Trench Warfare

Last week's impeachment hearing were a thrill ride for the talking heads of MSNBC but did the polls move?

We will know more next week when polls pick up the late week hearings but so far the trench warfare continues. From FiveThirtyEight:

We seem to be stuck on a track where the House votes to impeach Trump to placate their base and the Senate votes to acquit ti placate theirs. 

Comments

[D]

Sounds about right.

[D]

Oh and first.

[Robin, eff 'em all]

From JamesD on the last thread, well worth repeating:

Cancel all existing federal student debt immediately. End all federal involvement In student loans immediately. Tax university and nonprofit and foundation endowments immediately to at least partially pay for it all.

Yeah, it would be unfair to the people who paid their own way through school or paid off their loans, but it would buy a LOT of votes, put a lot of money back into the consumer economy right away, suck a ton of money out of the progressive financing machine, and unemployment tens of thousands of diversity bureaucrats and Vice-Deans of Equity and Inclusion and the like.

This is political jujitsu and brilliant. In one stroke you both gain the support of millions of voters who have been laboring under the delusion that Republicans don't care about them, and cut the feet out from under Higher Ed, Inc. I think it's well worth the unfairness to those of us who did it all without college loans to gain the advantage politically.

[D]

Rocco:
Hopefully President is correct in his assessment of the IG Report.

[D]

Robin:
It may be a brilliant strategy for the future but it teaches irresponsibility for the ones who with full knowledge took on ginormous debt to get a Masters degree that could not afford to get at that time.
I don’t feel like bailing out deadbeats after both my children and their cousins were smart and took out reasonable loans they could repay without bankrupting themselves.

[JM Hanes]

Reposting a willowed comment:

Haven't caught up yet, so someone may already have observed that as (sole?) overseer of the FISA courts, Chief Justice Roberts has more than just the appearance of conflicting interests.

peter,

I'm not sure why Roberts would have to resign permanently as Chief Justice in order to recuse himself. It seems to me that there are established protocols for recusals everywhere else that are not laid out in the Constitution either. I can also see someone being appointed acting Chief Justice for the purpose of the trial. It might require agreement from the Senate, but I'm not sure the Constitution precludes that. The legislative branch has the power to set rules for the judiciary, do they not?

[anonamom]

For those of you on Twitter. Kleenex may be needed.
(sorry--I don't know how else to post so others can view it. Maybe MM can reformat it.)

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1197933539964203009

[JM Hanes]

TM:

"We seem to be stuck on a track where the House votes to impeach Trump to placate their base and the Senate votes to acquit ti placate theirs."

Reality check on Aisle #2!

The House votes to impeach, because they've got nothing else to run on in 2020 and the Senate votes to acquit because the charges are bullshit.

[Captain Hate]

James is too conditioned to the GOP trying to match the other wing of the Uniparty in giving other people's money to the undeserving.

[James D.]

Maryrose @ 1:48

The thing is, it’s going to happen at some point anyway. The Dems will be in power again sooner or later, and they’ll do a loan forgiveness paid for by tax hikes on the rest of us, with no cost paid by the colleges that have profited for decades from the current system.

Better to do it now, on our terms and lay the costs of it on progressive institutions.

[Captain Hate]

Ending nonprofits has perpetually headed up my wish list as has putting colleges on the hook for student loans.

[D]

JamesD
I don’t see that policy as inevitable.
Basically because it is an unfair solution and all those responsible should get a refund for paying on time.
All it does is reward foolhardy behavior on the part of millennials who seem to be adverse to hard work and getting a major and a job that will help them pay off debt.
Saving money is a foreign concept to them and must be explained repeatedly to make an impact.
They want what they want when they want it.
It took my parents 20 years to get our family out of Cleveland and into the suburbs and that was on one income.

[Jim Eagle]

When you are dealing with Democrats twisted logic you need to first blow up the schools they went to so no one else will receive the same disease.

Here is an example:

Dem Rep: Trump ‘Trying to Use the Court System’ Is ‘Obstruction of Justice’

https://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-rep-trump-trying-to-use-the-court-system-is-obstruction-of-justice/

[D]

I don’t foresee the Dems getting into power anytime soon.
3024 looks like a lock for Repubs as well.
Dems have bupkis.
I know this because of watching their half-hearted debates which consist of can you top this give a WSU’s that they have no way of paying for just like this goofy idea of debt forgiveness.

