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

You can express a belief in your husband's innocence without denigrating the woman. Hillary seems to have missed this point.

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

So here's my main issue with Hillary. I hate liars. I really, really hate liars. And I get pretty upset when rules are not enforced consistently across the board.

Hillary is a liar. I know that GGG and Adder are so in love with Hils they'll never admit it, but there is a reason why when Gallup and Rasmussen ask open ended questions about Hillary and make it into a word cloud, the largest words are always liar, dishonest and untrustworthy. It is not just a vast right-wing conspiracy.

As to the email, I know that you don't care that despite what she says, the State Department report reveals it was not "allowed". She has lied about that more times than I can possibly count. If she is serious about protecting the country, perhaps she could learn how to check email on a computer (which she did not know how to do, it seems). Or learn how to use a secure fax. Buy why bother learning to do that when you can just have Huma or Cheryl send you something unsecured?

I grew up in a very small town where the protection of classified materials is pretty significant to the single main employer. No one really know what their parents did, you just referenced which building they worked in. In the past, my travel has been limited because of a family member's security clearance (pretty significantly during the Cold War and while I haven't looked into it recently, I kind of assume I wouldn't be permitted to go someplace like Iran even now, if I so desired). I went to high school (and was in German Club!) with the daughter of a well-publicized alleged spy, who was treated exceedingly craptastically by the feds. I think I know as well as most of you what a sucky job the government bureaucracy does in following its own rules. In my hometown, when someone couldn’t account for the hard copies of their classified docs that were supposed to be in the safe, the agency just unclassified them (depending on who lost them). The classified computers were secured by putting glue in the USB port so that someone couldn’t use a flash drive to transfer files. That doesn’t make it adequate or right.

Based on the fact that Hillary set up her own server, which was only allowed in the sense that she never asked and some people who brought it up were directed to never speak of it again (and had she asked, the answer would have been no), one could deduce that she set it up to circumvent the Federal Records Act, and deny access by the public to unclassified information to which the people have a right. And I am fine with taking sensitive discussions offline, but that doesn’t include communicating circuitously about drone strikes on unsecured email because accessing secure means of communication would have been a total drag on the holiday dinner. Putting keeping your yoga routines and Chelsea’s wedding out of the public eye, due solely to her own laziness, over keeping sensitive information (like say, the identity of CIA operatives in the field) secure seems to be pretty messed up to me.

I find it amazing that anyone is willing to buy the excuses. “I did it for convenience.” Isn’t it most convenient to take the Blackberry the IT guy is giving you rather than set up a personal server? “I didn’t want to have to carry two devices.” Because she was setting this all up herself and the IT guy who is pleading the 5th never mentioned you could have two accounts on one device? She broke the rules. Period. At a minimum she should have turned over all of her State Dept. emails before she left. And curiously enough, even after she turned over every single work email, those Sidney Blumenthal emails didn’t make the cut, and we only found out about that after he was hacked by Guccifer. More lies.

It’s the standard Clinton playbook. First, claim everything was completely above board and within the rules. Then, when that turns out to be a lie, regret your bad judgment but continue to insist that what was done was perfectly fine, while attacking the entire matter as partisan. After the State Department audit said Clinton broke the rules, the defense is now only, "Ok, she may have technically violated the rules but she didn't do anything illegal!"

I don’t think she will be prosecuted. And maybe she shouldn’t be. But she should most definitely be disqualified from being President. The greatest tragedy of the entire election is that Hillary is the weakest and least liked Democratic nominee in history. And, in true Republican failure theater form, the GOP nominated the one person out of 17 who sucks more.

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

I don't usually cite to daily kos, but this is actually an excellent take on that old wives tale you're spreading.

By any objective measure, she's one of the more honest politicians.

I do more often cite to Forbes, who actually read the state department report. Huh. Fancy that.

I won't get into some of the factual lapses of the rest (read Breitbart recently?), but would highly recommend the above.

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

Hillary is a liar. All politicians are liars. Heck, all people are liars.

This is a trait that defines political disagreements.

But it's really hard for me to understand how this feeling persists for someone who spends any time at all following the legal world, where rules are never enforced consistently across the board, and part of our job is making sure our clients get as favorable treatment as possible.

