Chatting With Fish About Water

When is something that looks like "reflexive partisanship" actually a reflection of the viewer? Ah, well. Here is James Hohmann of the WaPo, April 11:

The Daily 202: Reflexive partisanship drives polling lurch on Syria strikes

THE BIG IDEA: More Americans than ever view the news through red-colored glasses.

In 2013, when Barack Obama was president, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that only 22 percent of Republicans supported the U.S. launching missile strikes against Syria in response to Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against civilians.

A new Post-ABC poll finds that 86 percent of Republicans support Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes on Syria for the same reason. Only 11 percent are opposed.

-- Overall, a bare 51 percent majority of U.S. adults support the president’s action in our new poll. In 2013, just 30 percent supported strikes. That swing is driven primarily by GOP partisans. For context, 37 percent of Democrats back Trump’s missile strikes. In 2013, 38 percent of Democrats supported Obama’s plan. That is well within the margin of error.

Independents are split evenly, with 46 percent backing Trump’s decision and 45 percent opposing it.

Har de har, those partisan rubes on the Republican side! Joining in the merriment and self-congratulatory backslapping were Kevin Drum and Steve Benen at MSNBC. Benen:

On Syria, ‘reflexive partisanship’ doesn’t apply to both parties

And Drum:

Republicans Love Bombing, But Only When a Republican Does It

Each delivers a deep data dive by, hmm, recycling the same info presented in the WaPo. Here is Benen's thoughtful analysis of the Republican swing from 22% supporting strikes to 86%:

That’s an astounding shift in attitudes, and partisan instincts almost certainly explain the rapid change. Republican voters opposed Obama, so they had no use for his plan to attack the Assad regime, and Republican voters generally back Trump, so they support last week’s strikes.

But look a little closer at the details, and the asymmetry between the parties becomes more obvious: four years ago, 38% of Democratic voters backed Obama’s proposed strikes in Syria, and now, 37% of Democratic voters support Trump doing the same thing. In other words, there’s been effectively no change.

No change in their views even though we have a new President Democrats have vowed to resist and the Obama deal with Putin on Syria has collapsed? That's not counterintuitive and worthy of explanation?

Well, there's no attempted explanation from Benen. Meanwhile, Drum was just enjoying a Friday morning imagining the Democrats as the party of sweet reason unruffled by partisan passion so he provides nothing more.

However! I have been enjoying a Saturday morning. But before I vex anyone with tedious facts or cursory research, could I just note an obvious alternative explanation that acknowledges partisan behavior on both sides? 

Brace yourself! In 2013 and today, Dems are the antiwar party. Their raw, baseline support for military action against Syria under an unspecified leader might have been, say, 25% in 2013. Add in the fact that they trust their guy Obama and the poll number gets a 12% boost to 37%.

Republicans have more of a history of favoring military action, so let's say that in 2013 their baseline support for striking Syria might have been 40%. But they don't trust Obama to see anything through to a conclusion so they apply a 20% discount, bringing Republican support down to 20%.

Flash forward three and a half years. Assad has obviously cheated on his chemical deal, Syrian refugees are straining the EU, Russia is newly assertive and empowered in the Middle East - even Democrats will admit that maybe Obama's red-line waffling in 2013 was less than a triumph. A NY Times snippet from April 9 2017:

Even before last week’s chemical attack, many veterans of Mr. Obama’s team considered his handling of Syria his biggest failing and expressed regret that their administration did not stop a war that has left more than 400,000 dead and millions displaced.

Many of them even praised President Trump for taking the very action that Mr. Obama refused to take four years ago, by ordering a cruise missile strike against Syria. “Donald Trump has done the right thing on Syria,” Anne-Marie Slaughter, the director of policy planning in Mr. Obama’s State Department, wrote on Twitter. “Finally!! After years of useless handwringing in the face of hideous atrocities.”

Well, then. Hypothetically, maybe the now-chastened Democrats have a newfound (or newly re-discovered) respect for quick cruise missile strikes. Under an unspecified leader, maybe their support for strikes against Syria would be 50%. Put Hillary in charge and that number could rise to 60%! But she's not in charge - Trump is, so a 12% "Resist" discount brings Dem support down to 38%, as published.

Of course, I am only guessing at what support might look like if Hillary were in charge. But are Benen and Drum really arguing that nothing of consequence has changed in Syria and that, although Democrats have vowed to "Resist" Trump on everything else, on matters of war and peace they are focused calmly on the facts and remain indifferent to whether our leadership is provided by Obama, Clinton or Trump? C'mon - who else believes that?