[D]

S/b. 2024.

[D]

Give a ways

[sbwaters]

Previous thread: "Vulnerable Democrats are watching in horror as GOP impeachment attacks deluge their districts back home."

Smoke and mirrors. During a football game just now I heard a Syracuse attack piece painting Trump most negatively and calling on citizens to write Republican Rep. Katko to pressure him vote for impeachment.

Democrats are trying to engineer a last ditch effort to bypass the 2020 election and it is about as unseemly as anything I can recall.

As far as I am concerned, any real Democrat had better repudiate what is going on, and, for that matter, decline to be called a Democrat anymore.

[D]

Captain:
Answering from previous thread.
I attended BGSU in 73/74. For my masters degree after working for a year to earn the money.
I am the same age as Mrs H as I graduated from Ursuline College in 72.

[peter]

JMH, it is pretty clear that the procedural rules are to be set by the Senate itself. Whether changes in the rules require a two-thirds majority or a simple majority has to be dealt with. McConnell better be prepared to use the nuclear option. I also don't see McConnell forcing Roberts out, if Roberts won't recuse, and I am pretty sure Roberts is too stubborn to recuse.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

So what happens when the IG report and Dunham reports drop? The IG investigation began in March of 2018 and was completed in September according to reports.

It has been reviewed and will be released in 2 weeks. Obviously Barr is completely familiar with the results and last week threw down a gauntlet.

Barr has a reputation has a rock solid reputation and we are now hearing selective leaking, probably from the Left.

Everything at this point is speculation but we do know some of the facts that prompted the investigation. The top layer at DoJ was dismissed for cause. Mueller's investigation was led by a hack and incompetent worthy of Ahab.

Mueller found bupkis after 2 years. The Steele dossier is still at the center of the mess and its origins are well established as are the links to the key players. Approval of the use of that dossier to open Crossfire Hurricane could only have been made at the highest level, which because of the politicized nature of the DoJ means the White House itself.Five star Moscow piss parties are dynamite in anybody's book.

Was the unmasking of U.S. citizens right after the election a part of a larger conspiracy? How does the Flynn case figure in? How does the Manafort case figure in? He was blown out of the water by Ukrainian dirt. So how badly was the Mueller investigation tainted?

We also now know that there has been almost no investigative journalism done. Why? Suspicious, eh? Almost everything we have heard on all of this has been unattributed leaks and rumors. This isn't looking good for the other side.

If you have Mr. Clean telegraphing his anger at the deep state that is a pretty big "tell".

I would be checking if any of the likely suspects are updating their passports and have travel plans @ December 9.

[D]

SBW:
I also find all of this unseemly behavior and outright lies coupled with the coup as appalling actions on the part of the Dems.
I have to believe others are as outraged as I am.
The only reason the House flipped is because the Dem reps lied to their constituents.
Especially the ones stating they would vote against Pelosi.
Almost all folded just like on the impeachment inquiry vote.
That rep can no longer be trusted.
They will see next November when they are issued their walking papers.

[Jim Eagle]

Uh Oh!

The Ohio State 21 - 18.5 underdogs Penn State 17 in 3rd quarter.

I am sure Buckeye is enjoying the game which is reflective of the weather:)

[matt - deplore me if you must]

I probably should have read the post before posting or used grammarly on that one.

[D]

Matt:
Wonderful post with a lot of food for thought.

[JM Hanes]

Considering the monumental sums involved, I don't think you would have to forgive outstanding debt entirely, to get where you want to go with this idea. That might help mitigate at least a little of the anger it will elicit from people who paid their own way or paid off their debts.

I don't know anything about the reliability of the site I'm linking, it's just the first one I landed on that seemed to have a decent collection of digestible Student Debt Stats for anyone who wants to flesh out a proposal.

[henry]

SMH. Vid at link.

🚨 HARVARD-YALE IS DELAYED BECAUSE OF A STUDENT CLIMATE PROTEST ON THE FIELD! 🚨

https://twitter.com/ftbeard11/status/1198320184332709889?s=21

[Rocco]

Great post matt! Bupkiss sums it up well, love that word.

