Posts posted by Ghost of LL
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How many of you are out there loaning out your handguns, anyway?
I mean, I've borrowed a rifle for hunting. But that's now what Crenshaw is talking about.
I've loaned out my .45 to a friend at the gun range to shoot a few rounds while I was standing next to him. I've borrowed guns for the same thing. But that's not what Crenshaw is talking about.
Who here has loaned out a handgun for the borrower to take some distance from you for some days or weeks? Honestly--that would never occur to me as something I ought to do.
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10 minutes ago, Zombie said:
Exactly. Right wing nationalists in America want us to help the UK because if Brexit fails, it demonstrates that right wing nationalism is not a functioning ideology. The farmers, coal miners, etc... in the U.S. that supported Trump and the GOP are learning that hard lesson now. We should in no way subsidize and enable that ideology by interfering with the market place doing its thing and applying its punishment. They made their bed.
This is precisely right. As zork's post reflects, "America First" is nothing of the sort. it is "White Ethno-States First."
I have no interest in the American consumer subsidizing the Midlands' fit of pique.
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I think the GOP's assumption when they got rid of straight-ticket voting was that they had a lock on highly educated suburban voters and that such voters were more likely to go through the entire ballot. Now that that assumption is no longer true, I wonder if that isn't going to bite them in the ass.
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17 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:
She can’t refuse his request. I suppose she can actually say no but that could lead to the end of the monarchy. It’s like when she asks the new PM to be the PM. It’s already a done deal.
That's not true, constitutionally. It may or may not be true politically. But from a constitutional standpoint, the sovereign can absolutely refuse to prorogue Parliament.
And in this instance, it would not be the end of the monarchy from a political standpoint for two reasons. First, the Queen would have the majority of the populace on her side, both as to the argument against a no-deal Brexit and as to the larger question of subverting democratic institutions to achieve that end. Second, the Conservative Party is not going to lead a charge to abolish the monarchy. Even recognizing that the Conservative Party is no longer conservative, there is no way they're going to adopt republicanism as part of their party manifesto, irrespective of what the Queen does.
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2 hours ago, DDD Dad said:
I'm not disagreeing with you....That said, it certainly has many (particularly his more vocal critics) up in arms.
I'm not saying that it's not politically problematic. Nor am I saying that it's not a pair of golden handcuffs to shackle Johnson to the Citizens Council.
All I'm saying is that it's not, on its face, illegal.
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1 hour ago, DDD Dad said:
Or if Locke Lorde represents clients doing business/seeking business with the city?
Seems like a potential for appearance of conflict even if no actual conflict.It's not an inherent conflict.
There are all manner of rules as to governmental contracting that put limits on what Johnson or Locke Lord can do. Those rules exist in addition to a lawyer's ethical considerations to avoid a conflict.
For example, if a Locke Lord client submits a competitive bid to the City of Dallas to sell widgets, then Johnson needs to be Chinese walled off from that bid (and, preferably, from anything to do with that client). If Johnson does anything vis-a-vis that bid, the City by law must throw it out.
And separating Johnson from that work shouldn't be hard. Johnson is a bond attorney. He's out there representing local governments, not vendors selling shit to local governments. So I don't think it should be too hard for Locke Lord to manage this.
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So having just gotten back from a few weeks in the UK, I was struck by how normal everything is. While I was there, the government memo came out predicting all manner of disaster should a no-deal Brexit occur. And the general popular response was a shrug of the shoulders.
Part of it is that Parliament is on holiday. But part of it is just general paralysis that permeates all levels of society. It's like people genuinely think that if they ignore it it'll go away. Or else it'll just happen, and there's nothing they can do about it so they might as well just muddle on.
There's no joy in it from the pro-Brexit people. There's no dread from the anti-Brexit people. They're collectively like an old man who is just waiting for death.
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15 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:
Another one gone.
Duffy’s district, encompassing Wisconsin’s vast rural North Country, is unlikely to show up high on Democratic target lists: Trump won the district by 20 points in 2016, and while Democrats have historically competed in this part of the Midwest, rural areas have been moving steadily away from the party — as seen in the neighboring 8th District of Minnesota, which Republicans easily won in a tough year for the GOP following the retirement of longtime Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan.