OK, I don't. Obviously, the anti-war movement shifted quite a bit after Jan 20, 2009.

But pressing on: for the Republican side, if baseline Dems today are at 50% support for a strike on Syria then baseline Republicans ought to be higher, so let's say around 70%. But now, instead of subtracting an Obama discount of 20% we add a Trump Bump of 16%. Et voila, after adjusting for the partisan shading on each side, we get the published result of 86% Republican support. The Republican surge in support combines a shift in circumstances in Syria plus a big boost from dropping the Obama discount and adding the Trump Bump; the Dems coincidentally march in place by offsetting a grim sense of reality in Syria with a grim sense of reality in the White House. Mistaking that offsetting coincidence for non-partisan wisdom is, well, not wise. Hence the chat with fish about whether they are aware of water and know how it feels.

But hey, I am just making up numbers and I promised some cursory research. So here we go! Spoiler alert - this gets ugly. Lots of 'oopsies'.

 Back in 2013 the Syrian chemical attacks took place on Aug 21. Early reports came out a few days later and there was a week of handwringing in Washington and global capitals. The British Parliament balked, the Russians stalled UN action, and on Aug 30 Obama delivered a speech calling for military action if backed by a Congressional vote.

Believe it or not - the WaPo's James Hohmann missed this, as did his echo chamber - the WaPo polled promptly. Their results, published Sept 3, do not show "reflexive partisanship" at all. Ooops.

Q: The United States says it has determined that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in the civil war there. Given this, do you support or oppose the United States launching missile strikes against the Syrian government?

Dems were 42/54 on the Support/Oppose line;

Reps were 43/55;

Indys were 30/66.

A week passed. Intermediate polling published Sept 9 is accompanied by this headline:

Opposition to Syria airstrikes rises as Republicans shift sharply against action

That is a precursor to the poll that actually caught James Hohmann's canny eye, which was published Sept 17 with this headline:

Poll: Americans strongly back diplomatic solution on Syria but give Obama low marks

Oh, well then - after Kerry's "unbelievably small" sales job for a military strike got booed off, Obama and Kerry worked the chemical weapons deal with Putin, the wreckage of which we see today. Here was the party breakdown several weeks in:

Dems: 38/50 Support/Oppose a military strike

Reps: 22/67

Indys: 30/64. (My goodness, do these independents read and react to the news at all?)

In any case, the "reflexive partisanship" in 2013 followed two weeks of failed salesmanship by Obama and Kerry. The anti-war President of the anti-war party could not deliver a Democratic majority so Republicans ran for cover. No kidding. Does this result really surprise Drum, Benen, Hohmann or anyone else?

Let's close with one more "Oops" moment and note that the 2017 version of the question names the President (possibly prompting partisan puffery) and surely prompts a bit more outrage and martial ardor by citing civilian targets:

Q: Do you support or oppose President Trump’s decision to launch a missile strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for the Syrian government using chemical weapons against civilians?

Dems: 37/59 Support/Oppose

Reps: 86/11

Mods: 46/45

Contrast that with the 2013 question, where the victims are unspecified and Obama is not mentioned:

Q: The United States says it has determined that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in the civil war there. Given this, do you support or oppose the United States launching missile strikes against the Syrian government?

To belabor the obvious - the 2017 poll did not occur after three weeks of discussion and public handwringing.

So - comparing a quick reaction 2017 poll phrased differently from a 2013 poll that followed three weeks of debate and denunciation may not be sound social science. The increase of support by independents from 30% to 46% from 2013 to 2017 might have served as a bit of a tip that something other than partisan posturing was in play, if Mr. Hohmann had remembered to publish the 2013 data point. Ooops again.

Or, Democrats Rule, Republicans Drool! People who talk about confirmation bias are just selling something, amirite?

DO enjoy the weekend. Please.

Comments

[lyle]

I know Clarice posted this but it needs to be re-posted:

https://spectator.org/confirmed-john-brennan-colluded-with-foreign-spies-to-defeat-trump/

John Brennan’s CIA operated like a branch office of the Hillary campaign, leaking out mentions of this bogus investigation to the press in the hopes of inflicting maximum political damage on Trump. An official in the intelligence community tells TAS that Brennan’s retinue of political radicals didn’t even bother to hide their activism, decorating offices with “Hillary for president cups” and other campaign paraphernalia.

