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

Don't you think they'd be excited to get him out of the Senate?

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

AON, who knew this was a thing?

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

It occurs to me that this may not be the worst thing that ever happened. With low turnout in special elections and very pissed off and quickly organizing left, we maybe could try to push as hard as possible for that seat in the special election (the last time this happened Lloyd Bensten's seat was taken in the special by KBH, which was the beginning of the end of the Democratic rule in Texas).

The question is finding an appealing statewide Dem in a very short time period. I'm thinking the recently retired chief of police in Dallas, David Brown--who handled the cop massacre there pretty well, I thought--though I'm sure that the Castro brothers are chatting this through.

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

Special elections are weird, so maybe we have a chance.

The Scott Brown election in Mass. was a really good example of how strange they can get. His towns had turnout at about 60% of a normal election, the Dem. towns had turnout at something like 40% of normal, just a completely different electorate than normal.

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

Given their history and Cruz's righteousness, it's hard for me to see Trump making him the chief law enforcement officer. I would think that's a job where Trump would want a real loyalist. But not for the Christie/Kushner history, I would think he would be the guy. Or Giuliani, but he seems to want something else.

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

So when Trump hangs out on his personal, unsecured cell phone line chatting with foreign leaders, think he complains about Hillary's emails?

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

Yes. So, it's James Brown Thursday on the Daily Dose. This little number is called Licking Stick, which sounds dirty, but it's not. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNwPDLl4eak

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

With the selection of an apparent KKK apologist for attorney general at a time when mistrust between law enforcement and communities of color is at an all time high, it is time for Sebastian to stop the contorted rationalizations and give us the apology he has owed us for a long time. He is too obstinate/delusional to do so, so he has asked me to pen something for him:

Ahem . . . well, this latest appointment is a bit of a stunner and I'm sure you all remember me repeating over and over with absolute certainty that Trump (if elected, which was not going to happen) would surround himself with moderate dullards who would blunt the sharp edges of Trump's extremism and ensure our country would maintain an almost completely unchanged status quo for the next four years, at least in terms of substantive policies. It is time for me to concede that I was and am completely full of shit. Despite being repeatedly told that nobody could predict what Trump would do, I pretended that I held some magical knowledge of the future, and that the chicken littles clucking around me were alarmist kooks. It turns out that I was the crazy one. I said many things that, at best, had no basis and, at worst, were either internally contradictory or in complete opposition to common sense. I did so for a number of reasons. One, I am argumentative, and I am desperate to create myself as some sort of irreverent Hunter Thompson/P.J. O'Rourke character, but I lacked the political insight to do so effectively. Two, I cannot concede any argument, so I would paint myself into corners with increasingly-improbable pronouncements in order to defend my earlier, somewhat-less-improbable pronouncements. Three, I felt attacked all the time by the seemingly monolithic opinions on Trump and these attacks were personal and so I attacked back, more for the point of attacking back then for the purpose of making a substantive political point. Finally, I admit it -- I completely underestimated how completely unhinged and horrible a person Trump is. They say his attackers took him literally but not seriously, and his supporters took him seriously but not literally. Now I realize we will all pay dearly for the mistakes of both sides. I am sorry for my conduct on this board.

Sebastian, it's Flower as Flower again. I for one accept your apology and implore you to leave this vile place and come back to the FB where GWNC, NotBob and I await you with open arms.

For Adder
 

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

I'd like to move the following:

RESOLVED: That the Politics Board be and hereby is renamed the Board of Funk, and that the officers, directors, mods, factotums, honchos, chiefs, poobahs, nabobs and enchiladas of Lawtalkers be authorized and directed to take all such further actions as may be necessary to effectuate the foregoing.

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

Couple of things...

First, O'Rourke voted for and endorsed Hillary

Second, I'm not apologizing for anything. But I will concede when I'm wrong about something. And while I still hold my assessment that Trump is himself a moderate, his cabinet sure as fuck isn't. He owes Sessions "big league" for backing him early, but man -- this motherfucker cannot be Atty. General. This is a wet kiss to the private prison industry, and sets up a civil war over marijuana legalization.

However, that's a civil war I welcome. Because the Feds aren't going to win it. And it's going to rip the GOP in half, pitting libertarian and socially-liberal traditional republicans against regressive authoritarian sorts.

This lazy fuck is pissing me off. He's clearly just doling out positions to back benchers who supported him. Everyone I know who's spent time with Trump (it's hard not to know someone who hasn't played golf with the guy) likes him, says he's a moderate, and advises this whole campaign was shtick. I still think he's what's been sold to me. But he's clearly also incredibly lazy, and he's too loyal. People like Sessions deserve favors, but not things like the Atty. General position. I agree -- this is just fucked up, and distressing.

Re: For Adder
 

There's nothing there I disagree with.

Re: For Adder
 

I didn't offer it suggesting there would be. I offered it because it's a good piece, and everyone should be discussing that issue. A PSA, if you will.

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

Is someone else picking his cabinet? I don't understand how you separate his views from his actions. As you go on to say, there are other rewards he could give these people.

Jeff Sessions was rejected for the federal bench by a GOP(!) Congress in the 1980s(!) for being racist. Why doesn't race appear on your list of reasons Sessions can't be AG?

Not that yours are not valid objections too. They are. But I don't know how the very first thing that Sessions as AG brings to mind isn't, "this is going to be terrible for black people, who will face emboldened racist policing, escalated voter suppression, and discrimination unchecked by an effective Civil Rights Division."


I'm less confident that our side wins this one, not least because of the power these fuckers are going to have to keep people from voting.

Re: For Adder
 

I do mildly disagree with the implication that the case for UBI lies in the future, given where we already are in income inequality.

