We are all Slave now.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

I'm not sure that convincing simple people is a crime, although I am no expert in campaign-finance law. OTOH, hacking is often criminal.

Let me clear that up for you: It's not. Convincing a simpleton to vote for you by bald facing lying to him is not a crime at all. Ever. Anywhere in this country. That act goes by another name: Politics.

I'm not sure that he is wired for fun. His psychological needs are different from many people's.

I know a few people who have golfed with him (recently and in years past), and a few who've been on flights with him over the past few decades. He's supposedly funny and loose, but can flip into aggressive, competitive, and angry mode at the drop of a dime. He's pretty much exactly what you see on TV. Spoiled brat who cannot tolerate obstacles.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

So the "convincing simple people" was fine, in and of itself, but when Russia hacked to get emails to help convince the simple minds a line was crossed?

Yes.

I'm still hoping for stuff to make this no fun, so he decides to not run in 2020, telling us he's fixed everything.

I could see him declaring victory and campaigning tirelessly for someone else (not Pence). He loves the rallies and he's a brilliant political marketer. He'd probably love a deal where the GOP lets him take the $100mil he's raised and sets him loose on his jet to fly around the country whipping up the Trump Nation for some other GOP candidate. He could claim he's tired and old and that he's changed the nation and now someone younger needs to take the baton.

Oddly, he wouldn't be lying there. He has changed the nation in some very strange and in many instances disturbing ways

[Hank Chinaski]

Being Fringey’s FB friend breaks my heart. She is looking for assisted living.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I know a few people who have golfed with him (recently and in years past), and a few who've been on flights with him over the past few decades.

Any of those people women?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Being Fringey’s FB friend breaks my heart. She is looking for assisted living.

yup

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

For sure. Which is why I asked you to ban Penske for copying my Juan sock and to ban GGG for his Hank Washington Avatar sock- which you seem to have decided was fine

But is there proof our boy endorsed the hack to facilitate the convincing? That was my point.

I'd forgotten about Hank Washington.

Seems to have struck a nerve, though.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

How do you think he's fucked? You think Mitch will actually pull the trigger?

I think he's fucked in that his ability to control his monsters is gone. As the battle starts heating up for who succeeds him in controlling the Republican Party, he's going to become more and more irrelevant, and more and more vulnerable to legal/impeachment action. As his legal problems become more and more laughable and indefensible, the vultures in his own party will be starting to peck at him.

But I'm betting that drama really plays out next fall/winter/spring, from the primary campaign preliminaries to the primaries themselves.

Don't be surprised to see him take primaries from both "true believers" and the "we're just middle-of-the-road bigots, not crazies" crowd. Who thinks Coulter might run?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I'd forgotten about Hank Washington.

Seems to have struck a nerve, though.

You copyright infringed my copyright infringement Do that shit on the Detroit board I'd have banned your ass.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Any of those people women?

Yes. (One was a bit of a freak.)

I was at a party with Jr. once or twice. I'd nothing to say to him as I didn't care much for or about his father back then, either, and he didn't seem terribly dynamic or interesting. Met his current gf once also. She's quite liberal in her makeup application. Nice rack. Seemed pretty smart.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I think he's fucked in that his ability to control his monsters is gone. As the battle starts heating up for who succeeds him in controlling the Republican Party, he's going to become more and more irrelevant, and more and more vulnerable to legal/impeachment action. As his legal problems become more and more laughable and indefensible, the vultures in his own party will be starting to peck at him.

But I'm betting that drama really plays out next fall/winter/spring, from the primary campaign preliminaries to the primaries themselves.

Don't be surprised to see him take primaries from both "true believers" and the "we're just middle-of-the-road bigots, not crazies" crowd. Who thinks Coulter might run?

Yup. Those vultures want him gone last year.

But who the hell is going to run against him? Gillibrand? Harris? Kasich? Romney? All DOA. Warren oddly seems to have the best chance.

Warren appeals to a sense of fairness. She's blunt, clear in her aims, and has a simple message. When I was watching that Tucker Carlson populist speech people were talking about a few weeks back, the word "fairness" resonated. It's such a simple concept, but so psychologically powerful. It's well known that humans have a strong bent toward fairness, and a strong dislike of unfairness. If you distilled all of Warren's messages and policies to one word, it would be fairness. Crazy as it sounds, I think for all the same reasons Bernie and Trump got so much traction in 2016, Warren will get traction in 2020. She appeals to people's instinctual attraction to fairness.