A supporter of the American Communist Party at the height of the Cold War, Brennan brought into the CIA a raft of subversives and gave them plum positions from which to gather and leak political espionage on Trump. He bastardized standards so that these left-wing activists could burrow in and take career positions. Under the patina of that phony professionalism, they could then present their politicized judgments as “non-partisan.”

Of course he'll skate.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of MeAgain, I assume she had a non compete clause in her Rupert contract which has kept her off the peacock network to date.

[daddy]

Mark Twain and Angelfish--1908

MARK TWAIN'S ANGEL-FISH ROSTER
and other young women of interest

In 1907, at the age of seventy-two, lonely and widowed, Samuel Clemens began "collecting" surrogate granddaughters -- young girls between the ages of ten and sixteen. Some of the girls were those he met aboard ships that carried him back and forth to England or on his travels to the island of Bermuda. Clemens maintained correspondences with the girls -- most were from prominent and wealthy families who traveled in the same social circles with Clemens. They and their parents often visited him in his homes in New York....

Who knew Samuel Longhorn Clemens = Mark Twain = Bill O'Reilly!

Marlene, I have to say I knew little about that. In his last years he's so bitter about life and then has the awful falling out with that woman who was his live in biographer-ssistant, that when I got the latest copy of his Biography which he didn't want published until a century after his death, that I quit reading as it depressed me.

Samuel Clemens and Helen Allen in Bermuda, 1908.

And thank goodness his fingers aren't crossed here with Irene Gerkin!

[Fox]

Sessions? Bueller?

https://thenib.com/onward-christian-soldiers

[Fox]

Sessions? Bueller?

https://thenib.com/onward-christian-soldiers

[Old Lurker]

Lyle, so you are saying Brennan did to the CIA what Holder did to the DoJ and McCarthy the EPA and Koskinin did to the IRS and, well, the list goes on and on, doesn't it?

[lyle]

Yes, it does, OL. Yes, it does.

[Dave (in MA)]

Has-been actress felt urge to vomit over Tossoff™ result

[lyle]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-reload-for-georgia-runoff-but-party-divisions-remain-1492626238#livefyre-toggle-SB10209773855151133688804583095063270898442

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, in an interview Tuesday in Louisville, Ky., said he didn’t know much about Mr. Ossoff, a 30-year-old former House staffer. Mr. Sanders said he isn’t prepared to back Democrats just because of a party label.

“If you run as a Democrat, you’re a Democrat,” he said. “Some Democrats are progressive and some Democrats are not.”

Asked if Mr. Ossoff is a progressive, Mr. Sanders, an independent who challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary, demurred. “I don’t know,” he said.

WSJ stylebook: socialist => independent

[daddy]

How ever will "the folks" get by without BORe?

Who's going to be looking out for us?

Caution! The Spin Zone Stops Starts now!

FWIW, I think the only indispensable person in American History was George Washington.

[Fox]

Trump is a much richer environment for ridicule.

He is such a Stiff it's too easy.

[daddy]

Has-been actress felt urge "to vomit" over Tossoff™ result

Maybe that'll inspire her to paint a picture of a comic book hero holding Trump's severed head.

[lyle]

Has-been actress probably knows all about bingeing and purging, Dave (in MA). Who will hold her hair out of the way? :)

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/binge+and+purge

[Old Lurker]

Dave "“I want to puke,” tweeted Ossoff’s number-one celebrity cheerleader, actress Alyssa Milano."

Would make me puke too to waste $10M like that.

Then again, Hillary did it week in and week out for years and she lost too.

[Old Lurker]

Lyle ...“If you run as a Democrat, you’re a Democrat,” he said. “Some Democrats are progressive and some Democrats are not.”

Bet he could not name three Dems in Congress who are not Progs or worse.

[Dave (in MA)]

And who knew that Twain was the original Biden?

[Porchlight]

From The_Donald. Lol.

[–]Bozoman500USA 7 points 27 minutes ago

If Trump can get Belichek out of a hoodie, he can do anything.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--The new instant troll-zapper is very satisfying. Just a quick click and "poof".--

Isn't it though?
The more he comments the more fun we have.
It's like catching fifty mosquitoes landing on your arm and whacking every single one before it gets its beak in.
Personalized admin privileges; gotta love it.

[Old Lurker]

Seems to me that every move Fox has made in the last few years has been to run from its conservative roots. Bet it will be as good for them as it has been for GOPe.

