We are all Slave now.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Ok then what does it mean he got picked for that?

The Emperor had a lot of Stormtroopers on the Death Star that Luke and Leia ha to fight through before they got to Vader.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I think the question is ridiculous. If anyone is selected to the highest court because he's a safe vote to keep the person doing the nominating out of criminal trouble, our republic is in deep trouble no matter how the rest of the justices opine.

TM

Our Republic has been in trouble for a long time. That Kavanaugh is being selected in part for the reason you cite (which he is) isn't putting us in more trouble as much as merely confirming the trouble we've been in... and which we deny.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Ok then what does it mean he got picked for that?

From what I've read, he got picked mainly because Trump liked him. I'm sure the Presidential power / suspicion of the limits on that power stuff helped make his case, but I've heard it just came down to personality. Which tell us all we should run hard and fast from this guy.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Which is why my original question included the proviso that Trump is nuts so it’s possible. Yes the question should be ridiculous, but it isn’t because it is possible it’s 4-4 right now see in re Pelican Brief.

I don't know what Gorsuch, Thomas, Roberts and Alito will say on the extent that the President needs to comply with an Executive Branch investigation into his conduct, but I don't know that I want to find out either.

In other words, yeah, there could be four other votes for a broader view of executive power to quash investigations than I'd like. Note that it's a popular argument among the conservative pundit-sphere.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Which is why my original question included the proviso that Trump is nuts so it’s possible. Yes the question should be ridiculous, but it isn’t because it is possible it’s 4-4 right now see in re Pelican Brief.

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Ok then what does it mean he got picked for that?

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

Our Republic has been in trouble for a long time. That Kavanaugh is being selected in part for the reason you cite (which he is) isn't putting us in more trouble as much as merely confirming the trouble we've been in... and which we deny.

I really don't think I understand either of your attitudes.

Yes, our republic has moved from two somewhat reasonable parties to one which is completely unreasonable and one which seems powerless and unwilling to fight the erosion of democratic principles, effective government, integrity, and just plain old decency. But think about what you're saying. Trump is under investigation for colluding with an enemy of our country and for using the most powerful office in the world for personal profit (among other things, I'm sure). He has done everything he can to shut down that investigation and just chose a Supreme Court Justice because that person believes that the President is above the law.

The fact that Congress is even considering (for purely political reasons) this asshole for the highest court is evidence that we are in a place that not one of us could have imagined even ten years ago. Whether or not he is the deciding vote in whether or not the fucking President can be fucking indicted while in office (I mean, holy shit, people! How am I even writing this sentence?) is completely beside the point.

The Republican Party has completely destroyed any faith one could have in the government doing the actual right thing at all. They are destroying this country. A guy was nominated for Supreme Court because he doesn't believe the guy who nominated him, who is currently under investigation for serious, serious shit, can be held responsible for criminal acts, the Republicans are desperately trying to push him through before they get voted out and have hidden as much about him as they can, and you guys are shrugging. Jesus Christ.

TM

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

The Emperor had a lot of Stormtroopers on the Death Star that Luke and Leia ha to fight through before they got to Vader.

Wait a minute. this sounds like you were cheering for the rebels to win?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Yes, our republic has moved from two somewhat reasonable parties to one which is completely unreasonable and one which seems powerless and unwilling to fight the erosion of democratic principles, effective government, integrity, and just plain old decency. But think about what you're saying. Trump is under investigation for colluding with an enemy of our country and for using the most powerful office in the world for personal profit (among other things, I'm sure). He has done everything he can to shut down that investigation and just chose a Supreme Court Justice because that person believes that the President is above the law.

All of that is factual. I agree with all of that. I was just making the point that the causes of it are a long time coming, and they go back well beyond ten years ago. I'd say the causes of it go back to Watergate, the Southern Strategy, and Vietnam. And they're both social and economic.

I know I sound like a broken record citing citing Carter's "Malaise Speech," but he nailed the problems back in 1979. Bad energy policy, materialism, short-term thinking... Everything he warned about has come to pass.

We've been kicking the can on every issue imaginable for as long as I can recall. Debt, sexism, racism, the environment, needless wars, defense overspending... Shit. We punt and pretend on everything. 2008 was fucking disaster. And what'd we do in response? We bailed out the causes of the crisis and made them 3X as rich as they were before. What's our plan for addressing automation's impact on labor? Crickets.

Do you think this recovery, built on share buybacks and cheap corporate debt, is sustainable? It's Potemkin on steroids. Half of this country can't come up with $500 in a day if they need it. God fucking bless us in the next recession, when we have no tools left to fight.

I don't think this economy can withstand 7% mortgage rates! The biggest growing sector of it is a "gig economy," aka "subsistence economy."

These factors, and many more (our culture is 80% incurious and lowbrow), have brought us here. That was my only point. I do not disagree with you that Here is Bad. Not in the least. I think, to borrow from Neil Young, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.

The fact that Congress is even considering (for purely political reasons) this asshole for the highest court is evidence that we are in a place that not one of us could have imagined even ten years ago. Whether or not he is the deciding vote in whether or not the fucking President can be fucking indicted while in office (I mean, holy shit, people! How am I even writing this sentence?) is completely beside the point.

Maybe it's the nadir? Maybe the only way is up? I'd like to think that. But I don't.

The Republican Party has completely destroyed any faith one could have in the government doing the actual right thing at all. They are destroying this country. A guy was nominated for Supreme Court because he doesn't believe the guy who nominated him, who is currently under investigation for serious, serious shit, can be held responsible for criminal acts, the Republicans are desperately trying to push him through before they get voted out and have hidden as much about him as they can, and you guys are shrugging. Jesus Christ.