Right, because people have been saying that about her for 26ish years.

Nope. She's also a politician.

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

Wow, this board still exists? Who knew . . .

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

Right. In politics, to survive one must always assume his opponent takes the high road, and respond similarly.

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

Given the competition, perhaps a lying, soulless, but smart and competent candidate isn't such a bad thing?

What's the worst she does for four years -- run the country from the center and protect the status quo?

I'm not fighting wars, and neither are you, or our kids. A few thousand poor people, and some true believers, will die in for her foreign interventions (the same interventions Trump would've probably undertaken). The stock market likes her, she decreases economic volatility, and she's socially liberal. Sure, Bernie's dragging her left for now, and she'll try to do some radical stuff here and there, but your taxes won't go too much higher, and things will stay much the same as they've been under a Clinton Presidency. Perhaps even improve.

Do I like electing her? No. But the GOP gave this race away. It ran a shitty field, allowed the rabble to control the primaries, and was scammed by a sociopathic billionaire. Shame on it. Hilary's just a placeholder - the best option of a terrible field. Instead of focusing on why she's a corrupt cipher -- a "no shit" proposition if ever there was one -- maybe you should concentrate on how your party allowed someone as unliked as her to grab the prize in the popularity contest that is our Presidential election?

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

Stop being dull.

He'd crush Trump and Hillary. If he took Warren as VP, he'd get a Bernie endorsement and walk away with it.

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

The Sanders people were demonstrating against Warren after she endorsed Hill.

Thing to remember about Sanders is he has no friends, only admirers.

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

We were holding it open just for you.

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

I figured once Trump got the nomination it would have spontaneously combusted.

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

When Slave next visits, it just might.

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

If your husband were a public figure and you thought the rape accusations were efforts to damage his reputation, rather than sincere claims for judicial relief, you might think that letting it work through the court system would be super unsatisfactory.

Not a big fan of the Clintons, but suggestion that the judicial process should have played out seems to entirely miss that none of the accusations seemed to be principally about the judicial process, except as cover.

Re: Enough
 

God save me from the endless Brocialist Mating Calls on the pages of my Bernie Sanders supporting friends. Next person using the words "shill", "establishment", or "corrupt" is going to regret it.

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

I'm just curious. How does what her husband may or may not have done have a single thing to do with her fitness to run for President?

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

While all the Republican here is worried about rape, maybe it's time to start a discussion on Gillibrand's bill on military sexual assault....

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

It doesn't go far enough. It should decommission any commander who tries to interfere with a prosecution where there is a subsequent finding of probable cause to prosecute. It should make active participation in an attempt to intimidate a victim into pursuing a complaint an offense for which the commanding officer does time.

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

(a) Do you really believe the Secretary of State makes her own independent judgment about what the State Department regulations "allow" her to do with her email? She has people to do that for her, and more important things to worry about.

(b) Do you remember the contents of all the email you got over several years when you were busy doing a job? Of course you don't. Testifying mistakenly about said contents could be, but isn't necessarily "lying."

(c) The federal government's laws and rules concerning the classification and handling of information are a massive clusterfuck that enables *anyone* handling such information to be accused of violations, possibly criminal violations. This doesn't mean that everyone is a saint, but it does mean that you need to show me more to convince that someone is a sinner. OTOH, if you've already made up your mind, it's grist for the mill.

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

And before that, the Democrats did. Bernie's success shows that someone could have beaten her in the primary. Just not Martin O'Malley, apparently.

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

I was about to be in SF for a showthatcan'tbenamed last month. I was going to see if you/Atticus/sidd* wanted to meet me, but honestly the drive you guys had to get into SF last time seemed so horrible I just didn't think it polite to ask.

*of course, sidd would decline:confused:

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

If I knew your wife would be there, I might not decline. I like her. You, not so much.

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

I get to Brussels on weekdays more often than San Francisco.

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

Bernie v. POC, Part 5

Once upon a time, we had these debates after the election, not at the convention, so we weren't confusing personal battles in the campaign with issues of institutional health and well-being. We'll see if the brocialists are able to force the issue or if the vote is tabled until after the election.

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

I'm sorry.

