Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Double peace!

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

QED

But I’ve studied the posts of the master so I knew this.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Yeah, as his constituent, I don’t really think he was “forced” to resign. I think he knew the right thing to do and he did it, and I think it was coming before any of the senators said anything publicly.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

I never really got the sense he was trying to tell us that he didn’t do it.

Yeah, he never outright admitted any of it, but he didn’t exactly deny either.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Ah. "As his constituent,"* which I assume means you have a special, close, personal relationship with him that non-constituents could never share.

I assume he asked for an investigation multiple times and insisted that a number of the allegations against him were demonstrably false because he just wanted to save face before resigning.

TM

*This is almost as good as "As an attorney..." followed by whatever bullshit you want others to think is somehow automatically legitimate.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

First of all, that's not true. He made a number of denials, including stating that the claim by the congressional aide that accused him of trying to forcibly kiss her was "categorically not true." Maybe he didn't inform his constituents of this particular denial?

Second of all, in the full swing of the #metoo movement (and the fact that there was a photo of him acting the fool, but not actually committing an assault), he had to be very careful about what he said. I genuinely think he wanted to be respectful of the women accusing him. And if it was true that he asked her to kiss him for the skit, could he publicly shit all over her reading of that request? Sure it's true that he asked, but her read may be all the fucking way out of left field.

Third, I'm arguing that he should have had an opportunity to help define and address his actions. It just can't be that someone gets accused and that's it, their career is over. I am not sure I understand why this is controversial. It is the very fucking basis of our legal system.

Again, I'm not saying he shouldn't have been forced out. I'm saying that there should have been an ethics hearing/investigation in which he could have defended himself. There are surely enough allegations of inappropriate behavior for him to be booted. But this is not how it should work for anybody.

TM

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

I got the same sense from his comments to the media. He seemed to have recognized that he'd been sleazy in the past. But this does not mean he had to give up his job.

The punishment of Franken was wildly disproportionate to the crime. In any other normal time, rather than at the peak of #metoo, people would have reacted to Franken in a circumspect manner. His timing was bad. A mob wanted every #metoo violator's head and was unable and unwilling to differentiate the behaviors of a Weinstein from a Charlie Rose from a Franken from an Aziz Ansari.

Zero tolerance = Zero thinking. Franken gave up too soon and paid a price far too high, and we're all much poorer for it. Gillibrand is a useless operator, driven only by her own ambition. Franken was actually a thoughtful legislator with a voice. And yet she persists, adjusting her every syllable to the latest polls, maneuvering and conniving to appear as Presidential mettle. Franken sits silent, a voice of reason we very much need in the Senate, probably touching up scripts and doing some executive producing.

One last point on Franken... Ty suggested that I was arguing that Gillibrand cannot be elected President because of what she did to Franken. This is incorrect. Gillibrand cannot be elected President because Gillibrand is a lousy candidate with nothing original to say. She wouldn't last five minutes in a debate with Warren or Harris. She's an entirely political confection, saccharine, hollow... the utterly vacant creation of focus groups, consultants, and donors.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

In the bowels of flyover land, one would occasionally hear, "Attorney So and So?"

This was a bit starting at first. Partly because it's clumsy, partly because it's like hearing someone say, "CPA So and So?" Or "Engineer So and So?"

The reply, "Hey now... It's early and I haven't seen any need to insult you," tended to amuse court reporters.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Congratulations! I hope your next endeavors are peaceful and/or fulfilling.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

I'm not offended by it. I understand the urge to skip the adversarial and investigatory processes. The adversarial process in courts involves bullshitters competing against one another to see whose narrative tale makes the most sense to a jury of middle minded common people.

I believe the adversarial system should be done away with in most cases. Most humans are simply not adequate judges of what has or has not happened. They are swayed by emotion, they cannot process information adequately to see issues from all sides, and they're easily manipulated by presentation of a compelling narrative. The only proper jury member would be a person who was 100% logical, 0% emotional. This person does not exist.

But the cry to short circuit this flawed process is even worse than this flawed process. It's the worst of emotional reactions, often infused with a nice dose of mob-think and self-righteousness.

The fix, I think, would be to establish professional juries and truly dispassionate investigators for all issues, from Franken situations to crimes to civil actions. Pay these jurors well and keep them anonymous. Vet them for selection by giving them tests to assess their ability to think in a purely logical manner.

Instead of having prosecutors, have only investigators, whose sole charge is to assess the statistical likelihood of certain facts having occurred. Instead of charging someone with something, develop a list of potential facts and liable actors and then use a process to determine the most and least likely explanations of what occurred.