[D]

They have no one to blame but themselves for admitting a bunch of inferior social justice warriors instead of qualified academics who want to be their for an education.

[GUS]

Our "Host said........<>

UTTER HORSE SHIT. Nothing personal. But that line is UTTER BULLSHIT.

[sbwaters]

It would be sweet if the Barr report rolled up some of the impeachment clowns.

[Captain Hate]

LOL @ Gus Johnson calling James Franklin "elite". 1-7 against ranked teams on the road isn't elite.

[Captain Hate]

Btw the reason John Carroll isn't in the Div 3 playoffs is that Oshkosh upset UW-Whitewater making Whitewater, a higher ranked team, use the at large bid that Carroll was counting on.

[Jim Eagle]

Those Ivie kids would be tackled and driven to the ground back in my day. If I am the coach and I have been told to wait it out, I’d be livid. Nothing like working up a sweat over 3Q’s let it all cool down. Expect to see more now they no there are repercussions either extreme physical or administrative.

[JM Hanes]

I finally got the dog working video Miss Marple posted in the last thread to play. At first I thought there must be a lot of people trying to watch, but when I switched from Chrome to Safari, it played just fine. That's a first.

In the link about the army's new ear covering for their warrior dogs, there's another amazing video of a dog doing a "CPR routine."

[anonamom]

Matt--what does it gani NYT to publish such a piece?

They had to apologize to their readers after the 2016 election; promised to do better. Spent the past three years touting Russian Collusion, which did not come to pass.

i just don't get what they get out of publishing that article if in three weeks, they once again are shown to be wrong.

Go PENN!

[Narciso]

Yes its all astroturf.

[GUS]

Jack how about the entire football team interrupts a queer studies class. Wonder how that would have gone over.

[Marlene]

Good afternoon! Yikes,I'm old! The daughter called and told me she is meeting a friend from high school who is now a high school teacher at the high school they attended in northern Maine. Her friend has a group of high school kids attending a convention in D.C. The daughter is going to take them to a D.C. restaurant tonight.

[Captain Hate]

They were had to apologize to their readers after the 2016 election; promised to do better.

That apology and promise were hot steaming piles. Either they lied when they said it or had second thoughts and didn't tell anyone. Either way no one should trust low lifes like them.

[bubarooni]

Great opening drive for the Hoosiers have them up 7-0 on Michigan.

Now, let's see if our defense can play just as well.

[peter]

Boston College is leading Notre Dame!!!!
go Eags!

[MissMarple2]

anonamom,

I don't know if this will help people not on Twitter, but here is how I format stuff with video:

This young man is severely colorblind. While learning about colorblindness in class, the principle brought in some glasses that let him see color for the first time. His reaction is priceless.pic.twitter.com/hkFpdxK5CQ

— Kevin W. (@Brink_Thinker) November 23, 2019

Video at link.

[KevlarKid]

i thought Hezbollah controlled Lebanon militarily with it ganing more seats in its sham parliament.

[Robin, eff 'em all]

It may be a brilliant strategy for the future but it teaches irresponsibility for the ones who with full knowledge took on ginormous debt to get a Masters degree that could not afford to get at that time.

I get this, I really do. I turned down a GREAT opportunity at a private school because my parents could only pay out of pocket for a state school, so I would have had to take on loans to make up the difference and I wasn't willing to take on that much debt right out of college. This was in 1985, when SUNY tuition was $600 per semester. I could make that tuition money in the summer easily. I am grateful for the lesson they provided with that early decision and this is the discussion we're having with our kids now.

However, James is right. The Democrats are going to do this if they regain power. It will fulfill two goals for them - demonize the "unfeeling principled" Republicans and bolster a major constituency - the higher education racket. If we can take that away from them, I am all for it. We can make those who have their loans forgiven take some remedial workshops on Loan 101, with a detailed explanation on how their colleges screwed them before they get the money.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
56m
NEW YORK POST EDITORIAL. “Worse Than Pointless. All those hours of televised testimony plainly failed on their announced goal: to change American’s minds. Part of the problem is that Democrats already leaked the best evidence they had. More important, NOT ONE WITNESS OFFERED.....