GOPe likes being a wing of the Uniparty; Fox wants to blend in with the MSM. Frying pan, meet fire.

[Hypocrite Central]

Ignatz is a secret reader too but sometimes he can't help revealing that fact.

It's a rather strange red badge of something or other.

[Dave (in MA)]

Maybe someday the feather passer will get sick of having to change into another damp sock over & over.

[Clarice Feldman]

I think of these elections as a redistributionist's dream--take money from rich idiots on the coasts and spread it throughout the heartland.

[Hypocrite Central]

Strange Wall St mood lately. Markets showing some nervousness?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Another fried bug spirals to the ground, trailing just a bit of acrid smoke.

[Old Lurker]

Genius?

"We can't build a wall to hold back the next global epidemic," Gates said. "We need to combat it, and the underlying socio-economic problems, at the source. That is what foreign aid does."

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Fine little treatise on the personhood of a fetus.

[Hypocrite Central]

I get energized coming up with names. Fun!

[Dave (in MA)]

Ace thinks BOR will get replaced by MeAgyn.

[daddy on IPad]

Bet he could not name three Dems in Congress who are not Progs or worse.

Hmmm, lemme' see...

---Kucinich? But he's out of Congress.

---Seth Rich? Murdered by Team Hillary before he could run for Congress.

---and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Lisa Murkowski's secret boyfriend.

Did I miss anyone?

And anyone know how close in time were the murder of Seth Rich and the intruder caught and released at the Embassy in London housing Julian Assange?

[Old Lurker]

I am so fast to hit the hush button when I see an odd name, we're going to have to ask Kim to bring back "================" so the baby does not go out with the bathwater.

[Captain Hate]

Kucinich not a prog? That would be incorrect.

[Hypocrite Central]

I think in your leaner Trump days you read, OL.

Of course you can protest too much.

[Clarice Feldman]

Very interesting question, daddy. Seth Rich was shot the evening of 7/10/16 and the intruder scaled the wall of the Ecuadorean Embassy on 8/22/16

[Hypocrite Central]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-for-white-america-its-happy-days-again-w476143

Yeah, if you call him dead-eyed Opie.

[Account Deleted]

Dad was mocking POTUS and Mattis this morning during our daily chat, encroaching on our self-imposed politics boundaries. We'd decided not to waste time talking about "the country."

Anyway he slipped up and said that an AP story he'd heard re-reported on NPR recently alleged that Mattis and POTUS both were unaware that the carrier battle group heading for NORK was actually in Singapore "without the knowledge of the CIC and DOD."

I listened and had the wherewithal to ask: "Where did you get that story from?"

Once informed my reply was to ask him to exercise caution re stories sourced from AP and NPR because the "didn't know" angle is just more of the drumbeat about DJT being unfit for office.

Also asked him about his own experience aboard the USS Forrestall in 52-53.

"Was there ever a time when the commanding officer of that battle group just decided on his own where he was going to go and what he was going to do without *anybody* in the Joint Chiefs or the Commander in Chief knowing what was going on?"

He's surrounded by progressives in rural Virginia (relokes) who were in the tank for The Rat and who are pro-abortion, anti-religion, pro-Shadooby voters.

They have a gotcha argument re DJT: If you say you respect the office of the president and you respect DJT then you are contradicting yourself.

I have a lot of patience with Dad. He does listen. He just doesn't access media beyond NPR, MSNBC, and their local paper.

Methinks he'd be horrified as to how different the "news" really is from other sources, let's say from Cheryl Atkisson, Clarice Feldman, or Andy McCarthy on just about any issue pertaining to DJT and the Deep State Uniparty.

[StoopI'd or Liar?]

Technically they werent lying or ignorant about the EVENTUAL DESTINATION.

So maybe they could even say it was going into mothballs, without indicating 'when'

[daddy on IPad]

On the possible plus side of Officer O'Reilly's departure:

1). It may contractually free up Dennis Miller to do something more valuable than weekly small spots on "The Factor,"'and

2). Bernie Goldberg may be able to finally finish a sentence without interruption.

[Old Lurker]

Kev, If my Dad came back to life every morning, he would be dead again by the end of the evening news. Talk about Groundhog Day.

[DONALDS COMEDY STORE]

Yeah. Dennis Miller. That's the ticket. How about Kelsey Grammar?

Chuck Norris does excellent unintended comedy.