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

I'm not. But I did have to take last week off from the Daily Dose of Funk due to extreme importance. So we'll snap back into it with some rare funk with a happening vamp and a nice horn breakdown. Because it's summertime and I'm feeling the groove. It's "The Funky Thing" by The Unemployed for your Daily Dose:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsWbb-vJvFc

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

Way before Beck, Black Sugar was kickin' it with a mid-tempo groove. Today's Daily Dose is "The Loser":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUJXlqpV9yE

Will this campaign even make it to the Convention?
 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slate..._all_dt_tw_top

TM

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

No Democrat had a chance. She built a machine that would grind any traditional intra-party competition to dust. Bernie only got as far as he did because he was a dark horse running what was more a third party insurgency than a typical campaign.

Trump is still statistically tied with Hillary in OH and PA. But she's opening up a huge lead on him in FLA. This screwball actually had a chance. I don't know whether to say:

1. It's sad he's imploded, as it gives Hillary a claim to an utterly unearned mandate; or,
2. It was inevitable, as this man has proven he is a genius in certain areas and a staggering idiot in others... that he clearly lacks the flexibility and "intellectual bench" in his own head to win a Presidential race.

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

Forget about the past, it's done. The message of Bernie is that even a schmuck from the stix could follow the obama playbook from 8 years earlier and win caucuses against hillary, but you need somebody with a little more on the ball to contest the big primaries.

For the general, this is the latest map based on data:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epo...llege_map.html

There are wayyyy more toss-up states than usual and some very funny "leaning" states. Texas and Mississippi?

There are very strong odds that Hill will win in a landslide and the Dems will take the Senate, but the interesting bets for people who like to bet longer odds are a bet on Trump to win in a squeaker upset and the dems to take the house in a wave. Both possible based on this map.

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

If you really want to assert violations of a some rule to initiate ethics, civil, or criminal charges against a politician, all you need to to do is find a basis to engage in a cursory investigation of their activities.

The hard part (and it isn't really that hard) is finding the basis to look. Once you have that, given the 393,587,962 mindless laws and regs that can be applied, it's impossible not to find some sanctionable activity.

Intent? Who needs that? We live in a strict liability society, don't you know? (And this applies to the common citizen just as much, perhaps more. We're all in violation of something, and only free of harassment or punishment to the extent the we don't become targets of the system, as has Hillary.)

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

The GOP leans there are eye-opening, to say the least.

What's odd is, the vote likely to have have a more dramatic economic impact on them in the short term is one I'm guessing the average shit-for-brains American doesn't even know about. Brexit could send some terrible ripples through the market and economy at exactly the wrong time.

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

I think the Brits will be smart enough - and shocked enough by the American-style assassination that occurred - to vote against Brexit.

But all the more reason to pivot to asia and avoid that quagmire.

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

The assassination shouldn't have much impact. Low information voters favor Brexit already. High information voters grasp that the assailant was mentally ill (a virulent Brexit supporter in much the same way the Orlando shooter was a virulent Daesh supporter).

However Brexit goes, the war on globalization is just starting. Daesh appears to be collapsing, and Al Queda relatively quiet. But I can't help wondering if they aren't planning more imminent catastrophic attacks in Europe and the US. Brexit and our current election present unique opportunities for them to enflame class divisions between the haves (pro-globalization) and have nots (leaning nativist) within nations while also inciting the war between the West and Islam Bin Laden sought. If they don't pull off those attacks now, they lose their best and perhaps only window to that wider conflict with the West.

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

You talk about this stuff in a way that people who have been counseled away from it but really can't break the hold , at least sometimes, talk about it.

That's scary.

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

I fixed it for you. As the Attorney General said, we may never know what motivated the ISIS-loving Orlando shooter to kill all those gay people in the name of ISIS and it's leader.

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

Not in OH.

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

"Counseled away from it"

Screw that, I ain't gonna take no "counselling".

[insert smiley here]

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

Or what motivates the [omitted] republicans to fight to arm the [omitted] Orlando shooter.

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

Or what motivates the Democrats to stage a sit-in to protest due process and other Constitutional rights.

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

Dudes just want a vote. If that's the case, why wouldn't Ryan let them have the vote and put them on record?