....ANY DIRECT EVIDENCE THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP DID ANYTHING IMPEACHABLE. No one heard him order a quid pro quo. No one offered a convincing reason why Trump’s interest in having Ukraine probe potential cortuption warrants Impeachment. “I want no Quid Pro Quo” Ambassador..

....Sondland said Trump told him. None of this will move the needle for anyone. And now Dems in Swing Districts head home for Thanksgiving to hear from voters. Pelosi & Co. are putting on a show to appease the Democratic base instead of doing the work ALL Americans need done.”

[Melinda]

Note the Dem Strategist, Adam, assumes someone else is ALWAYS picking up the tab for lawsuits

Adam Parkhomenko
@AdamParkhomenko
I have yet to see a single reporter dig into who is funding the Nunes political lawsuits which do not show up on his FEC reports. Illegal. As it relates to people he is suing and sending subpeonas to we are not scared & will show him lots of extra attention. We‘re doubling down.

Susan Hennessey @Susan_Hennessey
A lot of people reply to news of yet another Nunes lawsuit by saying that discovery will be great. Nunes knows about discovery. The point of these suits is to impose substantial financial and psychological costs in order to scare people from critical coverage and reporting. twitter.com/Susan_Hennesse…

twitter.com/Susan_Hennessey/status/11982

https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1198330491772047365

Doesn't always work on someone else's dime, Adam.

[anonamom]

There are absolute geniuses at Babylon Bee!

https://babylonbee.com/news/breaking-white-house-involved-in-stunning-plot-of-murder-and-bribery-update-never-mind-it-was-during-the-obama-administration-deleting

[anonamom]

Winning Was Trump’s High Crime and Misdemeanor
His conflict with his staff over Ukraine was nothing compared with Obama’s decision to leave Iraq.

By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
Nov. 22, 2019 6:40 pm ET

When I don’t get the feeling Adam Schiff is secretly working for the Russians, I get the feeling he’s secretly working for Donald Trump. The latter feeling predominated during two weeks of impeachment hearings. The case, which doesn’t strike me as strong, should be that Mr. Trump withheld, or threatened to withhold, congressionally mandated military aid for Ukraine for an illegal purpose. But the witnesses who were supposed to be harmful to Mr. Trump weren’t. They failed to establish, or even argue, that Mr. Trump’s concern with the Biden role in Ukraine, or Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election, was illegitimate.

State Department witness George Kent testified that he himself upbraided Ukrainian officials for ending an investigation of Burisma, Hunter Biden’s employer, which U.S. taxpayer dollars had helped support. He called for—guess what?—an investigation: “I would love to see [Ukraine’s government] find out who the corrupt prosecutor was, and who took the bribe, and how much he was paid.”

William Taylor, another presumably hostile State Department witness, was sufficiently open to the agenda of his outsider president to propose that an official other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky make the wished-for announcement, “in coordination with Attorney General Barr’s probe into the investigation of interference in the 2016 elections.”

Like a dinner-theater detective, Mr. Schiff shouts “Aha!” at every confirmation of what has been obvious since the White House released its own transcript of the Trump call with Mr. Zelensky. The Trump administration was keen on arming Ukraine and supporting its new government to exact a cost from Vladimir Putin. That is, everybody in the Trump administration except the president himself, who was cool or indifferent to this agenda but intruded only occasionally to push the Biden talking point.

His staff, apparently appreciating who actually received votes from the electorate, busied itself at times trying to reconcile Mr. Trump’s agenda with their own. And yet, in the manner of factotums everywhere, the agenda they ended up delivering was their own—Ukraine got its arms and presidential meeting—while Mr. Trump’s fell through the cracks.

Mr. Trump is chaotic, unschooled and politically motivated, but only the first two qualities differentiate him from other presidents. He cares only about “the big things,” Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified. Isn’t that the job description? If President Obama’s staff had been as successful as Mr. Trump’s, U.S. troops would never have left Iraq. Yet Mr. Obama was entitled to make the trade-off he did, unfortunate as it was. Securing re-election is the first thing any president owes his supporters. It’s what makes our system go ’round.

