Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Lucille for Attorney General?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Jesus fucking Christ.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

People need more time
To stop our love from slowly dying
Ask ourselves if we've tried
To stop before it slides by

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_82VE8oV1o

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Just curious: I agree that Hillary is compromised and not the most popular candidate, and I think that had other Democrats not been scared out of the race, one could have beaten her because she's just not that great as a candidate. As a politician, which is to separate the governing from the running, I think she's a mixed bag, with some characteristics that I like and some that I really don't. What do you and don't you, personally, like about Hillary?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Why do you think white supremacists like him so much?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Unclear to me how this is different from other government email. The Chinese hacked the government and made off with all sorts of information about current and former government employees, presumably including me. That is much more than anyone has ever learned from Hillary's email, from what we know. Because it doesn't score political points at anyone's expense and because Congress would have to appropriate money to fix the problem, no one gives a shit. Anyone who professes concern about Hillary's email but can't be bothered about the government's other infosec problems is making their priorities clear.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Of course the government does a crap job at protecting confidential information. Bur if it were a state.gov account, presumably it would at least be monitored for such hacks, and if it were hacked, it would be more likely that it could be determined what sorts of information were compromised.

From the hearing:

Cong. Blum: Director Comey, are you implying in that statement, that the private email servers of secretary Clinton's (sic) were perhaps less secure than a GMail account that is used for free by a billion people around this planet?

Comey: Yes. And I'm not looking to pick on Gmail, their security's actually pretty good. The weakness is in the individual users, but yes, GMail has full time security staff, and thinks about patching and logging and protecting their systems in a way that was not the case here.

Blum: I'd like to ask you what kind of judgment, we've talked a lot about judgment today, does this decision to potentially expose to hackers classified information on an email service that's less secure than GMail, your words, what does that suggest to you?

Comey: It.. It suggests the kind of callousness that I talked about.


But here is my favorite exchange from the hearing. Comey defending Hillary on the basis that she is "unsophisticated". Especially after all of those memes loved by her supporters that used that picture of her with her sunglasses on reading her blackberry.

Rep. Blum: In a press conference, Secretary Clinton assured us that her private email server was secure, saying, the server was on private property guarded by the Secret Service. Now, this would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. I know, you know, my constituents in Eastern Iowa know that you don't have to be a cat burglar to hack into an email server, and you don't need a cloth to wipe a server clean. Now you would think that a former United States Senator, one would think that a former Secretary of State would know this as well. Would you agree with that statement.

Comey: You would think. Although, as I said before, one of the things I've learned in this case is that the Secretary might not have been as sophisticated as people assumed. . . so I would assume the same thing about someone who had been a Senator and a high ranking official, I'm not sure it's a fair assumption in this case.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Uh, no. Not sure why you think this.

I think that's fair. It's equally fair of Congress and other government officials who let the government's many other problems fester.

I would hope that Hillary and other Secretaries of State, Democratic and Republican, are not selected for what they do or don't know about infosec and email systems operations, and have talented people to rely on. The idea that Hillary did this all herself is laughable. Having worked in the government, I am pretty certain that no Secretary of State has had people as remotely qualified as those in the private sector, for reasons that are pretty obvious when you stop to think about it, and which unfortunately Congress hasn't the least interest in solving.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

Perhaps she's just not a very good candidate until you consider all the others....

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

they also hate Arab more than jews. The one serious right winger I know supports Israel, since, you know, it stand up to the Arabs. This same guy openly wishes the Nazis had beaten Stalin, as the world would be better. I know Stalin did some bad stuff, but that wish right there would result in a whole lot of Jews dying, if granted. Point is, he doesn't think much of Jews but still strongly supports Israel. I'm just surprised Trump doesn't run hard as the friend of Israel/Jews.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I go on my usual 4 month hiatus, log in, and see that SEC Chick took my spot as the resident smarmy right-winger.

Thank god.

SlaveNo(AWESOME!!!!)more

PS - Where is Sebby? Where is Club? Where is that fake Harvard guy? Penske?

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

She is a lying political whore* who deserves to be hanged for treason**.

And yet, despite all that, she still may be a better candidate than Trump.

SlaveNo(There's the Rub)More

* Proven beyond all reasonable doubt

** Debatable, if you read the statutes differently than Comey.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

Look how well Bernie did, and I don't think he's all that strong either.

Welcome back to the same old place you laughed about.
 

Sebby is here. And although Hank hasn't mentioned that he "went to school in Boston" lately, he's around, too. I haven't seen Club in a while and I can't remember the last time I saw Penske.