The Field is wide open for talent.

[Clarice Feldman]

I don't watch tv so what do I know--but I'd love to see a PJ I'Rourke and Mark Steyn show.

[Account Deleted]

Time to re-read "A Parliament of Whores"?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I do have a soft spot in my heart for Bill O'Reilly. Back in the 90's our cable system refused to get Fox News. I would call them once a week and complain, and the answer was always that there wasn't enough demand. (This was in THE most conservative district in Indiana, Dan Burton's old district.)

So, when DirecTV became available, we went for satellite. The very first Fox New show I saw was O'Reilly, and when I turned it on he was ranting about Fidel Castro and had a photo of him up with "Pinhead" under it! HA!

As you can imagine, I was ecstatic.

Over the years, however, he's gotten more belligerent and sort of stale. He probably should have retired last year.

I am glad to see Jesse Waters wil get more air time.

[Account Deleted]

Porch--- Did he leave his body post 9-11?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Chinese carmakers, VW and BMW roll out Tesla killers.

I'm impressed PT Musk has has incubated such a crop of minute-old suckers this long but eventually it's hard to see how big league competition will not crush his make-it-up-on-volume business model.

Interestingly the story seems to confirm yet another Trump claim as Tesla's are subject to a 25% tariff in China. Level playing field?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I was in the car a bit ago and Donald Trump Jr. was on with Hannity. He's apparently joined an organization (maybe American First - didn't catch the name) and will be campaigning for the GOP guy who is running to replaceRyan Zinke out in Montana.

He says he has gotten together with several people who are going to push Trump policies on-line and with ads, as well as appearances. He was adamant that he isn't running for anything, buit he is really angry at the media coverage, and feels like all of the people he met during the campaign deserve to hear what's really going on.

I did a quick search but couldn't find the name of the group, so that's all I know.

[Marlene]

MM,I have the same soft spot for PBS. We haven't given money in years and watch few if any shows,but...when we moved to northern Maine (pre-cable) the ONLY channels were a local CBS station,Canadian Broadcasting and PBS (Maine Public TV). The daughter was a toddler,so I was so thankful for Sesame St. and especially Mr. Rogers. CBC had a children's show called Mr. Dress-Up. If you think Mr. Rogers was quiet and calm,Mr.Dress-Up was like having a couple of glasses of wine. Ha.

[jimmyk]

Carter Page: “I look forward to the Privacy Act of 1974 lawsuit that I plan to file in response to the civil rights violations by Obama administration appointees last year…"

Carter Page would be well-advised to hire a food taster, and of course steer clear of Ft Marcy Park.

[maryrose]

I like PBS for the cultural shows and some of their British dramas and mysteries.
They are having their annual fundraising auction later this week and I don't believe they should have federal funding.
They do pretty well locally with donations.

[maryrose]

Jimmyk:
I hope he is able to sue the pants off the Obama people and especially all the leakers and unmaskers.

[Clarice Feldman]

A little backstory on the leftis backing Tosoff

[Clarice Feldman]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/04/19/georgia-candidate-jon-ossoffs-film-firm-financed-by-facebook-fact-check-funder/

[jimmyk]

I'm sure others are as shocked as I am that Andrew Cuomo's bio couldn't sell more than 3,200 copies. I mean, who could resist the compelling saga of a guy who got himself elected governor solely on the name recognition from his father, and has accomplished nothing of note.

The question is who really paid the advance money. That will reveal the quid pro quo.

[Clarice Feldman]

Instead of pecksniffing on nothingburgers, you'd think CREW and the other "good govt" types would focus on these bribes and hidden campaign contributions masking as book advances, wouldn't you?

[daddy at Weeby's Burgerjoint]

Thanks for that timeline info, Clarice. 6 weeks is reasonably plausible deniability.

On another timeline related issue, anyone know if Anne Colter will be refused permission to speak at Berkeley about the same time as the Georgia 06 Runnoff? The expected mob violence in the streets, if it escalates as I expect it to and the cops keep sitting on their hands, should be enough to generate plenty of bloody images and inflammatory headlines. Depending on how successful the Media is in painting which side are the victims, it might sway some votes in that or any other special Elections at the time. Given my personal druthers, I'd chip in to pay Shia Lebouf's airfare to Berkeley along with that for his Anti-Trump flag and the vomiting washed up actress from the link above.

[Porchlight]

If Cuomo is the Dem golden boy for 2020, it'll be funny watching the left try to use the usual "inherited from his father" memes on Trump.