Unfortunately, the media, in the grip of narrative-itis and its own partisan myopia, leaves no fact or logical premise unmolested. Numerous outlets peddle the fallacy that election meddling is what economists call a rivalrous good: If Russia engaged in it, Ukraine couldn’t have. An NBC reporter, lacking any bombshells, proclaims that a “bombshell” is the word “more” in an official’s recollected impression that Mr. Trump “cared more” about investigations than he did about Ukraine.

The national media is an idiot at this point to keep the name of the whisteblower, which they’ve known for weeks, from the public. His identity and motives are unquestionably newsworthy. The media exists to report newsworthy information. All the press does is sow distrust about what other news it’s hiding.

Most tellingly, any number of journalists, including the New Yorker’s David Remnick, distinguished themselves by mocking the opening statement of Rep. Devin Nunes without bothering to recognize what the Intelligence Committee’s ranking member was driving at. In fact, Mr. Nunes unloaded a partisan blast that accurately and relevantly reprised Mr. Schiff’s greatest hits during the Russia collusion folly, including outing Mr. Schiff as the likely source behind false stories retracted by CBS, CNN and MSNBC based on a lie about the date on a Don Jr. email.

Why this matters is obvious to half of America. The House can impeach for any reason it wants. In the hierarchy of reasons not to impeach Donald Trump, first and foremost is that it would be terrible for the country. It would be seen by many as an extension of a persistent campaign to invalidate an election and delegitimize a president who, whatever his opponents think of him, has acted with uncustomary fidelity to the promises he made to voters.

If we would not stir up bitterness to last a generation, matters need to be resolved with an election. Of course, incumbent upon Democrats is picking a candidate who offers a referendum on Trump and Trumpism, rather than one hoping to exploit a disturbed moment in our history to advance an agenda most Americans don’t want.

Another wild card is the media itself, in this peculiar moment in its institutional life. A stupefying corollary of its lapse into Trumplike dishonesty is its stupefying inability to see the damage it has done to its own credibility. A sick feeling tells me this will be a factor too, and perhaps dangerously so, in how the 2020 race comes out.

[anonamom]

That's from WSJ

[Barbara]

Reading the comments on the previous thread since late last night, it seems that the "News" is reporting a partial story (nothing new here). The situation for those in the coup seems to be much more dire than their predictions.

1) I don't have the link handy, but Matt Whittaker, former Acting AG, reported that the IG's report will be "one of the most consequential reports we've seen in the last two decades."

2) Jay Sekulow, a member of the President's legal team, reported yesterday that the portions of the report dealing with the FISA Courts warrants have been referred by the IG to the Durham for possible prosecution.

If you're on Facebook, you can go to Jay Sekulow's FB page for the discussion.

3) Lastly, we all saw the video of Preet Bahara's reaction to the alterations made to the FISA documents. Whatever his personal views of the President might be, he was STUNNED at what he learned - significantly because those findings were not being buried in a lame report out of the IG's Office.

Prior to these events, I was equally concerned about whether the report would have any significance. We will have to see how all of this plays out as it winds its way through the system, and the media spins itself like we've ne er seen before. But with AG Barr and Durham opening a criminal investigation into these events and the IG forwarding findings to Durham for criminal investigation/prosecution, that report takes on much greater significance.

Stay tuned.

[MissMarple2]

Maryrose,

I get it, too, as I paid my way through school and my 2 older grandchildren got scholarships through Mitch Daniels Hoosier Scholars program and woorked summers and ended up with either with no debt (grandson) or very little debt (granddaughter, who will work it off in the summer and after graduation).

However, I was talking to a friend who monitors this site and she said that she had an employee who owed $100,000 to a school in northern Indiana for a medical records degree. The admissions counselor talked her parents into signing it, and they were only high school graduates and were confused and didn't really understand how much she would owe and how little the return on their investment was. She said SHE (the employee) didn't understand the ramifications until she graduated.

She also said that guys wouldn't date her when they found out how much she owed, since spouses have to assume the debt and they didn't want to become attached. So fewer kids are getting married because of this situation.

Like I said, give people who have already paid off the loans a tax break of some sort. And I agree with Robin; James D.'s plan is a good one. I hope PresidentTrump runs across it.