And I wouldn't call SEC Chick "smarmy" (NTTAWWT), but that's probably because she has nice hair.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

* All politicians lie, but I get your point. I think she's more like most politicians than, say, Presidents Obama or GHW Bush. Not that either of them don't fib/mislead/tell untruths/even lie; for them it seems it was more about either getting thru a primary or giving the spoonful of sugar to get something done.

And I don't think that one should use the word "whore" (or other gendered insults) in referring to women politicians. I've said that to people who use similar words re Governor Palin, btw.

** Really? Do you feel the same way about General Petreaus in light of that different reading of the statutes?

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

In the Democratic primaries and caucuses, there is almost always going to be 20% who will go for whom they perceive as the farthest left candidate and 20% who will vote against Hillary, with some overlap. He pretty much failed to get anyone else, and the race was over by Super Tuesday and she was saving money for the general from that point on.

I know the Bernie Bros had other fantasies, but they got clobbered.

The most serious other potential candidate was Biden, who I think would have run if he thought he had a chance. But with Bernie taking that first 20%, and being ready to declare victory and keep going even if that was all he ever took, Biden never had a shot unless Obama openly backed him, which is why he didn't run.

Hillary is simply a strong candidate, with a solid field, high name recognition, the ability to raise money, and good debate performance. She tends to manage her mistakes well, knows when to apologize and move on, when to fight it. No woman in America and no democrat in America is going to get acclaimed President without a fight, but so far the only candidate to beat her in a race is Obama, and he is extraordinarily gifted and his campaign was a true thing of beauty.

So when the professionals sat down to really assess her as a candidate, and figure out if they wanted to take on the battle, they didn't see the opening. Bernie's people were either too stupid to realize they were beaten or too afraid of Bernie to make this clear to him. I wouldn't hire Tad Devine to run a congressional race at this point.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

Actually, only Obama among the top candidates beats her politifact ratings.

But we aren't dealing with the real world with slave.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

So it was a busy weekend on the insanity that is the upcoming GOP convention.

1. There have been reports from the Dump Trump organizers that they have enough votes on the rules committee to unbind the delegates on the first ballot. 28 votes are required to pass a minority report, which then goes to the convention floor for a vote by the delegates, which requires a simple majority to pass. Not all of the 28 votes have gone on record, because, you know, all the death threats and things that come from Trump supporters.

2. With Trump reportedly leaning towards selecting a pro-choice Democrat for a VP, another group is putting together a plan to make a rules change to allow the delegates to reject Trump's VP choice and insert their own. The problem is that no one who cares about their reputation wants the job.

3. The GOP sent an email Saturday to delegates that were not supposed to report until Thursday that they had less than 24 hours to report if they wanted to observe the Contest Committee. It is being reported that the members are trying to block anti-Trump delegates by challenging their credentials.

At this point it is virtual GOP civil war. I think that the attempt to boot anti-Trump delegates is real, but will probably have limited success. I place long odds on dumping Trump at the convention. While I would hope that he would see the fact that a Dem VP choice would really hurt him with delegates supporting him out of obligation, which far outnumber actual cult members, I think that he would scoff at an ideological purity test (and pro-life is probably the top one for the GOP) as a challenge to him. I place the best odds on pissing on his VP choice.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Not sure if it's literally true, but I saw someone say that Comey said Hillary's private server may have been hacked, but had she used a state department email, it certainly would have been hacked. Which was amusing and truthy.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

One of those people lied specifically to start a war, but, you know, normal stuff.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Once upon a time, Presidents and Vice Presidents didn't need to get along. #alien&seditionacts

I ain't no senator's son, son.
 

I believe you are thinking of President GHW Bush's son, President George W. Bush. Perhaps I should have said "Bush the Elder" instead. Or maybe "George Bush père."

Carry on.

Re: I ain't no senator's son, son.
 

Whoops. Missed the H. Sorry.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

Bernie overperformed. I don't think he overperformed because he's talented.

HRC had a number of political strengths, things like establishment support, and maybe I'm not giving her enough credit when I say that she's not a great politician, because no one handed her the establishment support. She did what she had to do to line it up, and scared others out of the race. But what I take from Bernie's performance is that there was room in the race for others to get in and do well, because even with her strengths, her support wasn't monolithic.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Those corporate titans of funk, Funk, Inc., are back for today's Daily Dose. According to the description accompanying the video, this track ("Kool Is Back") has been sampled by everybody from Ice-T to the Geto Boyz to Yes. Yes I said Yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2QnkCvp1dQ

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

Obviously, I disagree on Bernie's over-performance, which is why I said what I did in response to you pretty much saying the same thing above, so I won't belabor the general point. (By the way, I also disagree as to his talent level; I think he is very talented as a campaigner, part of why he'd be an interesting choice to head the DNC).

But I have to take issue with your phrasing. The "establishment"? Really? Your thought process is getting Bernified? I didn't think you succumbed to that kind of mushy thinking.