No more adversaries. No more "hammer and nail" issue in which prosecutors or claimants are compelled to seek the win at all costs.

And yes, a star chamber of smart people who could look at something like the Franken Affair and say, "As a threshold issue, of the punishments which may be meted out, loss of the Senate seat should not be included."

Some may say this is elitist. But if you've been involved in our current system, I think you'd agree, some form of enlightened logic-based system has to be employed. It's kind of like a hyper-logical JAMS or AAA for all situations.

I'd also use an algorithm to comb the evidence and facts and assess the veracity of any finding by a human jury or investigation. If the computer finds it's flawed, out it goes.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Yes, computers are the answer!

With Cavanaugh I asked why is there a "fitness and character" test to be a lawyer, but nothing to be a Supreme Court Judge, for life. Most states' bars have some process to sort out past bad acts. I've no idea how they do it, but have never heard any implication of bias from the process. A senate committee is no answer, as half will hate the person in question, and even the "friendly" (Gillibrand) are often driven by their own futures.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Can you buy your own airplane?

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Wisconsin! It drives me crazy.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Seriously, the more sophisticated a person is, the less he sees the world in black and white. A jury of enlightened thinkers can understand the mitigating and aggravating circumstances and render a fair and logical assessment of a less sophisticated person's behavior. The reverse, however, is not always possible.

And you certainly cannot have simplistic thinkers, or people with overdeveloped notions of morality or "right 'n wrong" judging other less sophisticated people's actions. That's what wrongly lands people on death row.

The cure ultimately becomes a computer and scrapping of the adversarial system, a somewhat barbarous legal relic.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

I makes me sad someone's low enough to think there's reason to aggrandize that credential.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Can you believe this bullshit?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/u...dard-2020.html

First, nobody EVER branded Hillary as shrill. I read that on the internet. Second, the idea that men would use the world shrill to disparage uppity women is laughable. The beauty of the word shrill is that is it almost exclusively used by women, to great cutting effect. By the way, while on the uppity women tip, you should know that it's no longer "o.k." to state that these women are "persisting." McConnell ruined that for everyone.

But that's not why I am here. I am just here to share a video of Cardi B in homage to her win at the Grammys. It's profane because, well, Cardi B:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu9EX9YRTdQ

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Who said Gillibrand was shrill? I said she's soulless. She's a stuffed suit. And an ambitious opportunist.

I think she's a zero. Like Mitt Romney was a zero. I think she's guided by nothing but focus groups and polls, and has no independent thought.

So without knowing who exactly you were writing to, or what your point was, here's my view on the candidates:

Beto: Vacant media darling, McCandidate
Harris: Smart and thoughtful, but has to up the charisma a bit
Warren: Super-smart and formidable (if people will pay attention to her sometimes complex policy arguments)
Bernie: Past sell by date
Klobuchar: Don't know anything about her
Booker: Smart, but overthinking and too perfect, occasionally precious
Biden: He can walk away with it, as he could have in 2016
Gillibrand: 0.00, total phony

Kasich: DOA, egomaniac
Christie: Trump v. Trump
Romney: Oh, fuck... Not again

Schultz: Not dynamic enough to be a spoiler... 15 min almost up

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

You don't understand computers. And I'd say you are likely reading too much science fiction, and the wrong stuff at that.

And now the child can understand why this is the law of all the land.*
 

James Fucking Baldwin explains systemic racism and why it doesn’t really matter if Not Bob in particular hates black people, because BigLaw sure doesn’t have very many black equity partners.

*This song gave a young Not Bobby a somewhat inaccurate view of the progress of the civil rights movement.

ETA: I think that it’s “understand THAT” and not “understand WHY,” but whatever.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

“What about Sherrod Brown!?!” asks the product of a union-proud, JFK/RFK worshipping family in the Ancestral Homeland.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Perhaps you are confusing me with someone else.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

The Senators are all over-rated. Biden too. Someone is going to emerge as a good candidate because they perform in this race, not just because they won a Senate seat. So I guess that leaves Beto. Where are Democratic Governors?

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Yahoo News reports that when staffers left her office, Sen. Klobuchar would call their new bosses to get offers rescinded.

Ooof. I’m perplexed about how to feel about this whole mashugana. Would a dude senator be facing this level of interest? And yet, if true, calling a new employer to fuck over a person who has the temerity to want to work elsewhere takes it to a different level.