Mitch Daniels, now President of Purdue, has corporations coming in and giving on-campus internships to help out, which is another way to cut down on cost.

[KevlarKid]

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/student-loans/student-loan-debt/

who owes what... federal and private loans

[anonamom]

Agree:
https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/22/alexander-vindmans-impeachment-testimony-displays-his-open-insubordination/

[Captain Hate]

Trumplike dishonesty

Really tired of this type of unfounded nonsense written with no pushback, particularly after eight years of Gaylord.

[Barbara]

IG Turns over findings on FISA abuses to Durham

Here's a link to this story at Jay Sekulow's website. There is also a video of the discussion on the page.

https://aclj.org/government-corruption/breaking-fbi-lawyer-allegedly-altered-document-in-the-russia-probe

[James D.]

My thing is, the only way it works is if all the pieces are done at the same time - forgiveness, getting the feds out of the student loan and financial aid business permanently, and confiscatory taxes on endowments.

Any one piece on its own doesn’t work.

[KevlarKid]

Teddy bear fight in Beantown but Irish winning early in 3Q.

Badgers are whipping PerDon't in Big Whatevs action.

[MissMarple2]

Barbara,

Thank you for that link. I also thought it was significant, and am glad to see supporting opinions.

On the phone today with a friend discussing all this stuff, she asked me how many attorneys in DC were going to get caught up in this. She pointed out that Perkins Coie firm had their names all over everything. I thought she made a good point, and I have no idea about the answer.

[MissMarple2]

My letter to @LindseyGrahamSC

These witnesses have direct (non-hearsay) evidence of Democrat criminal conspiracy with Ukrainians to prevent @realDonaldTrump from being President, and more.

Taylor’s Embassy is uniformly refusing them visas. pic.twitter.com/LZTygHlkwy

— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) November 23, 2019

Screen cap of letter at the link.

[MissMarple2]

Rudy Giuliani
@RudyGiuliani
·
3h
I discovered a pattern of corruption that the Washington press covered up for years!

I’m also going to bring out a massive pay-for-play scheme under the Obama Administration that will devastate the Democrat Party.

Do you honestly think I’m intimidated?

[MissMarple2]

Rudy Giuliani
@RudyGiuliani
·
3h
The Mafia couldn’t kill me so NO, I am not worried about the swamp press!

[MissMarple2]

Rudy Giuliani
@RudyGiuliani
·
23m
TRUTH ALERT:

The statement I’ve made several times of having an insurance policy, if thrown under bus, is sarcastic & relates to the files in my safe about the Biden Family’s 4 decade monetizing of his office.

If I disappear, it will appear immediately along with my RICO chart.

[MissMarple2]

My friend locally that I chat with alerted me to Rudy's tweets, because I have been busy doing vacuuming and laundry and haven't paid attention.

All I can say is that things are getting REALLY interesting!

How many of them are buying tickets to foreign places with non-extradition treaties, and how many will be arrested at local airports?

What a time to be alive!

[BartoGeo]

I wouldn't forgive student loans outright. But I would make them dischargeable in bankruptcy, as well as making sure lenders have to write down bad debt from the issuance of student loans that they're not able to collect on. Simply by making lenders face the same risks from student loans as any other vehicle would change incentives in a useful way. And it would probably force down tuition by reducing the market for high dollar educations when students unlikely to pay back couldn't borrow the tuition.

[Melinda]

If you forgive the loans, contract law goes out the window. However, tie those loans to endowments in case of default as a rider, might put a little "adjustment" to collegiate administrative growth and put it back towards the job it's being contracted to do.

[MissMarple2]

"Devin Nunes is a National Treasure" Stu Cvrk
@STUinSD
·
12m
ABC just showed a clip of OJ Simpson from the 1967 USC-UCLA game during today's game. Tactless and morally vacant. All of the networks are becoming unwatchable.
=======================================
Coming from the network which covered up the stuff on Epstein, not a surprise.

[henry]

I hope there is more in the report than in Capone’s secret stash.

@geraldorivera

Despite parsing by hostile media, leaks from #InspectorGeneral report show a wide-spread animus directed at @realDonaldTrump within #DOJ. Despite phony #NYT headline that #FBI cleared “of bias claims” facts being revealed indicate many in Bureau became part of Rot & “Resistance.”