Fairness is also a great concept to use to attack inequality. Redistribution is a dividing word. It's taking from one and giving to another. But fairness? Fairness is just leveling the playing field to remove the institutional barriers those at the top are employing to take an unfair % of money at cost to the rest of society.

And she already has a great campaign song by Neil Young. (Most people favor the acoustic versions, but I think the rare electric versions are better.)

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

Yup. Those vultures want him gone last year.

But who the hell is going to run against him? Gillibrand? Harris? Kasich? Romney? All DOA. Warren oddly seems to have the best chance.

Warren appeals to a sense of fairness. She's blunt, clear in her aims, and has a simple message. When I was watching that Tucker Carlson populist speech people were talking about a few weeks back, the word "fairness" resonated. It's such a simple concept, but so psychologically powerful. It's well known that humans have a strong bent toward fairness, and a strong dislike of unfairness. If you distilled all of Warren's messages and policies to one word, it would be fairness. Crazy as it sounds, I think for all the same reasons Bernie and Trump got so much traction in 2016, Warren will get traction in 2020. She appeals to people's instinctual attraction to fairness.

Fairness is also a great concept to use to attack inequality. Redistribution is a dividing word. It's taking from one and giving to another. But fairness? Fairness is just leveling the playing field to remove the institutional barriers those at the top are employing to take an unfair % of money at cost to the rest of society.

And she already has a great campaign song by Neil Young. (Most people favor the acoustic versions, but I think the rare electric versions are better.)

The Dems have a deep bench of potential candidates, and we'll see who proves themselves on the Campaign. The only one I've seen so far who I can't take is Tulsi Gabbard, but even her brand of crazy is wayyyyy better than Trump's. And of course I'd prefer not to have Bernie, but I think lots of people are sick of him and I'm not sure he'll even run now that he'll need to show his tax returns.

The big question is the Rs. I think there will be a field, almost unheard of with an incumbent, and you could see someone like Coulter running to his right. Maybe even Pence. You'll get a small crowd to the "center", e.g., more respectable racists, who will likely cancel each other out.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

You copyright infringed my copyright infringement Do that shit on the Detroit board I'd have banned your ass.

Banned in Detroit.

Not as catchy as Banned in Boston.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

The Dems have a deep bench of potential candidates, and we'll see who proves themselves on the Campaign. The only one I've seen so far who I can't take is Tulsi Gabbard, but even her brand of crazy is wayyyyy better than Trump's. And of course I'd prefer not to have Bernie, but I think lots of people are sick of him and I'm not sure he'll even run now that he'll need to show his tax returns.

The big question is the Rs. I think there will be a field, almost unheard of with an incumbent, and you could see someone like Coulter running to his right. Maybe even Pence. You'll get a small crowd to the "center", e.g., more respectable racists, who will likely cancel each other out.

It will be interesting to see how things develop if/when the GOP starts to realize that this guy isn't getting re-elected.

I don't want to be too confident about that prediction, because the guy drives turnout on both sides and turnout is everything, but his opponent this time isn't going to have the same baggage and those with third party sympathies should have a much harder time deluding themselves about what the real choices are.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

This cat is like the Bill Hicks of economic punditry. I don't agree with all of what he says, but where I don't, I still have to acknowledge: He's right and I'm not.

Epic mic drops: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/video...shutdown-video

"Davos is a family reunion for the people who broke the world..."

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

The Dems have a deep bench of potential candidates, and we'll see who proves themselves on the Campaign. The only one I've seen so far who I can't take is Tulsi Gabbard, but even her brand of crazy is wayyyyy better than Trump's. And of course I'd prefer not to have Bernie, but I think lots of people are sick of him and I'm not sure he'll even run now that he'll need to show his tax returns.

The big question is the Rs. I think there will be a field, almost unheard of with an incumbent, and you could see someone like Coulter running to his right. Maybe even Pence. You'll get a small crowd to the "center", e.g., more respectable racists, who will likely cancel each other out.

Pence is unelectable. He wasn't even going to win reelection as Governor in Indiana. Coulter is also unelectable, and not likely to run (skeletons). Kasich looks electable but isn't. Too moderate and establishment. And forget Romney. He's not even worth discussing. Same goes for Flake.

Some cryptofascist like Cotton might emerge as a contender. In which case I am leaving the country.

Sasse could make a run of it. He's marketable to a broad enough crowd of voters, and pretty and inoffensive.