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

Pence is heavily involved. I hate Pence.

It is. He's the worst person for prison reform, which is all about race.

Again, that's prison reform.

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

You do realize that every blue state legalizing pot is going to soon discover that federal law is federal law, and the feds, probably in a whole bunch of recently acquired souped up military equipment, are going to soon be showing up at the dispensaries, rounding up the perps, locking the doors, and confiscating the goods? Here in Mass., they're already using national guard helicopters to ID pot plants in backyards under our liberal Republican governor.

But, I know, Hillary was a threat to your liberty. Liberty!

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

And the AG to be said he broke with the KKK after learning some of them smoked pot (probably it was a joke maybe??).

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

You can't put the genie back in the bottle on weed. But Sessions is fucking horrible on justice reform, and he will hold that back.

Re: When the genie's back in the bottle, you throw the bottle into the sea
 

You don't seem to get Trump, do you?

Re: When the genie's back in the bottle, you throw the bottle into the sea
 

I get vices.

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

Apropos of which, I saw Anthony Bourdain speak last night. Someone asked what he would have liked to do with his life if he had it to do over again and could do something different, and he said he would want to be the bassist for Parliament-Funkadelic.

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

It seems like it's a big mistake to assume he acts primarily out of any kind of ideology.

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

On fake news, confirmation bias is a hell of a drug.

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

That's like me saying "I'd like to be Anthony Bourdain," or Penske saying "I'd like to be Hank," it presupposes a talent level that is almost certainly lacking.

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

Are you fucking kidding me? Because I invented that! I have people who will swear that as early as the mid-90s, if asked what my alternate career would be, I would say "Bootsy Collins."

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

True, but so what? What is your alternate career? Some other soul-sucking profession that requires good writing and analytical skills and an attention to detail?

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

I'm angling to get the Donald to make me Commissioner of Patents!

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

Yes, he was very clear about that.

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

But the big question is, what will Attorney General Sessions do to make sure that State Department employees don't misuse their email?

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

make an example with a show trial of a prior criminal?

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

to be fair, she had it sewn up, and it would be hardly different than D, who will soon be my boss, once I'm confirmed!

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

Dear Donald Trump:

Fuck you and all of your chicken-shit redneck head-up-their-ass trailer-scum Nazi-wannabe supporters. You guys want a civil war? Then let's do this.

http://pitchfork.com/news/69913-beas...rump-graffiti/

Sincerely,

Flower

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

Also, R.I.P. Sharon Jones. You may be gone but you're still here:

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

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

Trump just settled fraud claims against him for $25 million, but it's good that we spent all that time discussing email servers.

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

You're smarter than this deflective sour grapes bullshit. Look, she lost because she had no message.

These flyover voters want jobs. And they don't want to be dictated to by people like us. Stop trying to understand it and look at this country as two nations. There are those positioned to survive in the modern economy, and those unable to do so. These groups also have divergent cultures. One outvoted the other this election.

We're moving into a period of what I'd call soft Balkanization. A hiccup in globalization. But it's just an ebb in a flow taking place over a glacial timeframe. The Trump voters had the bad fortune of being born at a time during which their skills were made obsolete. You and I have perhaps the bad fortune of living through a time in which they amassed voting power adequate to pull us backward with them.

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

Why Hillary lost is a whole different conversation, one we aren't having right now. And even if everything you say in your latter two paragraphs is true -- not what I was talking about, so whatever -- I still marvel at the complete failure on the part of the media and many voters -- not the Trump fans, they can share fake news about Benghazi and Vince Foster, they didn't need the email thing -- in the relentless, mindless focus on Hillary's email when there were so many other stories that deserved more attention. Like Trump's defrauding of Trump University students ("students"), from which you seem to have some need to deflect attention. The email story was almost totally bogus. It was poor judgment on Hillary's part and maybe political malpractice, but there was nothing illegal about it -- unlike the way that Trump ripped off ordinary people. As everyone on this board knows, you don't pay $25 million to make a case go away unless there's something to it. You and all of the other people who kept insisting that it signified something real have your own consciences to answer to, but it's easier to talking about "bad fortune" and Hillary's failings, isn't it?

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

The media's fucked. Yes, they contributed to getting Trump elected in some regards. But they also kneecapped the shit out of him. WaPo, the Times, and CNN did more than adequate hit jobs on him to offset any generosity they showed him, and any hit jobs they did on Hillary.

But you keep missing the point. Trump didn't get elected because of emails alone. They were a very minor part of it. He was a protest candidate. His voters didn't give a fuck about anything but throwing a hand grenade into D.C. And the one they threw had the added bonus of promising them jobs. Comey was not as significant as you think. Trump was still going to edge her out. WI, MI, and PA didn't turn red over emails.

You're deflecting. The blame lies with all of us who've written off flyover land and thought they'd just fade away and disappear.

Trump's just a recognition of what we are -- a fractured nation of can make its and can'ts.

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

I'm done after this, but it had little to do with who voted for Trump, everything to do with who didn't vote for Hillary. 500% increase in 3rd party voters compared to 2012 in at least Pa and Mi. 40000 into more than 200,000. Disgruntled white people may have gotten Trump the nomination, but the election was on non voters and third party voters. That is math, arguing against math is like arguing against science, only worse.

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

Apparently the only conversation you can have is about who's to blame. My point: the whole f*cking email ruckus was an embarrassment to anyone who took it seriously, and as time goes by most of those will come to realize it. Even now it should be blindingly obvious that the question of which server the Secretary of State's email was on is pointless compared to the other consequences of the election. If you want to talk about something else, go nuts, but I note that you aren't disagreeing with me, just "deflecting" in your own way.