[Another Bob]

OK, I’ll go out on a limb.

Horowitz IG report: Nothingburger. Squared. Institutional failures blah blah, more procedural safeguards needed blah blah. Improper behavior blah blah. Not even sure any names will be mentioned. Gross violations of policy but not law, so no referrals for prosecution.

Dunham: Egregious ethical violations blah blah. Terrible, horrible, blah blah. No provable violations of law, no indictments.

No quick buy of plane tickets to places without extradition agreements. Everybody walks.

Any contrary opinions?

[MissMarple2]

Another Bob,

I took "Because you's be in jail" to be President Trump's heartfelt opinion, and if people are refusing directions, they will also be fired.

So I think it is exactly what the President and Whitaker said, and I disagree with you completely.

[JM Hanes]

Barbara:

Thanks for spelling that info out in such well-organized fashion! I feel more optimistic about the IG report as a result.

[anonamom]

AB, I would not argue w a thing you've posted, EXCEPT--
I do think Trump needs to whack some people, or his kids' lives will be hell once he's out of office.
He's not The Decider, though, is he?

Barr in his Federalist Society speech sure sounded to me like he was incensed at the abuse of the office of the Chief Executive by people in politicized judiciary as well as pols in Congress who didn't like the outcome of the 2016 election, so that gives me hope as far as how aggressive he will be.

I don't know how any rational person can read those texts from Page/Strzok that were released in the DOJ letter and not conclude that ANY decision they made was anything but one made by neutral professionals.

[KevlarKid]

At this point, ABob, what diff would it make for me to opine as if there were any superheroes at all working in the DOJ, not ten layers of Obama slime bags who will need burning out of there spidey holes?

[KevlarKid]

IRISH are puttin the bat to BC's helmets!

[MissMarple2]

Watch the video all the way through. Those of us who had kids watching Sesame Street in the 70's will especially appreciate this!

One of my favorite @sesamestreet moments of all time... pic.twitter.com/WnHgjTQWkb

— 🌎Kristina A. Holzweiss #HackingSchoolLibraries⭐ (@lieberrian) November 21, 2019

[sbwaters]

The Associated Press story I had to thoroughly rewrite was headlined:

" Trump denigrates US diplomats, pushes conspiracy theories". We went with: "Trump criticizes House impeachment inquiry"

The hit job was by Deb Riechmann.

We rewrote it to include:

Meanwhile, the Associated Press and other national media claimed that “conspiracy theories that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election” had been “debunked” offering as evidence that the previous day a former White House adviser, Fiona Hill, testified — gave her own opinion — that the claim was a “fictional narrative” that played into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

AP says Trump’s claim on Ukraine being behind the 2016 election interference has been discredited by intelligence agencies and his own advisers. However intelligence agencies and others in government, including the State Department, may have been trying to cover up their own malfeasance.

To clarify the media confusion, reporter Byron York, Chief political correspondent, Washington Examiner, wrote, “Schiff says when Republicans use phrase ‘Russia hoax,’ they are denying Russian interference. Untrue. Obvious fact: When Republicans use phrase, they are referring to accusations, from Schiff and others, that Trump campaign conspired/coordinated with Russia in 2016."

[rich]

>>>Any contrary opinions?

Posted by: Another Bob | November 23, 2019 at 05:24 PM<<<

not from me.

drinks on me.

[JM Hanes]

Hi BartoGeo!

"I wouldn't forgive student loans outright..."

I wonder if there's a way to combine your ideas with Melinda's which follow immediately after. I think we need to be proactive when it comes to the institutions which encourage students to take on such maximum debt while boosting their charges to the maximum they believe the government will loan them. It's a sort of chicken and egg problem, but I think the borrowers are also being massively overcharged.

[Melinda]

ABob-

Plenty.

[Another Bob]

KevlarKid | November 23, 2019 at 05:37 PM

We’re on the same page KK. I see no flamethrowers being deployed.

[JM Hanes]

Blless you, sbw, for standing athwart the AP and saying, "No!"

[rich]

Horowitz's previous was such a scorcher ... so many people in jail after that.