[Porchlight]

Then again that didn't stop them with Gore vs. Bush...

[Julia dumped him]

yes, I love coming up with names too!

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

daddy,

I have come to the conclusion that Ann Coulter doesn't care about the Geoergia 6 election. She will simply ascribe any loss as "not conservative enough" and make her usual snide comments.

She's nothing but an attention seeker who needs to sell her next book.

I don't like these people goig to berkley just to provoke riots. There is something to be said for making a case for free speech, but there are too many on the right excited about getting to show up and knock some heads.

No good will come of this.

[Maya has a tramp stamp]

Crickey! Ward, your daughter has put on quite a few pounds.

[daddy at Weeby's Burgerjoint]

I'm looking out the big plate glass windows here at WeeBee's Burgers on O'Malley that face in the direction opposite of the mountains. I notice I cannot spot a single flake of snow for the first time since October. How weird is that?

Momma was laughing earlier about wondering if young Nelson was going to be able to take a poop come summer, since all he's known since being with us is climbing up on snowbanks and letting her rip:)

[Captain Hate]

I mean, who could resist the compelling saga of a guy who got himself elected governor solely on the name recognition from his father, and has accomplished nothing of note.

Does he tell how his Kennedy ex wife gave it away at the biker bars when he couldn't satisfy her? I might read that.

[Porchlight]

No good will come of this.

I don't know about that. No good has come of us allowing ourselves to be trampled, either. The left is not used to us fighting back.

[Porchlight]

Example of things changing for the better:

https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/854525715995394048

James O'Keefe‏ @JamesOKeefeIII

James O'Keefe Retweeted Michael Jones
This amazing. Police forcing "antifa" to remove their masks or go to jail.

Michael Jones @MichaelJonesAU

Police in Auburn are unmasking Antifa members at the @RichardBSpencer event.

7:43 PM - 18 Apr 2017

The country != Berkeley, thank God. Violence won't be necessary when the police do their jobs.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Is Sandra Lee, famous pseudo-chef and Food Network personality, still living with him in the governor's mansion?

You can order a kit to make a Christmas tree just like hers!

[daddy on IPhone7]

My bet is a California based Federal Judge steps in by tomorrow to order the Auburn police to stand down from ordering the unmasking of the Antifa thugs as a violation of their Civil Rights.

Any bets?

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking the East River and Roosevelt Island)]

MM,

Ditto, Coulter with me. Never liked her. Smart ass, snarky skank who seeks out her own calamities. Plus she was pushing Christie, IIRC. How's that for intellectual rigor.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Porchlight,

Maybe it's because I am older.

There is a difference in fighting when you were minding your own business and were attacked. It's quite another thing to go looking for trouble.

I don't know the answer, I just know that this rioting should be tamped down (like Auburn did) instead of escalating it.

[jimmyk]

Coulter is 60-40 for me. She can be very funny, she always has her facts straight, and her legal background shows through her arguments (in a good way). I don't mind the showmanship and attitude--that's a way to pierce the MSM fog and get attention. I don't always agree with her, to say the least, but I trust her. As an example, she's been very strong on vindicating Joseph McCarthy and the anti-Communism of that era.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/04/19/president-trump-signs-s-544-veterans-choice-in-healthcare-act/#more-131561

[jimmyk]

P.S. JiB, glad to see that you're on the mend.

[Captain Hate]

Any bets?

Not happening; that's a law that was used against the Klan and even a Clownifornicate nitbrained tyrant won't intercede.

Count me in as anti Coulter.

[narciso]

She has a good researcher, but she pushes those legitimate points, to the breaking point. She was fir the huntress for a time, then she was a top gal.

[DebinNC]

"I especially want to thank Senator John McCain and Senator Johnny Isaacson. They have been incredible in working with us."

I don't see either one in that pic. Odd for McRINO to miss a chance to mug. And Lindsey Graham wasn't present or mentioned, despite SC leading the nation in vets per capita.

[narciso]

Its too bad Lou Hobbs can't be brought over from his fox business slot or tammeh for varieties sake.

[Captain Hate]

Tammy once told a story how she considered Coulter a friend until TB phrased something awkwardly and Ann, rather than contacting her to point it out, jumped on Twitter to ridicule her. Actions like that have consequences.

[Porchlight]

I don't know the answer, I just know that this rioting should be tamped down (like Auburn did) instead of escalating it.