At any rate, this is some @dick_nixon level oppo dump.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Wait. One. Minute. Hahahahaha! I see what you did there, you rascal. I posted an article that talked about how 1) Hillary was branded as shrill, and 2) current female politicians are also branded as shrill. I did so to gently poke fun at the fact that you previously had stated emphatically that neither is true. Then you used a little sleight of hand (you sneaky devil!) to make it seem like what we were REALLY talking about was whether YOU had specifically called Gillibrand shrill, which allowed you to INDIGNANTLY DENY THAT YOU HAD MADE ANY SUCH CLAIM!!!!!!! Even though I never suggested that you had. Oh you, you almost tricked me. I was sitting here thinking, "He's right! He never actually said Gillibrand was shrill. Why was I repeatedly and earnestly insisting that he had?" Your sematic trickery, it never ceases to amuse. As for my point, it was to post that Mononeon/Cardi B video. I love how the bass player, Mononeon, picks up so well on the melodic AND percussive qualities of Cardi B's speech. Also, notice how his bass is backwards. He is lefted handed and plays it upside down.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

I do not know know what "should have been" means in this context.

I take you to be saying that your sense of fairness tells you that some process is due before he is punished. I don't disagree.

But he wasn't punished and the question was a political one, not a legal one. Politically, he was in an untenable position. Fairness and due process don't come into it.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Yes, it used to be "normal" to excuse the bad behavior of men toward women. That it's not is progress, particularly the type of progress Democrats try to demonstrate that they favor.

I've heard two lengthy interviews with her recently and don't agree at all.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Don't underestimate Gilli's ability to connect. Her first political victory was the congressional district I grew up in, and with a couple of minor and brief exceptions it had been Republican since the 19th century (and, indeed, my Congressman's family had held the seat as Federalists, Whigs, and Republicans). She has an extraordinary amount of energy and if you are ever in the room with her, you leave feeling like you're her best friend and she listened to every word you said. It's the kind of charm Bill Clinton had. Could play very well in Iowa caucuses.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

I love this. Dude has never broken single digits in a Dem primary field. The only basis to believe he's more viable than any of the rest is name recognition.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Don't forget Mayor Pete, Julian Castro or someone named Jim Delaney who is not the Commissioner of the B1G.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Why trouble Seb with all that? Any word if Johnson and Stein are running again? This time they’ll def get that 5%!

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Mr. Bueller, enjoy your life off. Might I recommend Greek beaches?

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

I'm betting Seb ends up deciding all the candidates are imperfect so why not just screw it and vote for Trump. After all, he lowered someone's taxes.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

It's not really an oppo dump. Those calls are coming from inside the house.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Oddly, though I disagree with her on much, I could vote for Warren just because it’s so rare to have an expert on bankruptcy and consumer debt running for office. And I think she’d pass bills making it easier for millennials to shed debt.

I also secretly want to see the corporate state implode. She’s a step in that direction.

We need the market to fall to 15k and masssive forced debt forgiveness to have honest economy and give the kids a chance.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Nope. He had a chance. Had he risen to the situation, even to the lowest bar of acting like an arguable adult, I could be swayed. Sadly, he’s been a bigger train wreck than my worst case predictions.

It’s not like he’s a fool. There’s an argument for putting a torpedo in China and stalling globalization. But I don’t think he does anything for any thoughtful reason. He’s just blundering through, incoherent, and without a plan, lashing out at media enemies like Oliver Stone’s paranoid version of Nixon. Only instead of paintings to assail, Trump has Twitter — a giant toilet bowl of his ADD effluent.

I think I save money with his tax plan. But not enough for me to vote for him.

Re: Thanks for the Recommendation
 

I clicked on that page and thought I was back in 2002 again.

Icky from Doha on his way to Bangkok

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Sorry all my money goes to paying for my boss’s G5.

Re: Thanks for the Recommendation
 

Tell me how Bangkok is - I'm going to be there in 2 weeks.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Seems like maybe we should be talking about ways of achieving the debt forgiveness goal that don't require massive pain that will include kids experiencing highly levels and longer period of unemployment, that will put them in a hole not dissimilar to their debt.

Re: Northam, Warren, Fairfax...
 

Most of that debt is held by or guaranteed by the govt. It'd just be another trillion on the 22 trillion pile. If we believe that the national debt doesn't matter much, and there are compelling arguments that's true, why not just let the millenials off the hook and drive all those wasted debt repayments they're making into the broader, productive (non-rentier) economy?

As to the private student loan lenders, caveat emptor. The kind of bottom feeder who seeks to lend to kids because the debt is non-dischargeable is exactly the kind of rentier who should lose everything.

It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than saddling these kids with so much debt they can never participate meaningfully in the economy (limited consumer spending ability, no chance of buying a home, no chance of affording lids or those kids' educations, etc.).