbs]

OL:
Hit, I note from your 2:12 that you have short stubby fingers.

I do trust that is the exception that proves the rule?

For the record, I can palm a basketball.

And yes, in almost every area of my life, I'm a rule breaker.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Rick:
We tend to focus on the Tea Party/GOPe split here but that split is very minor compared to BOzo firing his prog organ grinders while at least attempting to hold on to the Black Bloc as a means of extortion in the future.

Agreed. The ad featured at Hot Air on the guy running for state rep in AL was really good. More of that, more of that, more of that...

...and the stranglehold of Dems for that consituency can be broken. Or at least busted from the current 90-10 split.

Cochran did nothing to advance such an interest. In fact, the runoff helped reinforce why the stranglehold has such staying power.

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

On the Cochran matter, there is a reason the Senate has been known forever as a club. Club rule 1 is get reelected if you choose to run. Rule 2 is fellow club members protect incumbents at all costs so that Rule 1 be preserved. These are phenomena as old as the republic, odious as they may be.

[Old Lurker]

New Thread

[Centralcal on iPad]

Off topic (whatever it is), but I just saw a FNC tweet promo-ing the Huckabee show. His guests are the Pelletier family - including Justina. The tweet was accompanied by a group photo of them all -and OH MY GOD - Justina looks amazing, just glowing and healthy looking despite the wheelchair.

I hope that family is suing the Hell out of the criminals that nearly killed her! And, yes, I mean criminals. they should all be in jail.