US Politics: 2 Fash 2 Impeach

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Maithanet said:

And going further, this "wink wink approach of "I never actually said that" wouldn't hold up in a real court.  If Trump were an actual mob boss he'd be in prison long ago because mob bosses have to actually be careful. 

Which begs the question, did he learn these techniques by actually working with the mob? There are a number of links, and I've always heard you couldn't be in construction and/or real estate game in NYC without doing business with them. 

[Mindwalker]

I bet he did, being in construction in NYC.

 

 

[DanteGabriel]

7 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Which begs the question, did he learn these techniques by actually working with the mob? There are a number of links, and I've always heard you couldn't be in construction and/or real estate game in NYC without doing business with them. 

The mob and Roy Cohn, another scumbag ally Trump had no trouble discarding once he was  no longer useful.

[Fez]

In lower level, but interesting (to me anyway) news, the bipartisan legislative majority in Alaska has lived to see another session:

The new majority is 15 Democrats, 2 Democratic-backed independents, 2 true independents, and 2 Republicans. The other 19 Republicans will form the minority caucus. This kind of coalition has run the state House since 2017 (before that it was a coalition of mostly Republicans with a handful of Democrats; Alaska politics are weird), but at one point as many as 8 Republicans were in it. Conservative primaries have taken their toll. Still, it's another sign of how fascinating Alaska politics can be (and a reason as to why Murkowski feels the level of comfort she does in bucking the national party line).

[Week]

15 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Which begs the question, did he learn these techniques by actually working with the mob? There are a number of links, and I've always heard you couldn't be in construction and/or real estate game in NYC without doing business with them. 

Or Atlantic City.

[ThinkerX]

11 minutes ago, Fez said:

In lower level, but interesting (to me anyway) news, the bipartisan legislative majority in Alaska has lived to see another session:

The new majority is 15 Democrats, 2 Democratic-backed independents, 2 true independents, and 2 Republicans. The other 19 Republicans will form the minority caucus. This kind of coalition has run the state House since 2017 (before that it was a coalition of mostly Republicans with a handful of Democrats; Alaska politics are weird), but at one point as many as 8 Republicans were in it. Conservative primaries have taken their toll. Still, it's another sign of how fascinating Alaska politics can be (and a reason as to why Murkowski feels the level of comfort she does in bucking the national party line).

more accurately most Alaskan politicians are beholden one way or another to the oil companies.  My local senator worked directly for a local refinery.  (this is seen as a positive)

 

Biden won no popularity points here at all - even among many democrats - by halting oil exploration.  This might open up an avenue for a deal latter on: Biden needs something critical to get through the Senate, he might be able to get both senate votes by lifting that ban.  emphasis on the 'might'

[Mindwalker]

 

[Fez]

43 minutes ago, ThinkerX said:

more accurately most Alaskan politicians are beholden one way or another to the oil companies.  My local senator worked directly for a local refinery.  (this is seen as a positive)

 

True, but my understanding is that it's not just that. It's also that most of the Republican party wants to make cuts to state spending far beyond what moderate Republicans are willing to stomach, so they keep partnering with Democrats to block them.

[Week]

42 minutes ago, Mindwalker said:

 

He murdered two people, violated his bond, and still the justice system allows him to stay out of prison while awaiting trial. This case is going to be a long, slow train wreck all the way to acquittal. Lucky for him that he isn't a 12 year old black kid with a toy gun.

[ljkeane]

Wow that’s nuts. He violated his bail terms and not only wasn’t he arrested the judge refused to turn over his new address to the prosecution to avoid more ‘violence’. That seems totally unbiased.

[Mindwalker]

Should we do a bullshit bingo for the defense?

taken out of context

free speech

vengeance

passonate speaker

private citizen

 

[DanteGabriel]

If Rittenhouse is afraid for his life then he should go into protective custody. In jail. Like bail terms said.

[Week]

Affluenza

"Sorry officer, I didn't know that I couldn't do that."

[Week]

24 minutes ago, Mindwalker said:

Free speech

Citizens United 2: ArmaLite Boogaloo

"Bullets are speech!"

[Zorral]

His father was totally mobbed up via construction and a whole lot else.  He could handle them.  But the mob, though they did some business with jr., was too smart to get really entwined with him, because he's just too unreliable, going off whenever and wherever.  Not safe.

At least that's what people who study these matters, who do 'mobology' -- specifically New York and New Jersey mobology -- say.  But he certainly watched his dad interact -- and like every would be and wanna be gangster he watched all those movies over and over over -- just like cops watch cop flix now to see how they're supposed to walk, talk and act.

But we all see how he fanboyz the real thing, like Putin.

 

[Mindwalker]

- Maxine Waters

- slippery slope

- unconstitutional

[ThinkerX]

2 hours ago, Fez said:

True, but my understanding is that it's not just that. It's also that most of the Republican party wants to make cuts to state spending far beyond what moderate Republicans are willing to stomach, so they keep partnering with Democrats to block them.

also true.  though no small number of their ardent supporters also complain bitterly about declining road maintenance and cuts to emergency services.  I see the same people on my Facebook arguing that deep budget cuts are needed; and in local topics complaining bitterly about how horrible their road is or how some druggie stole an atv out of their yard and where are the cops.  

[DMC]

3 hours ago, Mindwalker said:

 

This just seems like a problem for Paxton (although, considering it's Texas, probably not a problem at all).  As the article notes, Paxton spoke at the ellipse rally, so it's not too surprising his aides met - other than the impropriety of Paxton's using state funds for the travel.

10 minutes ago, ThinkerX said:

I see the same people on my Facebook arguing that deep budget cuts are needed; and in local topics complaining bitterly about how horrible their road is or how some druggie stole an atv out of their yard and where are the cops.  

This is definitely not unique to Alaska.

[Mindwalker]

This impeachment day felt a bit rushed to me, as opposed to yesterday. It was very well done, but could have used a bit more breathing space to let all of it sink in.

Anyway, Raskin, Plaskett and Naguse were fantastic; Lieu and Castro very good, too.

I read up on Raskin and found this statement on Wikipedia:

Raskin helped lead the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland.^[15] On March 1, 2006, during a Maryland State Senate hearing regarding same-sex marriage, Raskin was noted for his response to an opposing lawmaker: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.

[Fragile Bird]

Interesting. CNN is reporting senators Cruz, Lee and Graham left the hearing to meet with Trump’s lawyers to discuss strategy.

So much for impartial jurors.