I guess I'm seeing it more as a demonstration of a willingness to fight back. Of course it will be portrayed as escalation, but Antifa always punches first.

[DebinNC]

I'd like to see Mike Huckabee on air again. I think Trump offered him Amb. to Israel and he declined. He's only 61 and still has a lot he could contribute imo.

[Porchlight]

I like Ann Coulter although I don't always agree with her. She's hilarious and makes great points.

[narciso]

Well so much for that,

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/329292-oreilly-defenders-cast-doubt-on-wendy-walsh-sexual-harassment-claim-report

[Janet 🚬]

No good has come of us allowing ourselves to be trampled, either. The left is not used to us fighting back.

I agree.
If not now, when??
Invite more & more right wing speakers. Film the leftist thugs. Show America what is happening.

[DebinNC]

State "mask codes" - GA has a pretty strict one, probably to thwart KKK miscreants.

[narciso]

Reminds me of the traitor in the prisoner:

thehill.com/policy/national-security/329627-report-cia-fbi-hunting-for-insider-who-gave-docs-to-wikileaks

[Clarice Feldman]

I doubt Graham or McCain were invited, and I have good reason to believe why McCain will never see the inside of a Trump WH.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Probably to thwart Democrat KKK miscreants.

[jimmyk]

My comment about Page needing a food taster elicited this from our Windy City lurker. There's a ValJar connection involving the Olympics bid.

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/August-2011/New-Details-Emerge-in-the-Death-of-Chicago-School-Board-President-Michael-Scott/

Snitches get a bullet through the head.

[narciso]

After ventura he's the worst member of the teams.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/19/malcolm-nance-msnbc-terrorism-analyst-nominates-tr

[narciso]

Its a reasonable question:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/opinion/why-are-republicans-making-tax-reform-so-hard.html?_r=0

[daddy]

From Deb's link on mask Laws:

CALIFORNIA Penal Code Section 182-185
185. Section One Hundred and Eighty-five. It shall be unlawful for any person to wear any mask, false whiskers, or any personal disguise (whether complete or partial) for the purpose of: One--Evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of any public offense. Two--Concealment, flight, or escape, when charged with, arrested for, or convicted of, any public offense. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

So I guess you don't need a California based Federal Judge to issue any rulings, since the Police in Berkeley refuse to enforce the Law as written when protesters toss firebombs on Campus.

[daddy]

CIA, FBI hunting for insider who gave docs to WikiLeaks

Seth Rice was murdered on 7/10/16. Surely where he's buried can't be that tough to locate, even for the FBI.

[narciso]

True but I doubt he had that kind of access to those sorts of secrets:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/04/19/a-very-deliberate-and-structured-secretary-rex-tillerson-discusses-iran/

[daddy]

Here's the tweet from the MSNBC guy, Malcolm Nance, suggesting Trump's building in Istanbul as the primary target for ISIS suicide bombers:

.

[narciso]

Carlos slims would give her an up ed

https://mobile.twitter.com/AmbDaniDayan/status/854728619041665025

[maryrose]

This guy needs to be investigated for inciting a terrorist act.
Put him in a cell for the weekend until he learns how to measure his words better.

[narciso]

Textbook ourobouros

https://mobile.twitter.com/nedprice/status/854710475929661441

[JimNorCal]

My brother notes one of the white guys killed in Fresno by the Muslim shooter. The guy has shaved/tattooed head but seems like a devoted father of two, loyal to his wife and trying to get by with a HS education.

But his FB page is labeled We Punch Nazis, so there's a bit of future-shock happenin'. I can't find the FaceBook cover page online anymore, so ... hoax? Taken down?

http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article145366799.html

[Captain Hate]

Get the breathalyzer ready:

http://www.weaselzippers.us/334999-chris-matthews-all-trump-does-is-bitch-about-obama-obama-justified-in-his-endless-criticism-of-bush-because-he-inherited-crapola/

[narciso]

Tweet is still their lowest ranked show, that tells what a trashfire of a network MSNBC is, remember it was ubl's favorite till keefums was dropped.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

That neontaster crack on twitter is worth stealing.

[JimNorCal]

Thanks Clarice...interesting web of connections.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/04/19/georgia-candidate-jon-ossoffs-film-firm-financed-by-facebook-fact-check-funder/

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

jimmyk,

That's some story on the guy from Chicago. Seems more like a murder to me, but who knows what goes through people's minds?