Is the "establishment" minorities? Unions? Feminists? Environmentalists? Emily's List, as Bernie pronounced? Funk, Inc.? Grace Slick and The Great Society? Or is there some velvet fist exercised by corporate-funded washington think-tanks, maybe members of the trilateral commission, who reach out and pull all those millions of levers for her?

And please don't tell me to "connect the dots"....

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

This is a very good piece on Hillary and why she doesn't resonate as a candidate.

http://www.vox.com/a/hillary-clinton...ership-quality

TM

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

insightful. Thanks.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Part of what made The Meters so great was the drumming. Zigaboo Modeliste blended funk and second line rhythms to create funky drum lines that had a distinctive New Orleans style. As is evidenced in today's Daily Dose, "Live Wire":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbW7m9ApWB8

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

No, yes, some, yes, yes, no, no, perhaps.

HRC did a fantastic job at lining up financial support and endorsements from individuals and institutions influential within the Democratic Party, which -- as I think you said -- is what scared off so many other potential candidates from running against her.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

And of building relationships and reputation with key groups of voters like minorities and women.

Black votes matter.

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

Come on GGG, all votes matter. :D

Re: Kind of like democracy as a system....
 

Nah, votes of jackass berners in blue states mean shit. There's not enough of them to matter.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

So you may not believe me on this, but I am not the biggest 2nd Amendment person (certainly not by Texas standards). I personally have not fired a gun since I took riflery at girl scout camp 30 years ago. My parents retired to the family farm/ranch and on occasion may use a shotgun to dispose of nuisance armadillos near the house or something, but that's about it. I do believe that the 2nd amendment was not intended to protect a citizen's right to hunt, but to possess items needed to overthrow a tyrannical government. That said, I would be willing to discuss reasonable enhancements to background checks and other possible measures, or at least consider them.

That said, Obama doesn't really do anything to bring others over to a reasonable compromise when he makes outlandish statements at a memorial service like it is easier for a teenager to get a Glock than a book. Not make a reasonable point that some communities may have more gun shops or illegal gun sales than bookstores (which would also be kind of inappropriate for a memorial service, but whatever).

I know how disappointed my kids are when they get a Glock with their Happy Meal instead of a character toy. My daughter can't go through the grocery store without wanting to buy a Glock with her allowance. And with no background check! And we often go to the Glocks-a-Billion store or Half Price Glocks to browse, because it's more fun than to buy online.

If there is a place where a handgun is easier to procure than a book, I would lay odds that place is run by Democrats.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I hope you listened to the rest of the speech.

Our Walmarts up here don't sell guns, but down by you, aren't guns and books just different aisles of the same store?

I have been told that we have more gun stores than book stores in Mass., but haven't checked that particular claim out with any care. I hope it's not true.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I would say that your ability to zero in on one detail of a larger conversation in order to either vilify Obama or dismiss his larger point is impressive, but it's such a common, transparent, and childish approach used so frequently by the right that, alas, I cannot.

TM

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

To be fair, it's an approach used by anyone who is so heavily ideologically biased or personally prejudiced against an individual that they don't want to listen or interact with them, so it's not just the Republicans who are guilty of it.

Isis, too.

;)

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I did listen to the entire speech. I didn't find it particularly sensitive or appropriate to talk about how none of us is innocent in front of the families of slain officers. Probably not what they wanted to hear right at that moment.

It goes to my point about why he would insert such an absurd lie that detracts from his message. If he doesn't want people to focus on his crazy BS claims because it detracts from his message, perhaps he should cut out the brazen lies intended to politicize an event of public mourning.

As for Wal-Mart, they changed the mix of guns they sell towards hunting and shotguns, and have pretty strict requirements (as in they won't sell until the check comes back clean, not after expiration of the waiting period). In any case, you would still need a background check to buy there, which is better than people buying illegally.

ETA I concede that Trump is way worse in saying inappropriate things. Like how he knows what the BLM protesters feel because he was oppressed by the GOP in the primary.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I haven't heard the whole speech but did look at a transcript. I've always been a fan of honest eulogies, not sugarcoated ones. When I gave a eulogy for my father, I talked of his imperfections and his struggles and not just his accomplishments, and I think it did him justice much more than endless praise would.

Yes, we are all imperfect, and we all must work continually at our institutions. I think that part of the discussion was very deeply informed by his faith. I think the idea that none of us individually (not just our institutions) is ever innocent is one of the more profound and fundamental teachings of Christ.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

It's never good to hurry a fine funk groove. Let it move at it's own pace. Unwind and stretch out a bit. Today's Daily Dose is more from the Nite-Liters. Afro-Strut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDQlxBUdS-Q