Interestingly, his wife is that awful homophobic bitch Rachel from the San Francisco season of The Real World (you Gen Xers know who I mean).
Meanwhile, she's 47. I suddenly feel very old.
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11 minutes ago, C-Man said:
Spot on. My folks were in town in July and before they headed out we went to Ozona for lunch on Saturday. Hadn't been in ages and have always loved their CFS so I decided to order it. Was incredibly underwhelming for exactly the reasons you mention but I'll add chewy and tough when it comes to most of these.
That's terrible to read, because my experience with Ozona was always the opposite. Granted, I haven't been there in five years, but damn that's disappointing.
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"This is a Piccadilly Line train to Cockfosters" will never not make me giggle.
We had Sunday roast at Blacklock in Shoreditch and cannot recommend it highly enough. We did the all-in-one with pork, lamb, and rump roast, and all were outstanding. The Madeira-reduction gravy, though, was a standout.
For Lebanese, we went to Noura right next to the Saudi embassy and had a really good meal. I think they also have an outlet down in Victoria.
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46 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:
Great post, LL. The theme of willingness to review your own actions with a tap to your heart and a mea culpa is worthwhile in the current environment of political discourse.
You paint the Kochs, whom I only know a little about, as humans rather than devils. There are no devils. Anybody can be as wicked as these brothers. Anybody can try to do something to mitigate their bad acts. I see that as the extent of your empathy. I don't mistake the empathy for admiration.
These actors harmed the US immeasurably and may have put 100s of millions of people at risk by funding science denial. They fund the hate engine. Their motives have little scent of altruism. I doubt that they have ever spent a moment being as reflective as you.
We reap that which we sow, do we not?
And they sowed racism, nihilism, and anti-intellectualism in the pursuit of a few extra billion.
And their harvest is Donald Trump, the dissolution of the Republican Party as a pro-business, fiscally conservative political party (to the extent it ever really was), and the destruction of the post-World War II global economic order that has led to a century of peace and prosperity of which they are among the greatest beneficiaries. Truly, among the clearest fruits of their harvest was the 600-point decline on the DJIA on the day David died.
And you know the best part--they knew what they have wrought. That's clear from their recent comments in interviews and elsewhere; it's clear in their actions and political contributions.
Seeing and understanding the consequences of your misconduct--that's a punishment. Not a punishment that is going to satisfy the victims of that misconduct. But it is a punishment.
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I have some empathy for the Koch brothers. They're good old-fashioned rich-guy business Republicans who just wanted to make an asston of money and needed government regulation not to prevent them from doing so. The only thing unique about them was their extremity, both in their objectives and in the pursuit of those objectives.
In pursuing their objectives by financing the Tea Party, they unwittingly facilitated the rise of the white-nationalist Party of Trump. In that, they're not alone (I say as I look in the mirror).
Unlike some others, they recognized what has become of the GOP. Their donations went down significantly over the past four years. That's to their (limited) credit.
We all make bad decisions. We just don't have the wherewithal to dump billions of dollars in furtherance of those bad decisions. But even within my limited means, I often look at my bad decisions and the consequences caused by them and mournfully think "what the fuck have I done?".
I can't imagine the scope of the "what the fuck have I done" that the Koch brothers ask themselves.
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Every R accusation is a confession. For 30 years, RushFoxHannity spewed the idea that no D in Congress could be trusted when crafting legislation. D's passed ACA with multiple R amendments iirc.
In 2019, you send a House bill to the Senate, and it dies a slow death in Turtle's inbox.
There were no Republican amendments. Pelosi and Reid pushed it thought without any Republican support or say-so.
But regardless—Biden is wrong. There are no good Republicans. That’s why a question he needs to be asked in a debate is whether he would pardon Donald Trump.
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1 hour ago, softlynow said:
I still don’t get that one. Greed isn’t a trait peculiar to a negative stereotype of Jews. I get that they’re associated with money-exchanging occupations, but it just seems too much of a stretch to say that tweet was a slur.
Are you serious?
You've never heard the phrase "Jew him down" when speaking of a negotiation? Have you not read Shakespeare?
The "greedy jew" is totally an anti-Semitic trope.
I'm on a party boat with 10 lsu fans
in Football
No. Not really.