I'm not shrugging. I just don't think there's any will or ability left in this country to fix what ails us. It's too far gone to bring it back. To me, Kavanaugh looks like another pawn in drunken chess match between power players in DC. I'm with you, but as Voltaire would note, I've also got to tend my own garden.

TM[/QUOTE]

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

From what I've read, he got picked mainly because Trump liked him. I'm sure the Presidential power / suspicion of the limits on that power stuff helped make his case, but I've heard it just came down to personality. Which tell us all we should run hard and fast from this guy.

He's bad with money, just like Trump. Tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I have no patience with a person who insists on living a private sector life on a public servant's salary. Either spend less, Brett, or go get a real paying gig.

As an aside, he also looks like a Keebler Elf. Makes me think of those awful, chemical-filled mass produced cookies.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

All of that is factual. I agree with all of that. I was just making the point that the causes of it are a long time coming, and they go back well beyond ten years ago. I'd say the causes of it go back to Watergate, the Southern Strategy, and Vietnam. And they're both social and economic.

I know I sound like a broken record citing citing Carter's "Malaise Speech," but he nailed the problems back in 1979. Bad energy policy, materialism, short-term thinking... Everything he warned about has come to pass.

We've been kicking the can on every issue imaginable for as long as I can recall. Debt, sexism, racism, the environment, needless wars, defense overspending... Shit. We punt and pretend on everything. 2008 was fucking disaster. And what'd we do in response? We bailed out the causes of the crisis and made them 3X as rich as they were before. What's our plan for addressing automation's impact on labor? Crickets.

Do you think this recovery, built on share buybacks and cheap corporate debt, is sustainable? It's Potemkin on steroids. Half of this country can't come up with $500 in a day if they need it. God fucking bless us in the next recession, when we have no tools left to fight.

I don't think this economy can withstand 7% mortgage rates! The biggest growing sector of it is a "gig economy," aka "subsistence economy."

These factors, and many more (our culture is 80% incurious and lowbrow), have brought us here. That was my only point. I do not disagree with you that Here is Bad. Not in the least. I think, to borrow from Neil Young, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.

Maybe it's the nadir? Maybe the only way is up? I'd like to think that. But I don't.

I'm not shrugging. I just don't think there's any will or ability left in this country to fix what ails us. It's too far gone to bring it back. To me, Kavanaugh looks like another pawn in drunken chess match between power players in DC. I'm with you, but as Voltaire would note, I've also got to tend my own garden.

Strangely enough, I agree with everything you said until that last sentence. That's what got us where we are.

TM

[Oliver_Wendell_Ramone]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

As an aside, he also looks like a Keebler Elf. Makes me think of those awful, chemical-filled mass produced cookies.

The AG would like a word with you...

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Strangely enough, I agree with everything you said until that last sentence. That's what got us where we are.

TM

I agree with that as well. I've given up. And I think most people are like me. The system veers between dysfunctional and corrupted beyond repair. It's dispiriting to participate. So yes, I'm at fault.

ETA: I think you're the person who has blamed all of this on capitalism that has run amuck. I agree with you. But capitalism is our official form of govt, replacing democracy sometime back in the Reagan era. We worship it and think it infallible as the Soviets did Communism. And we're headed for exactly the same ditch in which they landed -- propping up a very broken system. Refusing to examine how it's fundamentally and terminally warped into something more bad than good for for most people... and something that cannot sustain itself in its current incarnation.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Wait a minute. this sounds like you were cheering for the rebels to win?

I was rooting for the Jawas, so things went south very quickly and never recovered.

[Replaced_Texan]

I gotta give her credit for associating his penis with fungus without at all implying venereal disease.

Trump’s bodyguard invites Daniels to dinner, which turns out to be an invitation to Trump’s penthouse, she writes, in a description of alleged events that Daniels has disclosed previously but which in the book are rendered with new and lurid detail. She describes Trump’s penis as “smaller than average” but “not freakishly small”.

“He knows he has an unusual penis,” Daniels writes. “It has a huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool…

“I lay there, annoyed that I was getting fucked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart...

“It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had, but clearly, he didn’t share that opinion.”

I'm now living with the non-zero chance that he will whip it out to prove her wrong. Probably on that stupid Presidential alert so we all get it.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I really don't think I understand either of your attitudes.

Yes, our republic has moved from two somewhat reasonable parties to one which is completely unreasonable and one which seems powerless and unwilling to fight the erosion of democratic principles, effective government, integrity, and just plain old decency. But think about what you're saying. Trump is under investigation for colluding with an enemy of our country and for using the most powerful office in the world for personal profit (among other things, I'm sure). He has done everything he can to shut down that investigation and just chose a Supreme Court Justice because that person believes that the President is above the law.

The fact that Congress is even considering (for purely political reasons) this asshole for the highest court is evidence that we are in a place that not one of us could have imagined even ten years ago. Whether or not he is the deciding vote in whether or not the fucking President can be fucking indicted while in office (I mean, holy shit, people! How am I even writing this sentence?) is completely beside the point.

The Republican Party has completely destroyed any faith one could have in the government doing the actual right thing at all. They are destroying this country. A guy was nominated for Supreme Court because he doesn't believe the guy who nominated him, who is currently under investigation for serious, serious shit, can be held responsible for criminal acts, the Republicans are desperately trying to push him through before they get voted out and have hidden as much about him as they can, and you guys are shrugging. Jesus Christ.

TM

Asking whether the vote count currently makes 1 more vote matter is not the same thing as saying “if it doesn’t matter, then it’s funny that Trump picked him for that reason” and is not the same thing as saying “boy it sure is fun to watch this Trump guy’s hijinx.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

While completely accurate, these two sentences make me want to vomit.

TM

Yup.