[MissMarple2]

Thank you Kevin for the nice words! https://t.co/DfY1V38EhD

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2019

Link goes to a tweet with CNN Business with Kevin O'Leary video. However, fast forward to 6:27 to see the comments on the Trump Economy.

[JM Hanes]

What is the IG's relationship to the Atty General? Even if the IG is completely independent, I suspect the environment may be more conducive to frank appraisals than it was before. Barr is certainly willing to advocate for the presidency. I'm not in the mood to place any bets though.

[Another Bob]

“I do think Trump needs to whack some people”. For an abundance of reasons. Agree completely. There hasn’t been a ton of that happening in the last three years (cf. KK’s comment).

“Barr in his Federalist Society speech sure sounded to me like he was incensed at the abuse of the office”. Yep. Any reason to interpret it as anything other than a rhetorical equivalent to a “stern letter”? I assume Barr has the authority to write and file indictments himself?

“ANY decision they made was anything but one made by neutral professionals”. Agree, Horowitz and Dunham will say the same. But rise to the level of illegality?

[Melinda]

BBerg has filed the paperwork to run

[henry]

Another Bob, what consequence is illegality at the top floor when these is an institution to be saved? Memos will be written. Irrelevant training assigned. Awards and raises for all. (Just like at FBI when Wray got there).

Until that pattern changes, why expect otherwise?

[Melinda]

TK-

Dr. Fiona Hill, dual citizen UK/US, once worked for the Open Society. Sean Davis has been digging.

[Buckeye]

Well the Ohio State - Penn State fumblethon was quite exciting!

At halftime, I thought we were cruising to a big victory.

Then the rain started.

It was amusing watching the whole stadium wiggling into their rain gear.

It was much less amusing watching Dobbins and company letting wet footballs get knocked loose during the third quarter.

However with their starting QB out, Penn State just could sustain drives. Particularly with Chase Young on the other side of the ball.

We went to a party before the game at the home of one of Jr.'s co-workers who lives three blocks from the hospital. Chased Markers Mark with Mimosas.

The 42 degree wet weather didn't bother me a bit:)

[KevlarKid]

Trust in Jesus and pass the motherfuckin armor piercin rounds. Damnation. Where's Bedford Forrest when we need 'im?

"...lord.... i caint chaaaannnnge! wont you flllllllyyyyyyyyieeeeee..."

you get where am at....

IHTFP

[Buckeye]

just couldn't sustain

[Neo]

When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats recuse themselves of all matters involving Republicans, then and only then should Pompeo even consider the idea of recusing himself.

[MissMarple2]

Melinda,

He won't win the nomination, despite his money.

Dem voters already have their own personal favorites, and he has several handicaps:

1. Billionaire without charisma or celebrity status.

2. Reputation from his time as mayor of being bossy and consumed with details of people's personal lives and habits.

3. Jewish, which will alienate the fairly large amti-Semitic wing of the DNC.

4. No sense of humor.

[Melinda]

speaking of Penn State, Sandusky to be re-sentenced. Court rules that Minimum sentencing requirements were ignored.

[anonamom]

Run where?

[rich]

>>>Run where?
Posted by: anonamom | November 23, 2019 at 06:10 PM<<<

???

i seemed to have missed something?

[anonamom]

https://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-empire-strikes-back/

People capable of feeling shame would not have immediately followed up the Russiagate hoax fiasco with another transparently phony—and in “substance” nearly identical—attempt to remove President Trump from office, overturn the 2016 election, and shower deplorable-Americans with contempt and hatred. But our ruling elites have no shame.

[KevlarKid]

Lights out for 75 yr old Sandusky.

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
19m
95% Approval Rate in the Republican Party, a record! Thank you!

[Another Bob]

“ Lights out for 75 yr old SanduskyL

Yup. He won’t breathe free air again, guidelines or no.

[Captain Hate]

ABob-

Plenty.

Yes. I'm not gonna act like my guesses are any better than the rest except the person being targeted by the derp state doesn't seem worried at all. But I certainly sympathize with having watched Failure Theater's multi seasonal run of getting their pansy asses kicked and slinking away like beaten dogs.

I think the curtain has closed on that for quite a while.